Robert Katsusuke Ogata’s career has been both lasting and exceptionally dynamic. Growing up Japanese-American in Fresno, CA, Ogata’s art embraces multicultural influences and contains personal reflections on his internment experience in Arizona as well as the essence of Central California’s landscape. Although his work is broad in scope, Ogata emphasizes awareness and self-criticism as the essence of his art:
“The process of my development as a painter has led me to constant amendment, revision and expansion as an evolving definition of my work.”
Ogata’s pieces are typically demarcated as part of a series. Although later in life he gave up his ceramic pursuits, Ogata has worked in charcoal, graphite, clay, paint, oil, polymer, shellac, chalk and gold leaf and he frequently employs non-traditional methods of application. Some results of his experimentation are permanently adapted, such as his focus on forms alluding to nature, his sensitivity to the use of line and his regard for restraint and order. Some innovations, however, remain ephemeral elements in the broader spectrum of his work.
“Because I work in themes, or series, certain elements are carried over; imagery emerges and is obliterated as I progress through a sequence of paintings”
In this exhibition, a keen eye will reveal both consistencies and innovation throughout the lengthy career of Robert Ogata.
“The process of my development as a painter has led me to constant amendment, revision and expansion as an evolving definition of my work.”
Ogata’s pieces are typically demarcated as part of a series. Although later in life he gave up his ceramic pursuits, Ogata has worked in charcoal, graphite, clay, paint, oil, polymer, shellac, chalk and gold leaf and he frequently employs non-traditional methods of application. Some results of his experimentation are permanently adapted, such as his focus on forms alluding to nature, his sensitivity to the use of line and his regard for restraint and order. Some innovations, however, remain ephemeral elements in the broader spectrum of his work.
“Because I work in themes, or series, certain elements are carried over; imagery emerges and is obliterated as I progress through a sequence of paintings”
In this exhibition, a keen eye will reveal both consistencies and innovation throughout the lengthy career of Robert Ogata.
The Influence of Environment
Robert Ogata’s life has been marked by communities. He grew up the middle of three sons in the San Joaquin Valley and at the age of 8, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. He and his family were forcibly relocated to the Gila Bend Relocation Center in Arizona. They shared the spaces at Gila with other barracked families and kids for three years before returning to California. In 1995, fifty years after internment, Ogata created a series that focused on his experiences and emotions while living at Gila.
After establishing a family of his own, Ogata spent many years working from home. Ogata’s daughter Amy recalls her father working from within “temporary spaces, created out of the ordinary chaos of middle class family life.” He now has a studio of his own in downtown Fresno, a change that Amy believes “has changed his work.”
Despite this move to a private studio, Ogata remains involved in Fresno’s art community. He has worked as a high school teacher, founded Fig Tree Gallery in 1962 and….
Central California’s environment has also had a lasting influence on Ogata’s paintings:
“The particular marks or shapes I use draw interest and create limited space. Most recently a rectangle has morphed into a suggestion of a core. Within this context I continue to explore references to atmosphere and illusion, elements directly related to living in the San Joaquin Valley. The presence of the Sierra Mountains on a clear day heightens the flatness of the valley. A shroud of winter fog, and lately, summer air pollution, often obscures these same features. Because I work in themes, or series, certain elements are carried over; imagery emerges and is obliterated as I progress through a sequence of paintings”
Robert Ogata’s life has been marked by communities. He grew up the middle of three sons in the San Joaquin Valley and at the age of 8, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. He and his family were forcibly relocated to the Gila Bend Relocation Center in Arizona. They shared the spaces at Gila with other barracked families and kids for three years before returning to California. In 1995, fifty years after internment, Ogata created a series that focused on his experiences and emotions while living at Gila.
After establishing a family of his own, Ogata spent many years working from home. Ogata’s daughter Amy recalls her father working from within “temporary spaces, created out of the ordinary chaos of middle class family life.” He now has a studio of his own in downtown Fresno, a change that Amy believes “has changed his work.”
Despite this move to a private studio, Ogata remains involved in Fresno’s art community. He has worked as a high school teacher, founded Fig Tree Gallery in 1962 and….
Central California’s environment has also had a lasting influence on Ogata’s paintings:
“The particular marks or shapes I use draw interest and create limited space. Most recently a rectangle has morphed into a suggestion of a core. Within this context I continue to explore references to atmosphere and illusion, elements directly related to living in the San Joaquin Valley. The presence of the Sierra Mountains on a clear day heightens the flatness of the valley. A shroud of winter fog, and lately, summer air pollution, often obscures these same features. Because I work in themes, or series, certain elements are carried over; imagery emerges and is obliterated as I progress through a sequence of paintings”
Blending Cultural Identities
Much of Ogata’s work references the aesthetics of his Japanese heritage while also suggesting his American identity.
In his Hana series from 2008, Ogata uses gold leaf, chrysanthemum flowers, long vertical paint drips and rectangular forms to artfully identify his dual identity. The shallow, almost one-dimensional nature of the works references traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e landscapes and prints. The chrysanthemums, subdued colors and solemn rectangles hint at the Zen tenet that painting is a form of meditation. Yet the abstract forms, especially the drips made famous by Jackson Pollock, highlight the American abstract expressionist ideal that art is best when it expresses the emotions and nature of the individual.
The Kabuto series (2002) features large painting composed of an unusual color palette. Red paint strikes yellow ochre surfaces and black strokes inspired by forms found on medieval Japanese armor give geometrics and structure to the works. Although these black streaks reference traditional Japanese imagery, their abstract nature allows them to be read as a roof or a mountaintop.
Ogata’s ceramic forms also seem to reference medieval Japanese precedents. Indeed, his works were fired by a traditional anagama, a variation of the 5th century Korean kiln. During these firings the unglazed ware, affected by a directional flame, deposits ash on the shoulders of the ceramic forms, accumulating and forming glaze throughout the several days of firing. Despite his traditional techniques, Paul Chaleff, who helped construct the kiln with Ogata, emphasized the essential American qualities of the pieces: “In detail, Ogata’s ceramic work is unmistakably American and is a product of his American training and eye.” Ogata’s pieces allude to American ceramicist Peter Voulkos, especially in their shared appreciation of defects. Ogata’s platters have deep cracks and he often alters the clay with the addition of abnormal substances such as granite stones. In this way, Ogata employs the very western ideal of making the materials work to suit a concept instead of altering a concept to suit one’s materials.
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