Japanese Wall Art

If you love black and white wall art then you should be familiar with Zen art. The Zen concept has impacted Japanese art so much that it is one with its culture and people. Yet the implications has had ripple effects into other cultures and art forms.

There is no mistaking the simplicity and beauty which this art holds even if one does not hold its religious beliefs. What is important are the concepts which can be taken away in its use for home decor and art creation. This impact reaches even further into design and architecture. Yet to understand Zen we need to explore its origins and what brought it to be what it is.

Zen Origins

The Zen concept can be captured in the idea of elegance through simplicity. Its foundations can be found in Buddhism. The impact within culture extends beyond art and into many other aspects or objects of society. An example of this is the popular tea ceremonies which Asian cultures have cultivated.

Objects such as tea cups and furniture as well as how a home is arranged begin to be defined by these ideas. Zen has impacted daily life for the Japanese. In more ancient times they would often dedicate their time to the perfection of a task. This desire for perfection led to great disciplines even within general daily life tasks. Today its principles can be found in education and business applications.

It is believed by many that Zen Buddhism came originally from India to then China which was later introduced to Japan. Despite this potential and likely origin there are very distinct difference between its application in China (Chen) and its uses in Japan (Zen).

From Zen comes the idea of Wabi-Sabi which can be defined as aesthetics. It is from there the elegance through simplicity principles were born. Its goal is to not only bring Zen aesthetics but also harmony to the surroundings as one lives with their environment. This embraces not only nature but in our modern world it includes our urban lives within which many live.

Wabi-Sabi And Zen In Art

At its origins the monks were the prominent artists which promoted these beliefs. White paper or silk was used for simple Wabi-Sabi designs. Commonly calligraphy was a focus and seen as its own artistry which one would seek to master. This is why you will find simple paintings with few brush strokes and calligraphy writings across many pieces.

This does not necessarily mean that this art form is minimalist in nature. Kano Sansetsu’s work from the mid 1600s were bold and prominent. His art can be found within temples and while not of a minimalist concept they are definitely Zen. To think of this art as being minimalist would be missing the point.

To better grasp why it can be difficult to classify this art one must go back to its purpose. It was encouraged that one study art for its spiritual meaning. They saw it as a way to meditate and cleanse the mind of the world. It was a method for bringing oneself into harmony and enlightenment. This is why you will find many different parts of the culture impacted by what is called Zen artwork.

It is more than an object which is defined by a period. Rather it is a belief system which embodies concepts that translate across eras of history and persists into our modern world today. Therefore it cannot be fit into a period of time nor can it be isolated to specific styles.

By contrast in Western cultures we can look to different period of history and classify a style based upon the influences of that time. An example an be the Victorian era with all its art and cultural impacts. Yet as time moved forward it was left in the past with new ideas coming into our cultures.

While we can loosely know the origins of Zen the influence of it upon culture never ended. As it is embodied within their religious beliefs it likely will never end. Rather transformations of its impact across time and culture is found.

Knowing that the art is more about a spiritual journey we can then begin to better understand its simplicity. A Western artist will often paint in order to create something beautiful and place meaning into a work. A Zen artist will instead place meaning into a work and use an object within art to help define that meaning.

Once the meaning or purpose is defined the artwork is complete. It does not need more added to it and often if more is placed in the art it would lose its meaning. It is for this reason that Wabi-Sabi and Zen flow together as one and the same. It is the physical manifestation of living ones beliefs and the footprint of ones life within the world around them.

Influence On Western Art

While I am not Buddhist nor do I claim to be an expert on its systems the ideas which embody their art forms are interesting. In the Western world we often associate black and white art with photography. It speaks to an era before technology could capture color in pictures and television. Now it holds more nostalgia than anything else.

While not as popular in the West we do see Eastern influences as early as the mid 1800s. As more Asian influence began to come to North America with them came their culture. It did take some time for this influence to seed into culture and mature. By the mid 1900s we begin to find artist borrowing from Zen applications.

After World War 2 some artists within the United States began to adopt Japanese ideas. While it was after this war that its popularity began to rise this did not necessarily happen as a result of it. A man by the name of Mark Toby who was born 1889 fell in love with calligraphy. By the mid 1930’s he had already traveled to China and Japan to learn their arts.

He was not alone in these endeavors. Men like him would be the forerunners bringing the culture to the West. After World War 2 while there was a rise in popularity there also existed a stigma culturally as a result of the war. It still would take some time until Eastern ideas and art began to heavily impact Western society.

By the 1970’s and through the 1980’s and odd mechanism would allow this art influence to be more recognized and accepted. This mechanism was of all things martial arts. With the popularity of men like Bruce Lee who was Chinese and the influence of Japanese Karate we see both Chen and Zen influence become more readily adopted in those niche circles.

Additional influence came to the West as Japan began to industrialize and bring in Western influences to their country. This exchange would manifest as they sought to become leaders in different industries such as vehicles and computing technology. While we often do not think of these as art keep in mind Zen embodies a way of life for the Japanese.

No doubt it was these concepts which pushed them to perfect their industry and pursuit in business. This held great impact within corporations and competitiveness with Western industry. By the 1990s one would be hard pressed to find an American made tv.

In our present world we have adopted the Zen systems but renamed them for our Western marketing concepts. Words such as minimalist, aesthetic, and phrases such as “less is more” were born from this idea. Concepts found within silhouette art can often find roots within these Zen ideas.

Our art also has shifted to where it has a blend of multicultural impact that often will incorporate Zen and Chen philosophies. All one must do to see this is to look at modern architecture.

By the early 2000’s what we see is not pure in its Zen form yet neither is the representations which we now find in Japan. It has become a blend of cultures which often pull the best from both worlds into one embodiment of design and art.

Modern Wall Art

The modern wall art we find today which use black and white as its primary colors it is almost impossible to miss the Zen philosophy. A search on Google will show images where clearly it is a Western artist or photographer yet it clearly holds Wabi-Sabi principles.

Naturally we have replaced the ancient Japanese themes for more modern representations. Nevertheless its principles have not only remained but have almost come to be expected. There is a reason for this taking place. Elegance through simplicity works. It is clean and gives meaning while also being beautiful.

If one appreciates black and white art or photography it is easy to miss its origin of influence. We place these pieces within our homes and can look at the more traditional Zen art as being outside of our culture. How little did we know that we have actually adopted it to our present time.

In order for art to be Zen does not require that it is Japanese. Remember Zen is an idea, it is a philosophy. Today we call this style monochrome and some such as Robert Holyhead have become famous for their works in it. While not all these artists work will hold true each will have some works that do.

Other artists come to mind such as Vikash Karla, Deepanshu Joshi, and Jenson Anto. Other artist which sell their prints in places like Fine Arts America can be found with ease. Sharon Cummings, Beverly Brown, and Mariusz Szmerdt come to mind just to name a few.

Is The Adaptation Purposeful Or Accidental?

For some artists I am sure that the adaptation is intentional. Perhaps they find inspiration from Zen influences and choose to incorporate it within their artwork. Yet often enough I do not believe that it is conscious by choice to be Zen.

In remembering it is a philosophy and its meaning is elegance through simplicity the idea simply works. As I look back at my wood artwork I can see Zen principles that I employ yet it was not a conscious choice. For my medium of art and the designs I employ it is best displayed in wood using these principles. It sometimes just happens.

Yet it does offer a question which is difficult to answer. Since the mid 1900’s to today there is no way to really know how much this Zen influence has had in how an artist chooses to create their art. We have had near two generations where we have taken in influences from around the world to help reshape our modern art.

I am sure that we can find many influences from cultures around the globe that are commonly incorporated on a daily basis within many arts. This does not mean that the incorporation of those aspects are intentional but rather a result of cultural exposure across time. These more prominent features impact our societies through time.

Often enough these ideas survive less for the preservation of said culture but rather the idea which they were founded in works. It provides value to a design or an art. The application is consistent and will interconnect with other themes.

Zen is an excellent example of this as it can be applied to architecture as well as home design and decorating. We may wish to call it by other names but its origins are not from our own culture. For us it may hold no spiritual application whatsoever nor are we seeking enlightenment through it. In the West is becomes a clean design that works aesthetically giving appeal and is marketable.

I do not believe that this adaptation is purely accidental as much as it has become assimilated as an alternate standard within society. Yet it is definitely interesting to research and see how such influence comes to be translated within any culture. The study of art is the study of culture and influence.

I am certain that these principles will remain with us for many more generations to come. The names will continue to change across time and adaptation will continue with those generations. Nonetheless the influence of Zen art and design is here to remain.