Rut Bryk: Touch of a Butterfly exhibition opens tomorrow in Tokyo and starts the exhibition tour

The exhibition opens for public on Saturday 27^th April at Tokyo Station Gallery marking the beginning of the exhibition tour in Japan. There are roughly 200 works on display, the majority of which are from the Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation Collection, which is deposited at the EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art. The content was curated by EMMA and the museums hosting the tour.

Rut Bryk: Touch of a Butterfly exhibition opens at Tokyo Station Gallery 27th April. It is divided into five chapters:  

Dream and Memories 

Rut Bryk's earliest ceramic works depict dream-like visions and whimsical vignettes of everyday life, often harking back to childhood memories. Her style is relaxed and painterly, highlighting subjects such as myths, human figures, animals and plant motifs. 

Colour Magic 

Between 1948 and 1950, Bryk began experimenting with a new slipcasting technique similar to printmaking. The engraved contours would pop out in relief, providing a containing device for glazes applied thickly in a glowing array of radiant colours. Although the mould was reused, each plaque was a one-off.  

Towards Spatiality 

In the late 1950s, Bryk began assembling large reliefs from numerous small tiles. She designed modular prototype tiles that could be mixed and matched to create a large mosaic-like composition. Her first true monumental piece, The Banquet Table (1961), hangs in the Rosenthal porcelain factory in Germany. Bryk used the same background tiles in her later works; details are also featured in this exhibition. 

Sic Parvis Magna 

Using a modular system, Bryk constructed large tile reliefs and monumental pieces for prominent public venues. The relief took shape on the floor of the studio: at intervals, she would climb a ladder to view the overall effect and keep rearranging the tiles until each one found its perfect spot. In the late 1960s she began combining white tiles with fresh, bright primaries in Pop-inspired shades resembling plastic or enamel in their glossy finish. 

Harmony of Light 

From the 1970s onwards, Bryk immersed herself in the challenge of translating light and shadow into three-dimensional ceramic planes. Her tiles grew simpler and more geometrical, and her palette more monochrome. Revolving around light, space and time, her work captured a fleeting sense of ephemerality. The purity and sensory intensity of Nordic nature is captured to striking effect particularly in her last work, Ice Flow (1991) a monumental relief commissioned for the residence of the Finnish president. 

In collaboration with the Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation, EMMA has produced the documentary film Rut Bryk: Touch of a Butterfly, which will be shown in Japan in connection to the touring exhibition. The documentary, which has been partly filmed in Lapland scenery, is a warm and intimate portrayal of Rut Bryk, who was at home in both global metropolises as well as the middle of Lapland’s wilderness. The interviews will feature discussions with film director Pirjo Honkasalo, Dr. Phil., docent Harri Kalha and Bryk’s grandchildren Tinni Torikka and Petra Wirkkala. The documentary can be seen in the Bryk & Wirkkala Visible Storage at EMMA until 5 May 2019. 

The exhibition additionally features Mind Mosaic, a “biography without words” created by Bryk’s daughter, the contemporary artist Maaria Wirkkala. The tribute is assembled from original ceramic elements used by Bryk throughout different stages of her career. 

Exhibition touring schedule: 

Tokyo Station Gallery 27th April – 16th June 2019 

Itami City Museum of Art 7 September - 20 October 2019 

Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu 25 April – 5 July 2020 

Kurume City Art Museum 18 July – 6 September 2020.  

The exhibition has been co-produced by EMMA, Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation and the Japanese company Blue Sheep.