The Walker Gallery’s currently exhibition, Jave Yoshimoto’s Obstinate Chasm, is a collection of illustrative images that speak to the fast-paced dissemination of news and information and, in the artist’s own words, the “social amnesia” that is caused by it. Yoshimoto, an Assistant Professor of Art and Foundations Coordinator for the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Nebraska Omaha, aims for an empathetic reaction from the viewer by using his own immersive imagery of natural disasters and humanitarian crises. The vibrant and arresting works are the product of Yoshimoto’s own experience in volunteering for earthquake relief in Japan and Nepal as well as the refugee crisis in Greece.

Over Yoshimoto’s career, he has received the recognition of his peers and professional art world both nationally and internationally through numerous awards and recognitions. Among them: the Meek Award (Florida Review Magazine), the On Paper International Printmaking Award (Glascow, UK),  the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant (New York, NY), First Place – Japanesque Exhibition (Overland Gallery, Kinston, NC), and a Letter of Artistic Achievement from the Friends of the United Nations, New York, NY.

Since 2012, Yoshimoto’s art and thoughts have appeared in no less than 23 regional and national publications, including the Chicago Tribune, ARTiculAction, the Lincoln Journal Star, Newer York Press, and the Huffington Post.

Obstinate Chasm will be on exhibition runs through Thursday, September 20 which will conclude with a gallery talk by the artist starting at 3:30 PM. An informal reception will follow.

To see more of Jave Yoshimoto’s work, visit his website at www.javeyoshimoto.com.