Yoko Kondo Konopik, Red and Blue Duet, 2003, Oil and charcoal on canvas
Oct. 28, 2024
Yoko Kondo Konopik: On Canvas
Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
January 17 –May 17, 2025
Opening reception January 24, 2025, 5 - 8 p.m.
The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is proud to present Yoko Kondo Konopik: On Canvas. Spanning decades, On Canvas is the first major museum exhibition to explore the practice of this Las Vegas-based abstract artist. Viewers will have an opportunity to see the full range of Konopik’s mature oeuvre, encompassing paintings from the early 1980s to the present.
Trained as a painter at ateliers in Tokyo and Paris, Konopik has spent almost half a century refining her personal lexicon of minimalist curves and lines. Her abstractions respond swiftly to opportunities for mark-making, finding humor in unexpected shape-shifts and rich moments of color. She draws inspiration from the concentrated finesse of hard-edge visionaries such as Ellsworth Kelly, the strong palette of the abstract expressionist Sam Francis, and the poise of Scandinavian design, but asserts her independence from them all when she talks about her quest for a personal expression of compositional harmony —“a little world of poem and melody on canvas.”
Abstraction, for her, is the most direct route to that harmony, the one that allows the artist to have the maximum amount of freedom and control. She hopes viewers will take the opportunity to create a direct emotional connection to the fundamental elements of painting as she sees it: color, shape, and line.
“I love colors because of its colors.
I love lines because of its line.
I love shapes because of its shapes.”
—Yoko Kondo Konopik
Yoko Kondo Konopik: On Canvas will be on view in the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art’s East Gallery from January 17 - May 17, 2025, with an opening reception from 5–8 p.m. on the evening of January 24. The Marjorie Barrick Museum is open from Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Entry is always free.
About Yoko Kondo Konopik
Yoko Kondo Konopik is a Japanese-American painter whose abstract compositions bring shape, line, and color together in precise harmony. She studied painting at the ateliers of artists S. Etchuya, T. Daikubara (Tokyo, Japan), and Richard Wilhelm (Paris, France). She has been a member of the Koenji and Ginsai Art Groups (Tokyo, Japan), The Art League (Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.A.), and the Henderson Art Association (Henderson, Nevada). Her work has been exhibited in Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States.
All of the museum’s galleries are accessible to wheelchair users and other visitors who cannot use stairs. Services such as sign language interpretation can be arranged. Please contact the museum to discuss your needs: barrick.museum@unlv.edu, 702-895-3381.
About the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art believes everyone deserves access to art that challenges our understanding of the present and inspires us to create a future that holds space for us all. Located on the campus of one of the most racially diverse universities in the U.S., we strive to create a nourishing environment for those who continue to be neglected by contemporary art museums. As the only art museum in the city of Las Vegas, we commit ourselves to leveling barriers that limit access to the arts. Our collection of artworks offers an opportunity for everyone to develop a deeper knowledge of contemporary art in Southern Nevada. The Barrick Museum is part of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Find Us
The Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art is located in the heart of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. The museum is easily accessed from the west side of campus at the intersection of Harmon Avenue and University Center Drive. Drive east on East Harmon Ave until the road enters the campus and terminates in a parking lot. The Museum will be on your right, next to a desert landscape garden. Directions here.
Parking
Visitors may park in metered, staff, and student spots free of charge after 7 pm on weekdays, 1 pm on Fridays, and all day Saturday.
Daily, weekly, or monthly permits can be purchased from Parking and Transportation Services.
Metered parking spaces for visitors can be found in the parking lot outside the Barrick’s entrance, along East Harmon Ave, and in the lot behind the Lied Library. Other metered green zones are available in the Cottage Grove Avenue Parking Garage and parking areas throughout campus. Download the “PayByPhone Parking” app from Google Play or the iTunes app store.
Contact
702-895-3381