Ikeda Manabu Ikeda at Chazen Museum of Art

We did go into Madison and visited the Chazen Museum of Art on the University of Wisconsin campus. We like the Chazen and didn't go with any particular purpose in mind.

I was very excited, though, by the exhibit of works by Ikeda Manabu. The Huffington Post describes his work this way: "Manabu Ikeda uses a small acrylic pen and what we imagine is a significant amount of ink to create his massive, intricate drawings. The impressive artworks capture chaotic scenes of tsunamis, painstakingly detailed renderings of trees and impossible landscapes that seem like they belong in a Escher-inspired Fairy Tale. And they can take up to a year to complete." Click on the link for the whole article and to see some of his works. My favorite one of a seascape (?) is one I have not been able to find online. And no small reproduction on a computer could begin to do it justice.

The artist was born in 1973 and lives in Tokyo. He is artist-in-residence at the Chazen for a few months while he completes work on a pen-and-ink drawing that will measure ten by thirteen feet. Visitors to the museum can watch him work during scheduled hours each week.

Here is an example of his work, a lighthouse falling into the sea. As I said, you cannot begin to appreciate it on this small scale.