DAYTON, OH.- The Dayton Art Institute’s newest special exhibition, Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920-1945, explores the impact of the art deco movement on Japanese culture. The exhibition opened November 15 and will be on view through January 25, 2015.

Following World War I, the world changed rapidly and was set against the pulsating beat of the jazz era. The period witnessed the rise of film, the advent of skyscrapers, leisurely air travel, and the modern girl with her cigarette, short hair and cropped skirts. Frivolity, luxury, and a sense of hopefulness pervaded the air. From the fine and decorative arts to fashion, film, photography, and commercial design, art deco affected all forms of artistic output during the inter-war years.

“Art deco was an eclectic style that drew on many international sources,” notes Dr. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, The DAI’s Curator of Collections and Exhibitions. “It simultaneously maintained one foot in tradition and yet also celebrated the mechanized, modern world. Art deco’s bold colors and streamlined, yet muscular, forms celebrating progress were often deeply nationalistic, and Japan embraced the style enthusiastically, as the combination of visual strength operated in support of Japan’s expanding empire.”

Deco Japan features nearly 200 works and is the first travelling exhibition outside Tokyo dedicated to Japanese art deco. Selected by guest curator, Dr. Kendall Brown, the works are drawn from the Levenson Collection, the world’s premier private collection of Japanese art in the deco style.

Dr. Brown, Professor of Japanese Art History at California State University, Long Beach, has developed exhibitions of 20th-century Japanese art for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and, for the Honolulu Academy of Art, he organized the exhibition, Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco.

In contrast to many exhibitions and books on art deco that organize the material by medium, Deco Japan is organized to highlight the cultural, formal and social aspects of Japanese deco. The exhibition is divided into seven sections, each segueing into the next so that the exhibit unfolds sequentially, providing variety while underscoring key ideas.

Through a wide range of mediums—sculpture, painting, prints, ceramics, lacquer ware, jewelry, textiles, furniture, and graphic ephemera—Deco Japan introduces the spectacular craftsmanship and sophisticated designs of Japan’s contribution to the movement to pull viewers into this rich period in world history and visual culture.

“Dayton, like many other American cities, felt the influence of art deco during the 1920s and 1930s, and this exhibition provides a unique look at a seldom-seen aspect of the deco movement,” says Michael R. Roediger, Director and CEO of The DAI. “The Dayton Art Institute will host the only Midwest stop for this beautiful exhibition, so don’t miss your chance to see it!”