Artist Lynn Matsuoka brings decades of unprecedented intimate access to the world of Sumo to Stella Flame Gallery in Bridgehampton.
Stella Flame Gallery and Sen Restaurant will host an exhibition featuring the work of world-renowned reportage artist Lynn Matsuoka with an opening reception Saturday, October 10, from 1 to 3 PM. Co-curated by Jesse Matsuoka, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience Lynn Matsuoka’s extraordinary oil pastels on paper. These vivid, deeply observed works reflect a lifetime of travel and cultural connection.
Lynn Matsuoka is an American artist whose extraordinary body of work documents the ritual, movement, and human drama of Traditional Japanese Sumo. In 1973, Matsuoka traveled to Tokyo for a six-month assignment and ultimately remained in Japan for 42 years. Captivated by sumo at her first tournament, she began drawing the wrestlers from life and was gradually granted rare access to the private world of sumo training sessions, tournaments, and dressing rooms.
Her drawings and paintings convey the physical power and disciplined ritual of sumo while revealing quieter moments of preparation, camaraderie, and solitude. Her firsthand knowledge also led to a 15-year career as a color commentator for NHK’s worldwide sumo broadcasts.
Matsuoka’s work offers a singular artistic perspective on a world few outsiders have been permitted to witness so closely.
Join Lynn Matsuoka, Jesse Matsuoka, and Stella Flame for an artist’s talk to learn more about Lynn’s immersion in, and unprecedented decades-long access to, the world of sumo.
Traveling throughout Japan with her late husband, esteemed professional sumo wrestler Kazutomo “Tora San” Matsuoka, and young family, Lynn’s sons were deeply influenced by their father’s distinguished career and deep connection to the world of sumo and Japanese culture. Hear how that experience influenced her artistic trajectory, and how growing up within this extraordinary cultural world shaped Jesse’s childhood, family life, and understanding of Japanese culture and tradition.
A celebratory reception will immediately follow.