Artist Talk and Reception for Makoto Fujimura: Transfiguration
April 7, 2025
6:00pm
Annenberg Center
Makoto Fujimura, Transfiguration (detail), 2017. Sumi ink on Belgium linen, 84 x 396 in., triptych. Courtesy of the artist © Makoto Fujimura.
Please join The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation on Monday, April 7, 2025, for a reception and artist talk celebrating the opening of Makoto Fujimura: Transfiguration, to be held in the Arts Lounge at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.
Makoto Fujimura and his wife, lawyer and entrepreneur Haejin Fujimura, are Equity in Action Visiting Scholars (EAVS) at the Penn Office of Social Equity & Community for the 2024–25 academic year. They will deliver the final lecture in their four-part EAVS series at 6:30 PM, preceded by a public reception for the exhibition at 6:00 PM.
This program is free and open to the public. Registration is requested but is not required to attend.
- Monday, April 7, 6:00 PM
- The Arts Lounge at the Annenberg Center
3680 Walnut Street (enter from the South Plaza)
University of Pennsylvania
Makoto Fujimura will speak on his monumental Transfiguration triptych installed at the Annenberg Center, while describing his “slow art” process and the materials of Nihonga (a Japanese style of painting). He will also introduce ideas from his upcoming book Art Is: A Journey into the Light (Yale University Press, November 2025), an exploration of how artists see the world in connection with social justice and equity.
About the Speakers
Makoto Fujimura
Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist whose work has been featured in galleries and museums around the world, including The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Huntington Library in California, the Tikotin Museum in Israel, Belvedere Museum in Vienna, C3M North Bund Art Museum in Shanghai, and Pola Museum in Japan. David Brooks of The New York Times describes his process-driven, refractive “slow art” as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time.”
Makoto Fujimura is an Equity in Action Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania for the 2024–25 academic year.
Haejin Shim Fujimura
Haejin Shim Fujimura is a seasoned attorney, entrepreneur, and justice advocate. She is the CEO and co-founder of Embers International, a global NGO protecting, restoring, and empowering victims of intergenerational human trafficking. Fujimura also founded the Estuary, a space of cultural confluence that incubates her law firm Shim & Associates, Embers International, Culture Care Creative, Academy Kintsugi, and IAMCultureCare.
Haejin Fujimura is an Equity in Action Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania for the 2024–25 academic year.
About the Exhibition
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation and Penn Live Arts are pleased to present Makoto Fujimura: Transfiguration, a meditative installation of large-scale sumi ink paintings, on view at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, March 17–June 1, 2025.
Makoto Fujimura: Transfiguration features an installation of a monumental 33-foot wide triptych by the artist, inspired by a visit to the Holy Land and created with century-old sumi ink on Belgium portrait linen.
Acknowledgments
Makoto Fujimura: Transfiguration was made possible with support from the Arthur Ross Gallery and the Office of Social Equity & Community at the University of Pennsylvania. The exhibition was produced by Penn Live Arts and The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation.
Exhibition graphic design by Elaine Lopez.
