Asian art on display at Las Vegas Art Museum

It's easy to see creations from the Orient without leaving town. The Las Vegas Art Museum is holding an exhibit called "Asian Art Now 2001" and kicked off its second installation with a reception June 14.

As soon as visitors entered the museum, located inside the West Sahara Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave., they were greeted by the delicate sounds of a koto, a traditional Japanese string instrument, played by Tamae Shioji Flemming, a Las Vegas resident.

In one corner of the reception area, set off by bench seating and rugs, 10 kimono-attired attendants made tea. They served the green beverage in large bowl-like cups.

Participants could sit on the benches or kneel on the rugs if they removed their shoes.

The last time Shari Warren of Summerlin participated in a Japanese tea ceremony was 25 years ago.

"I like it for the tradition," she said, as an attendant bowed and offered a plate of delicacies. "I don't know what everything means but I know it all means something."

Sake, sushi and dim sum were also available, provided by some of the city's more notable Oriental restaurants.

But the reason most people were there was to see the artwork. There were 3-D pieces like sculpture and ceramics, but most of the items on display were paintings. They covered a wide scope, from delicate watercolors to geometric designs to black and white work that left the interpretation up to the viewer. One painting, showing two geese on a rippling pond, was so realistic it could have been a photograph.

Some of the artists were on hand to talk about their work.

Tetsuaki Takasawa created a mixed media piece depicting a person whose head was independent of its cloth-swathed body.

"I tried to express how humans separate things," he said through an interpreter. "The head is only a mask, not a human face. And the body is only a costume. I didn't connect the two on purpose."

He said the 3-D elements allowed each viewer to see different emotions on the mask, depending on their own mood.

This was Takasawa's third art show in Las Vegas. the 42-year-old artist said he enjoyed the city not so much for gambling but for people-watching and the neon lights.

Sculptor Summai Ma, 37, had two pieces in the show. Three years ago, he made Henderson his home, moving here for the opportunities.

He was inspired by his religion, Buddhism, and made the copper and wood, 2-foot-tall pieces based on its symbols. They took two weeks to make. He said he also created six small environmental-based pieces, on display at another exhibit in Thailand.

"When I create, my mind has to be clear," he said, adding that he draws every day.

Two paintings were done on aluminum by Kotaro Yuki, 33, who had 10 exhibits in Japan and was part of last year's Las Vegas exhibit.

"My piece shows how human beings want to move, but cannot," he said through an interpreter. "They have so much to do, so much stress, and they are tired."

Also represented was Letsu Sugiyama, whose painting of Mount Fuji is similar to the one he did that hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Those who attended strolled through the many rooms, some discussed the pieces with exaggerated gestures but most looked quietly at the exhibit.

"I love the vibrancy of the paintings," said Rebecca Finken, a business owner and southwest resident for 12 years, as she studied two particularly colorful ones. "They jump out at you. I like abstracts, so these tie into the things I'm drawn to."

Keith Gitzlaff, a financial adviser who lives in Summerlin, said this was his first art exhibit.

"I like the 'trust' sculptures because they made me feel serene," he said. "They had a nice treatment of the stone, both polished and rough."

Jim Brinker, a small-business owner who lives at The Lakes, said his wife acquired the tickets because "she feels culturally deprived," he said with a chuckle. "Then she had to leave town, so I brought a buddy. There should be more shows like this here."

About 500 people attended the reception. The museum also held a small silent auction to raise funds.

"This is not the gambling city, this is now the cultural city," said Etsuko Abe, president of the Asian Cultural Exchange Association. "There is so much happening, the Smithsonian (The Las Vegas Art Museum qualified as an affiliate of the world-famous museum), the Gugenheim Museum coming to The Venetian. Las Vegans are sophisticated people."

The Las Vegas Art Museum can be reached at 360-8000.