The Open Eye: The Home Collection of Ray Yoshida

THE OPEN EYE, a fascinating new series of five exhibitions opening October 13 at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, responds to and presents in its entirety the vast home collection of Chicago artist and teacher Ray Yoshida. Spanning folk art, manufactured goods, pop culture, fine art, and ethnographic art, THE OPEN EYE considers the idea of the artist’s visual vocabulary as well as the proposition that the more one observes, the more one is able to discover, interpret, and, by extension, create. Yoshida (1930 – 2009) taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for nearly four decades and had an indelible influence on generations of artists, including the Chicago Imagists. With his guidance, students learned to look beyond the confines of Western art, to explore source material that would propel their work into something unique to their experience.

Yoshida’s belief in leveling hierarchies, in the elevation of vernacular aesthetics, and in the commingling of fine art with the entirety of visual culture is manifest in the wide-ranging collection that filled his Chicago residence. Included in the more than 2,600 pieces Yoshida surrounded himself with — from tattoo sheets and whirligigs to thrift-store treasures and African masks — are works of art by Martin Ramirez, Karl Wirsum, Joseph Yoakum, and Roger Brown. RAY YOSHIDA’S MUSEUM OF EXTRAORDINARY VALUES offers an unprecedented examination of Yoshida’s home tableaux in the greater context of his artistic oeuvre of paintings, drawings, and collages.

The exhibition closes March 2, 2014.

All images © John Michael Kohler Arts Center except where indicated.

Ray Yoshida in his Chicago residence.
Photo: c. 1974; Courtesy of Mary Baber.

Interior View of Chicago residence, with Ray Yoshida seated.
Photo: c. 1974; Courtesy of Mary Baber.

Ray Yoshida in his Chicago residence.
Photo: c. 1974; Courtesy of Mary Baber.

Ray Yoshida in his Chicago residence.
Photo: c. 1974; Photo courtesy of William L. Bengston.


Close shot of Ray Yoshida in his Chicago residence.
Photo: c. 1974; Courtesy of Mary Baber.


Ray Yoshida, Extraordinary Values, c. 1970; acrylic on canvas in hand painted frame; 36 x 36 in. Gift of the Raymond K. Yoshida Living Trust and Kohler Foundation, Inc. The Art Institute of Chicago.

Ray Yoshida, Eating Etiquette, 1982, Acrylic on Canvas, 35 3/4 x 49 3/4 in.
Acc. No : 2011.12.1, Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of the Raymond K., Yoshida Living Trust and Kohler Foundation, Inc.

Ray Yoshida’s Chicago Apartment [Tableau 9]. Photo: 2010, Matt Austin. Courtesy of the Raymond K. Yoshida Living Trust

Smoking Stand; From the collection of Ray Yoshida (1930-2009), Courtesy of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection

Table Made from Sewing Spools; From the collection of Ray Yoshida (1930-2009), Courtesy of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection

Bottlecap Figure; From the collection of Ray Yoshida (1930-2009),
Courtesy of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection

Memory Jar; From the collection of Ray Yoshida (1930-2009),
Courtesy of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection

Tramp Art Box; From the collection of Ray Yoshida (1930-2009),
Courtesy of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection

One of 9 Felt Tip Drawings: From the collection of Ray Yoshida (1930-2009), Courtesy of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection

Ray Yoshida, Untitled (brown speckled background).1990. Oil on canvas.
48 x 40 in. Gift of the Raymond K. Yoshida Living Trust and Kohler Foundation, Inc. Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Photo: Paul Kodama

Ray Yoshida, Untitled (home-tableau) (site detail: 1944 N. Word St., Chicago, IL), c. 1958 – 2003; mixed media; dimensions variable.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection.

(from Alter Egos)
TOP L: Unknown, Untitled, n.d.; paint and wood;
7 x 5 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection.

TOP R : Unknown, Untitled, n.d.; hair, paint, wood, mixed media;
19 x 9 x 4 3/4 in.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection.

LOWER L: Unknown, Untitled, c. 1960; wood and paint;
10 x 7 1/4 x 5 3/4 in.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection.

LOWER R: Unknown, Untitled, c. 1900; horns, paint, wood, mixed media;
9 1/4 x 12 x 6 in.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection.

CENTER: Unknown, Untitled, c. 1955–1965; foil, horns, paint, wood, mixed media; 18 x 15 1/4 x 7 3/8 in.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection.

(from Unfolding Landscapes)
Joseph Yoakum, Royal Gorage Utah, 1964; chalk, crayon, and ink on paper;
12 x 19 in.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection.

Joseph Yoakum, Sunset Ridge Near Tallalina Okla., c. 1898 – 1972; ballpoint pen, watercolor on paper; 9 x 12 in.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Collection.

(from AAIEE!)
Jesse Jacobs, Untitled, 2012; ink and marker on paper; 15 1/4 x 11 1/4 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Chris Ware, Actual Size from Building Stories, (published 2012),
2008; blue pencil, ink, and gouache on paper; 40 x 30 in.
Courtesy of the artist.