Biography
Brendan Reilly is an American mokuhanga printmaker whose work is informed by both Asian art traditions and graphic design. A student of Melissa Schulenberg at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, Reilly discovered mokuhanga through an academic course and found the medium so compelling that it became the defining experience of his college career.
Reilly enrolled in Schulenberg's mokuhanga course without any prior art experience, but the technical demands and meditative process of Japanese woodblock printing resonated deeply with him. In mokuhanga, ultra-clean lines are produced by the cut of a carver's knife into Japanese shina plywood, and colors are transferred from carved blocks to paper through the artist's own arm pressure -- a human printing press using the traditional baren tool. This direct, physical engagement with the printmaking process, combined with the precision required for registration and color layering, suited Reilly's sensibility for pattern and design.
His work brings patterned surfaces into compositions that draw on the visual language of both Asian art and contemporary graphic design. This synthesis of Eastern printmaking technique with Western design principles reflects the increasingly cross-cultural nature of mokuhanga practice, where artists from diverse backgrounds find common ground in the shared materials and methods of water-based woodblock printing.
Reilly's teacher Melissa Schulenberg invited him to participate in the "Between Worlds -- Mokuhanga" exhibition at the Kentler International Drawing Space in Red Hook, Brooklyn, held from June 17 to July 31, 2022. The show, presented by the Mokuhanga Sisters and Kentler, was an intergenerational, multigender exhibition that brought together established and emerging mokuhanga artists. Reilly's inclusion as a student artist alongside international practitioners demonstrated the mokuhanga community's commitment to nurturing new voices in the field.
Key Facts
- Nationality
- 🇺🇸United States
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
Frequently Asked Questions
Brendan Reilly is an American mokuhanga printmaker whose work is informed by both Asian art traditions and graphic design. A student of Melissa Schulenberg at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, Reilly discovered mokuhanga through an academic course and found the medium so compelling that it became the defining experience of his college career.
Brendan Reilly's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.
Brendan Reilly is a contemporary printmaker working in the mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock) tradition. Their work contributes to the living tradition of Japanese woodblock printing. Prices for contemporary mokuhanga prints range from $100 for smaller works to $1,500 for major compositions. Most prints sell in the $180–$600 range. The global mokuhanga community has been growing, with increasing exhibition opportunities and collector interest. Contemporary mokuhanga represents an affordable entry point for collectors.