Biography
Julian Gatto is an Argentinian-American artist working in drawing, installations, and printmaking, whose mokuhanga practice connects him to both the Japanese woodblock tradition and the vibrant New York City printmaking community. He studied mokuhanga with master printer Yasu Shibata at The Cooper Union in New York and holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Gatto's training under Shibata at Cooper Union places him within a direct lineage of Japanese technical expertise adapted for contemporary practice. Shibata, himself a master printer at Pace Editions who has collaborated with artists including Chuck Close and Helen Frankenthaler, teaches the traditional ukiyo-e printing methods at Cooper Union, ensuring that students like Gatto receive grounding in authentic Japanese technique alongside their contemporary art education. This combination of traditional Japanese craft training and American art school conceptualism shapes Gatto's distinctive approach to the medium.
As a participant in the mokuhanga exhibition at the Buster Levi Gallery, Gatto has been part of group shows that bring together practitioners of Japanese woodblock printing in the Hudson Valley region. His work spans drawing, printmaking, and installation, reflecting the expanded field of contemporary mokuhanga practice where artists move freely between mediums while maintaining the water-based woodblock print as a central thread. His inclusion in the Kentler International Drawing Space Flatfiles program further establishes his place within the New York mokuhanga community curated by Florence Neal.
Key Facts
- Nationality
- 🇺🇸United States
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
Frequently Asked Questions
Julian Gatto is an Argentinian-American artist working in drawing, installations, and printmaking, whose mokuhanga practice connects him to both the Japanese woodblock tradition and the vibrant New York City printmaking community. He studied mokuhanga with master printer Yasu Shibata at The Cooper Union in New York and holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Julian Gatto'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.
Julian Gatto 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.