‘Birds of Paradise,’ a mural by artist Roan Victor
Exhibit at Jtown, the new luxury residential building in San Jose’s Japantown neighborhood, makes a strong claim for being the most creative and art-focused development in the city. And it also created the next chapter for Empire 7 Studios, which has a new home in the building.
Empire 7 founders Juan Carlos Araujo and Jennifer Ahh on Friday opened a new gallery space that was incorporated into the apartment building’s design. The exhibition celebrates the 20th anniversary of the State of Grace tatoo shop in Japantown.
And there’s a lot more, including an outdoor art park, accessible to the public from sunrise to sunset, with murals, sculptures and other art installations. The building features three six-story murals on its outer walls, as well as another colorful mural by Roan Victor inside. The front courtyard is graced by a 35-foot-tall crepe myrtle tree that has been manicured to resemble a bonsai tree, standing in organic contrast to the glass and steel building behind it. Inside, the ground floor lobby has a fun neon sculpture chandelier above large, colorful paintings.
Residents get an even bigger perk: a topfloor gallery with rotating pieces from Exhibit’s collection, as well as art curated by Empire Seven Studios.
It’s an amazing turnaround for a slice of land at Seventh and Empire streets that — with the exception of Empire Seven Studios — was once just warehouse space next to the train tracks. And while people were concerned when Empire Seven lost its space to make way for the development, Derek Allen — president of developer Landforge — said it was important to the project to enlist Araujo and Ahn as partners in creating the art-forward residence.
“We couldn’t help but think to ourselves how do we create a project that creates a more permanent home for them and celebrates the fact that they created something so special,” Allen said.
Araujo, who was still painting a sculpture for the art park just before the grand opening, said, “We have provided a home for artists at this site for over a decade. Collaborating with the development of Exhibit, we have created something special, something stable and something that we’re very proud of for this next chapter of our artistic journey.”
Other art-forward projects have opened in downtown San Jose — the 88 has the delighful “Stars and Stripes” light sculpture, the Pierce Apartments were noted for the building’s historic and artistic touches and Sparq added to the city’s mural inventory before it was even completed. But none has incorporated art as seamlessly as Exhibit. Let’s hope this is a trend that continues.
SMASH OPENING FOR OPERA SAN JOSE: There was a sustained standing ovation at the California Theatre on Saturday night for Opera San Jose’s production of “The Marriage of Figaro,” which has its story transported to colonial India. The sets and costumes were colorful and spectacular, but the showstopper may have been the Bollywood-style finale. Choreographer and cultural consultant Antara Bhardwaj said ater the show that there was a bit of a challenge presented in staging those moments because Indian dance is very beatoriented and Mozart’s score lacks percussion. Even so, she said, it worked incredibly well with the dance movements.
New General Director Shawna Lucey said the show, which runs through Sept. 25, is a strong open to the company’s 39th season, which will really emphasise female empowerment. That’ll certainly be true with “Cinderella,” opening Nov. 12, which will feature the conducting debut of 17-year-old composer/musician Alma Deutscher.