EXHIBIT REVIEW

A Snapshot of Jun Fujita’s Vision

Jun Fujita: American Visionary (Newberry Library, 24 Jan 2020 – 31 Mar 2020)

Jun Fujita: American Visionary at the Newberry Library presented a tour of the early 20^th century Chicago in which Jun Fujita lived that inspired and served as subject for his work. Fujita published poetry and photography from 1915-1963, selections of which, along with artifacts significant to the time period and Fujita’s personal life, spanned ten cases, five walls, three monolith panels, and one digital monitor in The Newberry Library’s temporary exhibit space. The exhibit aimed to showcase the impact of Jun Fujita’s poetry, photography, and life. The big idea of the exhibit overlapped with the exhibit’s title, Jun Fujita: American Visionary; pieces chosen for the gallery established Fujita as an important influence on American culture, specifically the way history remembers Chicago. Jun Fujita: American Visionaryat the Newberry Library effectively lived up to its title by engaging closely with content, aesthetics, audiences, and stakeholders throughout the design experience to convey the most exhaustive representation of Fujita’s impact.

Jun Fujita: American Visionary communicated Fujita’s life though his photographic and literary work. Most visitors recognized Fujita’s iconic photography work before experiencing this exhibit, whether or not they knew beforehand that the work belonged to Fujita. Fujita’s photography from momentous points in Chicago history such as the Eastland Disaster and St. Valentine’s Day Massacre are synonymous with the stories themselves, and Fujita’s poetry intermingled itself amongst his photography. Found in beautifully bound editions of Fujita’s literary collections and in poetic verses printed on monolith walls, visitors engaged equally with Fujita’s photographic and poetic work.

The Newberry Library diligently acquired Fujita’s artifacts from a variety of sources to make a thorough exhibit encompassing of his entire career. Amanda Cacich, Assistant Registrar and Exhibition Specialist, explained that 90% of the material collected for the exhibit came from sources outside the Newberry’s own collections.¹ The Poetry Foundation (PF) contributed many poetry books from the collection it curated for Jun Fujita: Oblivion, a 2017 exhibit that was smaller in scale but similar in scope to Jun Fujita: American Visionary. Graham Lee, Fujita’s great-nephew, provided nearly all items relating to Fujita’s personal life such as his passport, business card, and 1934 World’s Fair press pass. These personal items proved critical components in the process of making Fujita come alive to visitors who struggle to find the artist’s personal touch in photography when the subject almost always differs from the photographer. Presentation of personal artifacts and poetry books added an element of personality and humanity to Fujita’s presentation. 

The design and aesthetics of Jun Fujita: American Visionary offered a calm and minimalistic environment in which visitors reflected upon Fujita’s artwork. A sign of the times in 20^thcentury photography and printing, the majority of Fujita’s work developed in black and white. Thick white mats and thin black frames outlined each of the photographs that hung on the wall at eye level, encircling the cases of books and other artifacts. To preserve photographs and books, the Newberry kept lighting dim, illuminating the gallery space just enough to allow poetry to be read and images to be viewed without damage.² Collectively, shadows cast by carefully angled lights, silence save for muffled city sounds beyond the shaded windows, and the overwhelmingly greyscale palette, transported visitors back to 20^th century Chicago as Fujita knew it. Aesthetics gave visitors the intimate feeling of entering into Fujita’s life and workshop.

Fujita’s poetic verses decorated monoliths planted across the exhibit landscape, providing variety in the midst of shorter display cases. Cacich explained that the PF specifically requested that poetry be displayed as large vinyl quotes affixed to walls.³ The design team employed the use of monoliths to avoid damaging permanent gallery walls. Not only did the monoliths serve as a necessary piece of infrastructure and present Fujita’s poetry in a striking manner, they also helped establish flow in the exhibit. Jun Fujita: American Visionary divided into themes rather than a chronological timeline, so visitors freely navigated from one case or photography collection to the next. The presence of monoliths amongst cases relieved the flatness of a gallery space otherwise filled entirely with ten identical cases and broke up the exhibit into small sections easily digestible by visitors.

By presenting the exhibit as a complete story with distinct themes, rather than advancing through Fujita’s life as a timeline, Jun Fujita: American Visionary achieved the big idea of showcasing Fujita’s impact as an American visionary. A chronological layout would have implied that at certain points in his career, Fujita was more or less of an American visionary. Theme-grouped organization expressed the idea that Fujita’s entire life earned him the title of American visionary, presenting various themes contributory to his status as a national influence in his own time and yet today.

Strangely, however, the back corner of the gallery featured a slideshow which Lee compiled of Fujita’s colorful wildflower photography on a digital monitor. Visually as excellent as all of Fujita’s work, the slideshow’s vivid palette stuck out garishly against the overwhelming desaturation of color in the rest of the gallery. Further, the use of technology detracted from the ‘Fujita’s workshop’ aesthetic identified. Fujita’s wildflower collection undoubtedly belongs on display, but the collection clashed with other artifacts in Jun Fujita: American Visionary, adding little to the narrative of Fujita’s life or vision. 

Jun Fujita: American Visionary attracted primarily audiences interested in Chicago history. The Chicago History Museum loaned many of Fujita’s photographs of the city’s most historical moments.⁴ Catering to the Chicago history audience, one case focused solely on Al Capone and another on the Eastland Disaster. Though Fujita involved himself with characters and events only as a photographer, artifacts centered around the world in which Fujita lived, and provided important historical context and information beyond his work. Rather than living as a detached artist, Fujita fully enmeshed himself in the city of Chicago in pursuit of inspiration.

Audiences shared positive reactions to Jun Fujita: American Visionary. Familiar photos shocked visitors who had not realized Fujita had been behind the immortalization of so many notable moments in Chicago history. Fujita’s poetry surprised others who recognized his photos but did not know his artistry extended beyond the lens and onto the page. A guestbook at the front of the gallery contains such comments from the public, proving the Newberry convincingly presented Fujita’s work in a way that supported his status as an American visionary, inspiring generations of Chicagoans with his work.

Though exhibit design focused primarily on the audience experience, other stakeholders also made a mark throughout the exhibit. Close collaboration with both Lee and the PF from the onset of the design process ensured the necessity for no major changes during remedial evaluation. Stakeholder artifact loans impacted the exhibit as Lee and the PF controlled the content of the exhibit. Paths between cases and monoliths met the Americans with Disabilities Act regulated width of 36 inches, and graphic image warnings appeared ahead of the gallery to most ethically present these items to the public.⁵ Appeasing all major stakeholders, Jun Fujita: American Visionary presented an all-encompassing display of Fujita’s life accessible and satisfactory to the public and those closest to Fujita’s memory.

The Newberry Library itself made up the final major stakeholder as Jun Fujita: American Visionary perfectly embodied the library’s mission statement. The Newberry’s mission calls for a, “dissemination of knowledge, especially in the humanities.”⁶ The educational nature of its exhibit on Fujita’s life and work exemplified the library’s mission. Combining art, literature, and history, Jun Fujita: American Visionary contained copious layers of educational promise for an audience of varying knowledge and interest levels. While the Newberry generally draws a more academic crowd, Jun Fujita: American Visionary fulfilled its promise to provide “an atmosphere of free inquiry”⁷ to a wide variety of visitors. Its presentation in the Newberry Library necessitated a highly educational experience for visitors.

Jun Fujita: American Visionaryat the Newberry Library successfully presented the impactful life of a photographer and poet by maintaining conscious focus on content, aesthetic, and audience. The Newberry Library curated the exhibit using photography, poetry, and personal items loaned from sources such as the Chicago History Museum, the Poetry Foundation, and Fujita’s great-nephew Graham Lee. Low lighting and multiple levels of display in the form of  cases, monoliths, and wall space created an intimate and engaging atmosphere. All design decisions made with stakeholders and audiences in mind, the exhibit depicted Fujita’s life in an accessible and ethical manner. Jun Fujita: American Visionary fused Jun Fujita’s greatest accomplishments into one succinct exhibit capable of proving his prominence as an American visionary and essential preserver of history for whom Chicago will be forever grateful.

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1. Amanda Cacich (Assistant Registrar and Exhibition Specialist, Newberry Library), email message to Newberry Library, February 7, 2020

2.Jun Fujita: American Visionary. Katherine Litwin and Fred Sasaki, curators. Newberry Library, January 24, 2020-March 31, 2020.

3. Cacich

4. Jun Fujita: American Visionary

5. Cacich

6. “About,” The Newberry, accessed January 30, 2020, https://www.newberry.org/about.

7. The Newberry.