J.T. Sata: Immigrant Modernist

A beautiful exhibition booklet is available documenting the life and work of J.T. Sata whose work is on display at JANM in the exhibition J.T. Sata: Immigrant Modernist,  March 15 - September 01, 2024.  James Tadanao Sata (1896–1975) created some of the most adventurous  photographs made in America in the 1920s and ’30s. Abstract spheres and  triangles, complex arrangements of figures and shadows, and spaces rich  with deep and delicate tones emphasized geometric forms and conveyed newness, modernity, and irony.  At the onset of World War II, Sata was forced to abandon photography  since cameras were deemed contraband for those of Japanese heritage.  During the forced removal of Japanese Americans, the Sata family lived  in a horse stall at Santa Anita temporary detention center. Later, they  were moved to the Jerome and Gila River concentration camps in Arkansas  and Arizona, where Sata made drawings and paintings of life in the  camps. Both his prewar photographs and camp artwork expressed a sense of  beauty, isolation, and fortitude in the face of a daunting and  complicated world.  Paper: 23 pp.