About LELA's Legacy
LELA started as Lantern of the East, an art movement initiated by four Asian artists, Lee Kye Song, Hideo Sakata, P. Khemraj, and Yoko Kamijyo, who became concerned about trends in the contemporary art world in the late 20th century.
These artists viewed the art scene as becoming increasingly dominated by commercial forces and tending towards a mono-cultural, Western-oriented bias. This perception was reinforced when the NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1996 at their special exhibition of '20th century Great Artists' featured scant representation from Asia. The Lantern group believed that Eastern art, with a different sensibility derived from the intrinsic religious and cultural traditions of the Asian region, needed to become a more active force in the contemporary visual art scene and that in doing so, would be a driving force in shaping the world of contemporary visual art in the 21st century.
The Lantern of the East then became Lantern of the East - Los Angeles, or LELA, as the founders were motivated by the conviction that art can unite people in our troubled modern world across boundaries of race, faith, and national borders, helping all of us to reconnect with our fundamental spiritual essence and to find inner peace and happiness. In that spirit, the founders began, in 1996, and continue an annual international art festival to communicate the spirit of "Global Art Community" to the far and remote corners of the world.
The movement these Asian artists started became rooted in many locations on a global level, from the Korean city of Pyong Taek and their hosting LELA International Art Festival to APEX in L.A., which marked the 10th anniversary of the LELA by hosting an International Art Festival being it's largest and most ambitious project in its history.
It presented not only the spirit of Eastern art to Westerners but also introduced the sensibility of Central and Latin American art. The founders of LELA hope that more cities in the world like Pyong Taek and Los Angeles join this movement and provide spaces to enjoy and appreciate all that represent the diversity and intrinsic beauty of our global artist community.
Since 1996 LELA International has had annual artist workshops and exhibitions. Each workshop location is carefully selected from around the world, from Korea to Armenia; From Los Angeles to Japan. All participants are reviewed, interviewed, and selected by LELA as artists with worthy and creative abilities that speak to our diverse cultures and feature profound expressive skills. Each event typically has 15 to 20 artists and lasts for about a week. The workshops of artists create artistic pieces with the mentoring of senior artists and curators. At the conclusion of the workshop, an Artist Exhibition is conducted for 2 to 3 days to display the art, most of which is the result of the workshop.
The largest such event occurred in Los Angeles, October 2002 with representatives from 26 countries and 126 artists participating.
1996 - May
Pyong Taek City Museum / Pyong Taek city / Republic of Korea
Participants: Republic of Korea 15, Japan 12, U.S.A. 12,
India 6, China 1 , Total 46 artists
1996 - November
Lalit Kala Akademi Ramindra Bhavan / New Delhi / India
Participants: Republic of Korea 26, U.S.A. 15, Japan 14,
India 10, China 1, Total 66 artists
1997 - May
Pyong Taek City Museum / Pyong Taek city / Republic of Korea
Participants: U.S.A. 19, Japan 17, Republic of Korea 16,
China 2, Total 54 artists
1997 - December
Artcore Brewery Annex, Art Bank, and Transamerica / Los Angeles / U.S.A.
Participants: U.S.A. 28, Japan 15, Republic of Korea 14,
China 6 , Thailand 4, Hong Kong 3, Taiwan 3, India 2,
Spain 1, Total 75 artists
1998 - May
Pyong Taek City Museum / Pyong Taek City / Republic of Korea
Participants: Republic of Korea 19, U.S.A. 15, Japan 12,
India 7, Vietnam 3, Taiwan 3, China 2, Thailand 2, Hong
Kong 1, Peru 1, Spain 1 , Total 75 artists
1998 - October
Amyu Tachikawa, Lumine Tachikawa, Space N's and Artroom Shinkigen / Tachikawa city / Tokyo, Japan
Participants: Japan 20, U.S.A. 11, Republic of Korea 5,
Thailand 4, Taiwan 3, Hong Kong 1, India 1, Peru 1,
Australia 1, Canada 1, Germany 1, Palestine 1
Total 53 artists
1999 - May
Pyong Taek City Museum / Pyoug Taek city / Republic of Korea
Participants: Republic of Korea 15, Japan 12, U.S.A. 11,
Hong Kong 1, Thailand 1, India 3, Total 43 artists
Korean Students 21, Total 64 artists
2000 - May
Pyong Taek City Museum / Pyong Taek city / Republic of Korea
Participants: Republic of Korea 22, Japan 11, U.S.A. 10,
Total 43 artist Korean Students 16, Total 59 artists
2001 - December
Pyong Taek City Art Center Museum / Pyong Taek City / Republic of Korea
Participants: Republic of Korea 60, Japan 10, U.S.A. 8,
China 5, Total 83 artists
2002 - October
Angels Gate Culture Center Gallery, Japanese American Cultural Center George Doizaki Gallery, and Cal State
Univ., Los Angeles Fine Art gallery / Los Angeles / U.S.A.
Participants: U.S.A., Canada, Mexico, Japan, Republic of
Korea, Thailand, China (Hong Kong), Australia, France,
Germany, Netherlands, Italy, India, Nigeria, Peru, Malaysia,
Philippines, Vietnam, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica,
Lebanon, New Zealand, Indonesia, Argentine, and Nicaragua
About 126 artists
2003 - May
Pyong Taek, Korea
2004 - May
Pyong Taek, Korea
2005 - December
Pyong Taek, Korea
2005 - January
Bangkok, Thailand
2006 - September
Los Angeles, U.S.A.
2007 - September
Yerevan, Armenia
2008 - LELA International Gallery - Quarterly Shows - Los Angeles, USA
2009 - LELA International Gallery - Quarterly Shows - Los Angeles, USA
2011 - LELA International Gallery - Quarterly Shows - Los Angeles, USA
2012 - LELA International Gallery - Quarterly Shows - Los Angeles, USA
2013 - LELA International Gallery - Quarterly Shows - Los Angeles, USA
2014 - Art Cosmos Exhibition - Artist's Art Show - Los Angeles, USA
2015 - Relocation Celebration of the Artists of LELA - Los Angeles, USA
2016 - Summer Art Festival Park View Gallery - Los Angeles, USA
2017 - Nagasaki-Ken Fine Art Museum - Dejima-machi Nagasaki City - Japan
August 9th thru August 15th - Opening Celebration August 9th
2017 - Yokohama Civic Gallery - Azamino - Japan
August 14th thru August 20th - Opening Celebration August 15th
2017 - Artist Union Gallery in Yerevan Capitol City of the Republic of Armenia
October 9th thru October 15th - Opening Celebration October 9tht
2020 - Nagasaki Prefecture Fine Arts Museum - Nagasaki City Japan
August 43rd Annual Peace Show.
August 2013 University of Tokyo Student Conference in Los Angeles
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Our LELA Founder Hideo-san
December 3, 1935 July 30, 2023
Hideo Sakata
By Fonje DeVre
Hideo Sakata -- or Sakata-san, as all of us, Japanese or not, prefer to call him. Mr. Sakata first came to my attention when I was Project Director for the Orange County Museum of Modern Art. I initially met him the LA Art Fair and later became further acquainted with him at a social event at the residence of Mitzi Landau. I was delighted to discover that he was an artist of beautiful vision and possessed a insightful philosophical interpretation on life as reflected and demonstrated in his powerful artistic skill.
In 1989, Carl Berg, Director at Sata Fine Art Gallery at Anton Place in Santa Ana, CA, asked me to become co-director of their gallery; the very first show we would produce and co-develope was for Hideo Sakata, giving him his first “one man show” in the United States. Peter Frank, as an authority and recognized art critic, was asked to write an introduction for the catalogue, and indeed provided a heartfelt and glowing review.
The Sakata exhibition was extremely well received and as such, embroiled in political controversy. Indeed, gallery windows were shot out in protest as an expression of cultural disapproval; often the kind of controversy that an artistic exhibition can create.
This was his humble beginning, from which he went on to evolve and bring together many creative and talented artists and meld a powerful energy of cultural diversity. This strong alliance of artists and their admirers has progressed to a powerful global level.
In 1991 Mr. Sakata, with the assistance from Lee Kye Song, P. Khemraj, and Yoko Kamijyo, collaborated and founded LELA, (Lantern of the East, - Los Angeles), located in Los Angeles, CA. To this day, LELA’s mission is to emphasize the points of unity between the East and West; drawing on the strengths of both traditions and cultures; it continues to have a global impact for its productive work dedicated to the arts and art education.
Since then, I have had the privilege of working with Hideo Sakata on a number of other international projects -- most of which have generously benefited the global artist community. I have witnessed his abundance of selfless energy and his undying willingness to sacrifice on behalf of his fellow artists. Hideo's LELA organization has been successful on many cultural levels and become a powerful connection, a conduit, between artists all over the globe.
On a local level, Los Angeles is a place where artists thrive on “community” but don't always know how to create it, something that Hideo is an expert at facilitating; he has given tirelessly to his local community of fellow artists. Indeed he personifies the fabric and sole of the a global artist community and continues his powerful legacy with a caring passion and a true love for the power of expression through the medium of art.
For me, Hideo Sakata-san has my full respect and admiration as a brilliant and noble artist.
