"Intuition and chance are often implicit – as well as major factors in the creative process. The third main component is reason or intellectual contemplation. These elements form my groundwork for creating art", says native New Yorker artist Judith Trepp. In addition to these fundamental aspects, three essential material components – paper, ink, and brush – shape her artwork. According to Judith, the finest materials can be found in Asia, which is why she sources them from there.

During this exclusive Members Get-Together at Lechbinska Gallery, we invite you to delve into the world of her works on paper, exploring their materiality and technique. Having extensively traveled throughout destinations such as India, Japan, and Korea, Judith has discovered and incorporated materials from these regions into her artistic practices. Together with Judith, who is an Asia Society Member herself, and Julia Lechbinska, gallery owner and Gen A Fellow, we will have the opportunity to closely examine Indian paper and gain insights into its unique characteristics compared to other hand-made papers from East-Asian regions. We will get to discover brushes made of fur and feather, originating from Japan and China. And finally, experience the rich consistency of Japanese ink – thick, heavy, and shiny, almost resembling oil.

The Members Get-Together is part of the duo exhibition I_lands by Judith Trepp and Yoojoo Kim. The exhibition will run from August 26 to September 26, 2023, at Lechbinska Gallery.

This event is for Asia Society Members only. How to become a member?

Judith Trepp (USA/CH), native New Yorker, graduated from Bard College in the US. She spent much of her childhood with her parents in Provincetown, Ma, a home for major artists such as Jackson Pollack, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann and others. Judith explores the relationships between space and emotion, color and materiality in her minimalistic works on paper and linen as well as in sculpture. Trepp’s extentensive travels in Asia and her instinctive affinity to Eastern cultures gave rise to the consequent use of ink and brushes from Japan and China, and paper from India. The resulting works are at once spare and imbued with emotional intensity, recalling the adage “Less is more.” Judith’s work was exhibited in Switzerland, Italy, the UK, South Korea and the USA, including a solo show at the Provincetown Art Museum in 2010. For almost thirty years Judith had a summer atelier in Provincetown, and lived between the US and Switzerland. Today the artist lives and works in Zürich.

Julia Lechbinska, Gallery owner and art historian, is as a cultural intermediary for East Asian contemporary art in Switzerland. Her assignment is to translate the cultural codes for the local public and for the global netizens with the help of the exhibition program and cultural venues. Julia studied art history at the University of Zurich with a focus on East Asia. Afterward she did several trainings in art expertise and worked for the auction house Ineichen. From 2015 Julia organized her first exhibitions, which led to the foundation of Lechbinska Gallery in Zurich in 2020.

This event is organized in collaboration with Lechbinska Gallery.

About Members Get-Together

In our series Members Get-Together, we aim to give our community the chance to engage with each other and exchange views and ideas in an informal setting. Whether it's during a lunch with an expert, while visiting a gallery or just over drinks, the Members Get-Together give you the opportunity to interact with other Asia Society Members and expand your network.