Home Grown Art Scene
As you walk past Jun Kaneko’s formidable ceramic guardians of the Resort’s art museum—gigantic heads glazed with bold stripes—you realize you’re about to view a collection that shatters the kitschy stereotypes of Hawaiian art.
Featuring works by Hawaii-influenced artists, the never-before-attempted collection abstractly, subversively and passionately depicts the history and culture of Hawaii from its founding in 1959 through today.
The curator behind the collection, Jane Cline, once referred to the 2,300-piece strong collection as “subliminally edgy”. It’s an attitude infused into each work, starting with Mary Mitsuda’s acrylic Studio, an avant-garde mash-up of comics, old folded letters, maps and movie strips. Elsewhere, Bobbi Bennett's muted waterfall photos are arranged in contrast to the vibrant foliage outside.
Seeing as Maui lacks a proper art museum, Four Seasons Resort Maui opened the collection to the local community as well as visitors from abroad. However not every piece is available for public viewing. Hanging in one of our guest suites is Kloe Kang’s Wayfinder, a painting of rice bowls that, in part, metaphorically represents the constellations of stars that guided the ancient Hawaiian seafarers.
Guiding you through this experience are the words of some of the artists themselves, via a free podcast available for guests and visitors alike. Painter Brian Isobe, wood artist Ron Kent and conceptual artist Ka’ili Chun are just some of the artists sharing their inspirations, while a soundtrack generously provided by Grammy-award winning artist, Keali’I Reichel connects it all together.
