Minarets of the moonlit Blue Mosque under a starry Istanbul sky, painted with traditional Japanese ground stone pigments, jumps out of the canvas in an almost shimmering effect from an angled view, eliciting some of the most unique characteristics of Ikuo Hirayama's art.

His exhibit in Hanford highlights the rich-texture paintings, capturing the often idealized images of the fabled Silk Road, among other works.

Hirayama calls them "Honga," a Japanese word meaning true paintings in the artistic sense.

"It is in Honga that he really composes the composition and lets his creativity fly," said Daniel McKee, curator of collections at the Ruth and Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art. "These are the works people should look at in person to appreciate it. You cannot get the real feel of the paintings in reproduction."

With 46 works - selected by and laid out by the artist himself - the exhibit traces the past, the present and the timeless legacies of the Silk Road, an ancient trading route stretching from Mediterranean Europe to East Asia, marked by cultural exchanges between civilizations.

The exhibit, "Tracing the Silk Road with Ikuo Hirayama: The Legacies of East-West Cultural Exchange," opens to the public Tuesday at the Clark Center for Japanese Art Culture, located south of town.

The works by Hirayama, one of the most celebrated living artists in Japan, are having their major U.S. debut in Hanford.

That is partly because of the friendship between the artist and Bill Clark, founder of the museum. The center is by far the only museum in the United States purely devoted to Japanese art.

"We thought it would be a very nice hors d'oeuvres," Clark said. "We imagined a small show to start out and hoped the enthusiasm will spread through the rest of the country."

Saturday was the VIP opening of the exhibit at the center, attended by a large group of guests, including consulate generals from Los Angeles and San Francisco and executives of corporate sponsors.

Hirayama, 76, was not at the reception because of a health condition. His wife Michiko and family members attended on his behalf.

With a series of Honga and impressionistic water color sketches, the consciousness-altering Hirayama exhibit places much emphasis on imageries from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"You can see his subtle message in the show," McKee said. "In this show the Middle East is vitally important. His images of these parts of the world are extremely positive."

The exhibit takes the visitors on a tour of the Silk Route from Greece all the way to Japan via the Middle East, Persia and Turkestan.

Many of his works depict cultural sites along the Silk Road, but he breaks out of his perspectives on the cultural past with works capturing glimpses of contemporary life, often juxtaposed with ancient ruins on their backdrops.

"His works underlie the connection between today and the ancient legacy, people's everyday life and its relationship with the environment," KcKee said.

Hirayama, a Hiroshima bombing survivor and UNESCO's goodwill ambassador, stands on the forefront of peace advocacy through his art and philanthropy.

"I do not mean that cultural properties should be preserved as mere objects, divorced from issues of humanity," Hirayama said in his prepared statement about his exhibit. "People in war-torn countries have been wounded and impoverished in internal conflicts.

"To them, we must extend humanitarian assistance, both spiritual and material, in the spirit of a cultural Red Cross."

According to Richard Dyck, president of TCS Japan and one of the sponsors, Hirayama tried to negotiate, though unsuccessfully, with the Taliban government before it infamously blew up the 2,000-year-old standing Buddha of Bamiyan in Central Afghanistan six years ago.

"In China, he was the only non-Chinese person to negotiate with the government for the restoration of Dunhuang," Dyck said. "He regularly visits Pyongyang for the preservation of ancient tombs."

Hiroyama's exhibit includes a work on this world-renowned Buddhist relic in Afghanistan, which he says he painted in a spirit of anger and protest. Other works on display include "Caravan in the Desert of Afghanistan," the largest painting of the collection, as well as scenes and artifacts from Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan.

The exhibit continues through May 19.

(The reporter can be reached at 582-0471, ext. 3059.)

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If you go:

The Ruth & Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art at The Clark Center for Japanese Art Culture

15770 10th Ave., Hanford.

(559) 582-4915

Hours: 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

(March 26, 2007)