A carp print by Chris Dewees.

An exhibit of gyotaku (fish prints) by artist Chris Dewees will be on display from Sept. 4 to Oct. 16 at the Consulate General of Japan's Japan Information Center, 50 Fremont St. (at Mission), Suite 2200, in San Francisco.

Admission is free. Exhibit hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed from 12 noon to 1 p.m.). An opening reception will be held Thursday, Sept. 4, from 6 to 7:50 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.).

Gyotaku ("fish impression") are made by pressing paper onto a fish. Different effects can be achieved depending on the type of ink/paint and paper. The process was created by Japanese fishermen who wanted to record the size and appearance of prized catches.

The exhibit will include several prints by Dewees, who will be present at the reception, as well as a few select prints from Japanese artists.

Dewees was first introduced to the specialized medium of gyotaku by Tom Sharp in 1968 when they were graduate students in fisheries biology at Humboldt State University. They spent much of their free time exploring fish printing methods and materials with fellow fisheries students.

Within a few months they became aware of Dr. Yoshio Hiyama's detailed 1964 book “Gyotaku Fish Print,” published by the University of Tokyo. This was the first in-depth book written in English about gyotaku. Hiyama was a famous fisheries professor at the University of Tokyo and one of the founders of Gyotaku-no-kai in 1953.

In 1980, Dewees was contacted by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and asked to put together an exhibition of gyotaku. Rather than do a one-person show, he offered to put together a group show of prints by members of the Nature Printing Society and Gyotaku-no-kai. The show opened in April 1981 and then toured around the world as a Smithsonian traveling exhibition for six years. It included about 15 gyotaku by well-known Japanese artists.

Dewees' gyotaku style is traditional and delicate. He likes to emphasize the structure and movement of the fish and shellfish. In recent years he has been doing more indirect printing, which allows him to gain more control of color and even finer detail. Every type of fish is unique and requires a different approach. In the future, as time allows, Dewees hopes to do more experimenting with techniques and composition.

Dewees continues to pursue his understanding of the printing process as well as the fish and fisheries themselves. He earned a Ph.D. in ecology at UC Davis and served as marine fisheries specialist at Davis from 1972 through 2007, acting as a link between the university and the state's commercial and recreational fishing industries. His research focus is on marine fisheries management.

“My job as well as my passion for recreational fishing brings me in contact with a lot of fish to print,” he says.

For further information or to RSVP for the reception, contact Ethan Savage at (415) 356-2466 or culture@cgjsf.org.