Announcement of the solo exhibition by sculptor Kenji Misawa, "BEAMS CULTUART presents Kenji Misawa: Transversal Abstraction"
2024.06.07
B GALLERY will be holding a solo exhibition by sculptor Misawa Kenji, "BEAMS CULTUART presents Misawa Kenji: Transdisciplinary Abstraction," from June 14th.
The artist majored in oil painting at Tama Art University and studied in the class of Yoshishige Saito. Although he was a classmate and worked with representative Mono-ha artists Nobuo Sekine and Kishio Suga, who depict natural objects as they are, he chose a different approach from them and has produced works that combine natural and man-made objects through techniques such as collage and assemblage to create "harmony of dissonance."
Based on this concept, he has also created large-scale sculptures that have a social connection, and more than 100 of his public art works have been installed throughout Japan, including the Iwaki City Museum of Art Sculpture Garden and the Monument in the Pond of Shakujii Park.
Since undergoing brain surgery in 2019, the artist has begun working on a new series of abstract works. The series will be exhibited and sold at B GALLERY, focusing on his abstract painting series "New Horizon," which depicts a cross-section of memories from his travels to 60 countries around the world, as well as abstract three-dimensional works that combine natural and man-made objects, which he has been creating since before.
We hope you will enjoy the new abstract expressions from this artist who has continued to examine the relationship between matter and action.
Artist's comment
If you pull the ancient spinning top from beyond the horizon as if you were giving birth to it, it will turn into a wave in front of you.
Ripples that resemble a combination of light and waves appear beneath your feet.
It is too momentary an illusion to be called a painting.
Sculptures are made by hand, they are an extension of oneself
When I hold a sculpture in my hands, I face the image and decide what to make.
It all comes together the moment you face your past experiences.
One after another, memories of past trips around the world come to mind.
Kenji Misawa
- Event period
- June 14th (Friday) - July 1st (Monday), 2024 11:00-20:00
*Open every day during the exhibition period
- Holding store
- BEAMS JAPAN (Shinjuku) 5F
"B GALLERY"
3-32-6 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022
event information
event information
An opening party will be held on Friday, June 14th from 18:00-20:00 at the exhibition venue.
The artist will be present on the day. Please come and visit us.
Artist profile
Born in 1945 in Shinshu-Shinmachi, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture.
1968 Graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Oil Painting (Yoshishige Saito Class)
In 1969, he won the competition prize at the 1st International Sculpture Exhibition (Hakone Open-Air Museum).
In 1970, he returned to Japan after a year-long journey that had taken him to 23 countries around the world.
In 1983, he won the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum Award at the 16th Contemporary Art Exhibition. At the 3rd Henry Moore Grand Prize Exhibition, he installed "Landscape All-Overwork Utsukushigahara," a set of seven works weighing more than 45 tons in total (and won the Utsukushigahara Highland Museum of Art Award), entering into the era of megalithic stone carving.
1984: Trained at Isamu Noguchi's studio in New York as an overseas artist trainee of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Completed the sculpture garden at Iwaki City Museum of Art and the pond monument at Shakujii Park.
In 1986, he was invited to Harvard University as a visiting professor and held a solo exhibition at the university's Carpenter Center. During a group show at the Jack Tilton Gallery in New York, his work caught the attention of a curator at the Chrysler Museum of Art and was added to their collection.
1990: Enshu-Nada Seaside Park Giant Monument (55 ton stone), Itopia Kobe Kitamachi Sculpture Park Square (total weight 120 ton granite), Nomura Real Estate Chain Monument, Yokohama Business Park. He develops expressions through spatial composition that seeks harmony in the disharmony between heterogeneous materials such as stone and metal, or nature and man-made, and creates and presents three-dimensional works. He also works on many gardens, environmental designs, and monuments that combine traditional Japanese spatial sense with new spatial and formative senses through himself.
In 1993, Shiga Prefecture Lake Biwa Memorial Park (Encounter Square), a jetty, a 35-hectare promenade, and a boat landing were completed. In recent years, he has been involved in the overall production of waterfront development plans for lakes, dams, rivers, and other areas, focusing on the theme of the earth and the planet.
1996: A 30m-tall stainless steel monument was completed to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Fukuyama City's municipal government.
1998 Solo exhibition at Fukuyama Museum of Art (Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture).
In 2008 and 2012, he exhibited at the National Art Center, Tokyo, the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Overseas Artist Study Program "Travel" exhibition, and the DOMANI exhibition.
2014 OSG Corporation (Toyokawa City) Chain monument "The bond that connects heaven and earth" 7.5m,
2015: OSG Corporation completes the chain monument "Rainbow Bridge" 10m high x 10m wide.
2015 ORS New Factory Monument (Aichi Prefecture)
2016 Japan Hardmetal Monuments and Paintings (Takeo City, Saga Prefecture)
2016 Christie's London, Pillar Series, 4 sculptures exhibited (UK) 2017 Los Angeles
Solo exhibition at Su Art Show and Art Fair Tokyo
2018 Asahi Intec Monument "Infinite Challenge" (H5,4m)
2021 OSG Corporation Monument "Hanging the Earth" (H8.5m)
Exhibiting "Chains Piercing Stone" at EASTEAST_TOKYO2023 BEAMS CULTUART in 2023
2024 ART FAIR TOKYO 2024 Exhibited at Gallery sho+1
http://misawa-kenji.com/