Exhibition/event has ended.
Kiyoshi Hamada "Journey— 1975 and Onward"
The Museum of Art, Kochi
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Artists
Kiyoshi Hamada
This exhibition is the biggest showcase to date of works by Kiyoshi Hamada (1937-), an artist from Kuroshio Town in Kochi Prefecture. While fulfilling his daily duties as a teacher at an elementary school in Nerima, Tokyo, Hamada observed the rapidly transforming Japanese art scene after the war – with styles and movements like Informalism, Anti-art and Mono-ha among others – from the outside, and continued to pursue his creative work without ever compromising his own original style.
Deeply impressed by a work that Yoshishige Saito (1904-2001), a leading figure among the Mono-ha artists, had made by “painting” on plywood using a power drill, in 1975 at the age of 38, Hamada made a visually impactful painting with sharp, contrasty lines on plywood. The image became more widely known when it was presented as a print once again in ’77. Revolving around a central axis of two-dimensional expression, Hamada’s work from there expanded to involve such operations as printing, painting, sculpting, carving and assembling. This is how he continued to explore a unique and original style of abstract art that is charged with a palpable sensation of accumulated time.
Hamada generally does not depict any concrete motifs in his works. Nonetheless, the lines that he draws are filled with a refreshing sense of tension that exudes the warmth of manual work, and project at once the artist’s memories of the place where he was born and raised. Following the minimalistic forms and subdued colors that appear in Hamada’s works, the viewer eventually arrives at the sights and sceneries of his hometown Kuroshio on the Pacific coast: vermillion sunsets, deep-black seas at night, and horizons as far as the eye can see.
Through a total of approximately 60 items ranging from works that date back from around 1975, the year that marked a stylistic turning point in the artist’s career, to his latest ones made in 2024, this exhibition invites visitors to join Hamada on his ongoing creative journey, and “live with him” through the 50 years that he has spent breaking new ground in art.
Deeply impressed by a work that Yoshishige Saito (1904-2001), a leading figure among the Mono-ha artists, had made by “painting” on plywood using a power drill, in 1975 at the age of 38, Hamada made a visually impactful painting with sharp, contrasty lines on plywood. The image became more widely known when it was presented as a print once again in ’77. Revolving around a central axis of two-dimensional expression, Hamada’s work from there expanded to involve such operations as printing, painting, sculpting, carving and assembling. This is how he continued to explore a unique and original style of abstract art that is charged with a palpable sensation of accumulated time.
Hamada generally does not depict any concrete motifs in his works. Nonetheless, the lines that he draws are filled with a refreshing sense of tension that exudes the warmth of manual work, and project at once the artist’s memories of the place where he was born and raised. Following the minimalistic forms and subdued colors that appear in Hamada’s works, the viewer eventually arrives at the sights and sceneries of his hometown Kuroshio on the Pacific coast: vermillion sunsets, deep-black seas at night, and horizons as far as the eye can see.
Through a total of approximately 60 items ranging from works that date back from around 1975, the year that marked a stylistic turning point in the artist’s career, to his latest ones made in 2024, this exhibition invites visitors to join Hamada on his ongoing creative journey, and “live with him” through the 50 years that he has spent breaking new ground in art.
Schedule | Feb 8 (Sat) 2025-Apr 13 (Sun) 2025 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults ¥1200, University Students ¥850, High School Students and Under free. | ||||
| Website | https://moak-jp.translate.goog/en/event/exhibitions/hamadakiyoshi.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=ja | ||||
| Venue | The Museum of Art, Kochi https://moak.jp/en/ | ||||
| Location | 353-2 Takasu, Kochi-shi, Kochi 781-8123 | ||||
| Access | 9 minute walk from Kenritsu Bijutsukan-dori Station on the Tosaden Gomen line, 10 minutes by taxi from the South exit of Kochi Station on the JR Dosan line. | ||||
| Phone | 088-866-8000 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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