KOJI HATAKEYAMA Memories of a Thousand Years BRONZE BOXES 1 - 30 August 2014
Koji Hatakeyama in his studio, Tokyo, 2014 Photo: Sekai Bunka Publishing Inc.
KOJI HATAKEYAMA Memories of a Thousand Years BRONZE BOXES The Scottish Gallery is delighted to present a new series of cast bronze boxes by Japanese ar tist Koji Hatakeyama. He was bor n in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, an area renowned for the ancient ar t of metal Casting and graduated from Kanazawa College of Ar ts and Crafts Depar tment of Metalwork in 1980. Koji’s exquisite work follows a highly skilled tradition which is both craft based and spiritual. His boxes are what the west would consider to be scholarly items, precious objects held in high esteem in the household. These beautifully considered boxes reveal a gold or silver interior; Koji creates enigmatic, patinated surfaces which represent an imagined landscape, evoking a sense of time. He describes bronze as being a “material with memories of a thousand years”.
“I create contained vessels, I try to convey the sense that something is concealed or hidden within. I try to provoke a sense of the spiritual world in my bronze boxes. The patterns and facets I create on the outside are a direct response to the landscape, real or imagined. I find that using gold or silver leaf within the interiors, there is a sense of enlightenment when opening the lid, my intention is to enter a different world, a different place. This place has no darkness. My consciousness is veiled in bronze.� Koji Hatkeyama, 2014
Eight Faces I, 2014, cast bronze, 14 x 14 x 23.5 H cms ÂŁ3,650
Eight Faces II, 2014, cast bronze, 15 x 15 x 17 H cms ÂŁ3,350
Eight Faces III, 2014, cast bronze, 15 x 15 x 17.5 H ÂŁ3,350
Eight Faces IV, 2014, cast bronze, 12 x 12 x 14.5 H cms ÂŁ2,300
Six Faces I, 2014, cast bronze, 14 x 12 x 25.5 H cms ÂŁ3,650
Six Faces II, 2014, cast bronze, 14 x 13 x 23.5 H cms ÂŁ3,650
Six Faces III, 2013, cast bronze, gold leaf interior, 13.5 x 12.5 x 15.7 H cms ÂŁ2,600
KOJI HATAKEYAMA Born in Takaoka,Japan,1956 Koji Hatakeyama has had his own studio since 1985 and is based in Takaoka, Japan Education 1980 Kanazawa College of Arts and Crafts Selected Awards 2000 Received the 11th Takashimaya Art Award,Takashimaya Cultural Foundation 2007 Grand prix Sano Renaissance 2012 Received the MOA Museum Art Award Public Collections include Victoria & Albert Museum, London,UK Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Birmingham,UK Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia,USA National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh,UK Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum,Aberdeen,UK The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia Museo de Arte Moderno, Bouenos Aires, Argentina Denmark Royal Family,Copenhagen, Denmark National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa,Japan The Japan Foundation, Tokyo, Japan Takaoka City Museum,Toyama, Japan Musee Tomo,Tokyo, Japan Rakusuite Museum,Toyama, Japan MOA Museum, Atami, Japan Shiseido Art House, Kakegawa, Japana
Photography of boxes: Tomoaki Kanatani