Heated Colors, Hammered Forms: Female Metal Artists of Japan

Location: Onishi Gallery, 521 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001

Exhibition Dates: September 14–October 29, 2022

Hours: 

October 12 & 14: 1 - 5 pm

October 19 & 21: 1 - 5 pm

October 26 & 28: 1 - 5 pm

Otherwise by appointment in-person or zoom

 Onishi Gallery is proud to proud to feature the best of Japanese metalwork and represents many of its leading contemporary practitioners, including nine who have been designated Living National Treasures. Our September exhibition, “Heated Colors, Hammered Forms: Female Metal Artists of Japan,” turns the spotlight on the contribution made by women to the revival of this demanding art form, highlighting four female artists who are distinct in their personal modes of expression, but united in their embrace and adaptation of traditional methods.

Oshiyama Motoko creates swirling, agitated surfaces by welding together two or more different metals such as silver or shakudō, Japan’s unique blue-black alloy of copper and gold. Otsuki Masako chisels fine angled lines that give her work an eye-catching three-dimensional look, rich in depth and shadow. Hagino Noriko forges and welds her metals in a process that takes almost six months for each piece, exploiting their natural hues to form fluid patterns. Living National Treasure Osumi Yukie shapes her vessel forms through an arduous hammering process, then beats metal leaf into a fine grid incised into their surfaces to fashion designs evocative of wind, waves, and clouds.

As Osumi has written, “metals can substitute the permanent for the fleeting and transitory, conferring eternity on phenomena that would otherwise have a limited lifespan.” We hope that visitors to this exhibition will appreciate the passion, care, and creativity that each of our four artists has devoted to this transformative process.

For more information or appointments, please email nana@onishigallery.com or call 1.212.695.8035.