The gallery Erskine, Hall and Coe is currently running an exhibition of Koji Hatakeyama & Matthew Harris. It comprises 45 cast bronze lidded boxes by Hatakeyama and accompanying works on paper by Harris, and will run through until the 12th of January, 2018.
Koji Hatakeyama cast bronze lidded box
Koji Hatakeyama
Koji Hatakeyama grew up in Takaoka, a Japanese city renowned for metal casting. He graduated from Kanazawa College of Art in 1980 with a major in Craft metal casting. He employs bronze working techniques that were developed in ancient Mesopotamia and he refers to bronze as being ‘a material with memories of a thousand years’ The patterns that appear on the surface of his works are the result of various chemical reactions including using vinegar and miso paste to act as a catalyst to create evocative abstract landscapes and other patterns that are a direct response to external landscapes, real and imagined.
His use of gold and silver foil on the interior of his lidded vessels acts as a metaphor for the radiant inner worlds. He believes that in bronze lies a consciousness, one that was created in ancient times, but that can also exhibit his own.
Koji Hatakeyama, Japan
Koji Hatakeyama
Koji Hatakeyama – cast bronze boxes
Koji Hatakeyama – Erskine, Hall & Coe
Matthew Harris
Harris claims, “I have never been interested in ‘perfect’ patterns. It’s the interruption of the patterned surface which excites me”. He achieves this with the use of patches, tears, frayed edges and uneven lines to enhance the unpredictability of his abstracted works. He constructs his pieces as collages of mixed media and beeswax on linen linen bound paper.
Matthew Harris – abstract art on paper
Koji Hatakeyama eight sided vessel and lid with gold foil
Koji Hatakeyama square bronze turquoise box
Koji Hatakeyama ‘Eight Faces’, 2016
Matthew Harris — Bric aBrac, ‘Variation II’
Koji Hatakeyama
Koji Hatakeyama – ‘Eight Faces’
2017
Koji Hatakeyama ‘Eight Faces’ bronze box
2017
Koji Hatakeyama ‘Ten Faces’, 2017 bronze lidded box
Koji-Hatakeyama
Koji Hatakeyama ‘Four Faces’
2017
Matthew Harris BricaBrac, ‘Variation VI’
2017
Erskine, Hall & Coe
15 Royal Arcade,
28 Old Bond Street,
London, W1S 4SP
+44 (0) 20 7491 1706
[email protected]
Please note: – that the gallery will close on the 23rd of December 2017 for Christmas, and will re-open on the 3rd of January 2018
