Ken Hiratsuka show at RAG
Sculptor Ken Hiratsuka will exhibit stone carvings and sculptures at The Walt Meade Gallery of The Roxbury Arts Group from May 12 through June 11. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, May 12 from 2-4 pm.
“When I first saw one of Ken Hiratsuka's stones, I could not tell immediately whether it was a work of art, an artifact of some primitive and and mysterious religion, or perhaps even the product of prehuman, even extraterrestrial, geological processes.” - Gordon Fitch in Artzine Number 10, May 2004.
Hiratsuka was born in Japan. He graduated in 1982 from Musashino University of Art in Tokyo. In the same year, he came to New York City, received a scholarship from the Art Students League, and then began to carve the slate and granite sidewalks of the city. Thus began his ongoing work of carvng one continuous line of stone around the world, a statement of the artist’s capacity to transcend the differences of nations and languages. His work can now be seen in permanent public sites in both urban and natural environments in more than a dozen countries. He is included in museum collections in Finland and Japan. Commissioned works include sculpted city sidewalks, building facades and entranceways, water sculptures and gardens. He has created public monuments in Guilin, China, Rio de Janeiro and Cowra Australia.
From
the inner city to the desert, to the coastline, Hiratsuka’s works are
characterized by maze-like designs of infinite variation, always formed by
one continuous line that never crosses itself. Hiratsuka often
refers to his works as “fossils of the moment,.” They are
both modern and ancient, a symbol of human communication through universal
language on the surface of the earth as one huge rock. He says “I
hope that those who see my work will discover new aspects of life,
deeper levels of experience of which they may be only dimly aware. I want
to inspire people to become more conscious of nature and our common humanity.
No matter how lifestyles change, the basic self remains the same. I want
to help bring human beings together. In my art there are no social, economic,
cultural or political distinctions. We are all one.”
Hiratsuka and dancer/choreographer Gloria McLean have a home in Andes, called Squid Farm, where passersby on Route 28 can glimpse many works in progress in the yard surrounding the huge barn which is his studio.
The Walt Meade Gallery and RAG’s Old Bank Gallery on Main St. are open Monday- Friday from 10-4, on Saturdays from 1-4 and on Sundays from 10 am to 2 pm. and by appointment. Call (607) 326-7908.
