About the Exhibition

Assuming simple forms infused with warmth of metal, jewelry pieces of Yasuki Hiramatsu (b. 1926) show various dimensions, ranging from metal strings and plates to lumps. Moving out of the realm of jewelry, his work has expanded into daily vessels and three-dimensional pieces installed on walls. When we return our attention to his jewelry, it will be made clear that the artist’s consciousness of the form that embraces the whole space is the essence that characterizes his jewelry pieces.

Having experienced military life as a student soldier during World War II, Hiramatsu became acutely sensitive to the challenges of life. Wishing to create something truly valuable to human life, he has focused his efforts on producing crafts and jewelry that, through their use, bring joy and happiness into everyday life.

Introduced from the West during the mid 1950s, the Contemporary Jewelry Movement urged craftspeople to focus on forms and designs over values of jewels and precious metals. Hiramatsu empathized with this movement and used its core idea to strengthen the foundations for his work. Through his solo shows and other activities, Hiramatsu’s works have achieved international acclaim as pieces expressing aesthetic senses of materials in simple forms. In 1994 he became the first Asian recipient of the Golden Ring of Honor, a prestigious award in metalwork world offered by the Association for Goldsmith’s Art of Germany.

Hiramatsu’s jewelry not just continues Japanese tradition of metal carving, but also develops it innovatively with modern sensibilities. This exhibition presents about eighty pieces spanning Hiramatsu’s entire career to examine the craftsman’s formative thoughts that extend across the realms of objet, vessels and jewelry.

Hours & Admissions

Location

National Crafts Museum

Date

2008.10.4(Sat)～12.7(Sun)

Time

10:00-17:00
*Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.

Closed

Mondays(except October 13, November 3 and 24)

Admission

Adult ¥200(100)
Student(college/university) ¥70(40)
*(Group of 20 persons or more)
*All prices include tax.
Free for high school students, under 18, seniors(65 and over), Campus Members, MOMAT passport holders.
Persons with disability and one person accompanying them are admitted free of charge.

Free Admission Days

October 5, November 2, 3, and December 7

Organizer

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

With the support of

The Satoh Artcraft Research & Scholarship Foundation

Wih the cooperaion of

ITL Co.,Ltd.