Tadaaki Kuwayama, Untitled (1992/2012) anodized aluminum, 22 elements, each 8 x 8 x 2 1/4 inches. © Tadaaki Kuwayama, courtesy Gary Snyder Gallery, New York
Tadaaki Kuwayama, Untitled (1992/2012) anodized aluminum, 22 elements, each 8 x 8 x 2 1/4 inches. © Tadaaki Kuwayama, courtesy Gary Snyder Gallery, New York
I’m intrigued by the minimalist work of artist Tadaaki Kuwayama, who is currently showing at Gary Snyder Gallery in Chelsea (NY). The gallery is configured around 2 main site-specific works, a wall piece and a floor piece. Both are super minimal works sculpted from anodized aluminum and titanium. The basic color of the floor piece is pink, but there’s something about the metal that causes these green-gold interference colors to appear depending on the angle of the light and where you’re standing in relation to the piece. It’s really beautiful!
What i think most inspires me is that the artist – at age 80 – is still experimenting with materials (this is his first attempt at working with titanium)! Perhaps his success lies precisely in that insatiable curiosity, that irrepressible desire to know, no matter what the material. It’s artists like this, with an inextinguishable, undaunted appetite for learning and experience, that will define the future.
Tadaaki Kuwayama, Untitled (1992/2012) metallic paint on Bakelite mounted to aluminum, 8 elements, each 23 5/8 x 23 5/8 x 2 3/8 inches. © Tadaaki Kuwayama, courtesy Gary Snyder Gallery, New York
Tadaaki Kuwayama, Untitled (2012) anodized titanium, 8 elements, each 11 3/4 x 23 5/8 x 5/16 inches. © Tadaaki Kuwayama, courtesy Gary Snyder Gallery, New York
Tadaaki Kuwayama, Untitled (2012) anodized titanium, 8 elements, each 11 3/4 x 23 5/8 x 5/16 inches. © Tadaaki Kuwayama, courtesy Gary Snyder Gallery, New York
The show is on display through February 25, 2012. Do go check it out if you’re around.
