Katsura Funakoshi / Ernst Barlach
27 Jan - 24 Mar 2005
Annely Juda Fine Art is proud to present A Map of the Time – a Juxtaposition between the works of the German Expressionist sculptor Ernst Barlach (1870-1938) and contemporary Japanese sculptor Katsura Funakoshi (b. 1951).
This exhibition affords a fascinating opportunity to compare and contrast the work of two outstanding figurative sculptors, a comparison that highlights many conceptual and aesthetic parallels between the two artists despite their differing experiences – one from the East and one from the West and yet both Christians.
Katsura Funakoshi uses camphor wood, a soft wood which complements the serenity of his figures. The sculptures are painted in subtle tones that enhance both the characteristics of the wood and its ability to mimic human flesh. The figures are rarely actual likenesses but are intensely personal and, despite portraying only the head and torso, have the presence of real people: of body and of spirit. Spirituality is increased by the surrealist additions of animal features or transplanted body parts.
Funakoshi was born in Japan in 1951 and studied at Tokyo University of Art. He has received many awards and has exhibited in Japan, USA and Europe. In 2000 he had a major one-man exhibition at Annely Juda Fine Art which toured to Kunsthalle Recklinghausen and Museen Heilbronn, Germany. The current exhibition comprises 6 sculptures from 2004 and 20 recent drawings.
These works by Funakoshi are being juxtaposed with 3 sculptures and 10 drawings of Ernst Barlach. Barlach’s wooden sculptures, like Funakoshi’s, are beautiful in their simplicity and yet they are loaded with human emotion and energy. Among the most important of the German expressionist sculptors Barlach was influenced by late Gothic art. His figures, often swathed in heavy drapery, are posed in attitudes of powerful spirituality.
Barlach was born in Wedel, Germany, in 1870 and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden. He made his first wood sculpture in 1907 following an influential journey to Russia. He enjoyed considerable success in Germany until 1937 when he was branded degenerate by the Nazis and his works were expelled from the German museums. He died in 1938.
This exhibition is made in collaboration with the Ernst Barlach Haus, Hamburg, where it will be showing from 24 April – 24 July 2005.
Images and a 96 page colour catalogue are available on request
Gallery opening times: Monday – Friday 10 am – 6 pm
Saturday 11 am – 5 pm
This exhibition affords a fascinating opportunity to compare and contrast the work of two outstanding figurative sculptors, a comparison that highlights many conceptual and aesthetic parallels between the two artists despite their differing experiences – one from the East and one from the West and yet both Christians.
Katsura Funakoshi uses camphor wood, a soft wood which complements the serenity of his figures. The sculptures are painted in subtle tones that enhance both the characteristics of the wood and its ability to mimic human flesh. The figures are rarely actual likenesses but are intensely personal and, despite portraying only the head and torso, have the presence of real people: of body and of spirit. Spirituality is increased by the surrealist additions of animal features or transplanted body parts.
Funakoshi was born in Japan in 1951 and studied at Tokyo University of Art. He has received many awards and has exhibited in Japan, USA and Europe. In 2000 he had a major one-man exhibition at Annely Juda Fine Art which toured to Kunsthalle Recklinghausen and Museen Heilbronn, Germany. The current exhibition comprises 6 sculptures from 2004 and 20 recent drawings.
These works by Funakoshi are being juxtaposed with 3 sculptures and 10 drawings of Ernst Barlach. Barlach’s wooden sculptures, like Funakoshi’s, are beautiful in their simplicity and yet they are loaded with human emotion and energy. Among the most important of the German expressionist sculptors Barlach was influenced by late Gothic art. His figures, often swathed in heavy drapery, are posed in attitudes of powerful spirituality.
Barlach was born in Wedel, Germany, in 1870 and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden. He made his first wood sculpture in 1907 following an influential journey to Russia. He enjoyed considerable success in Germany until 1937 when he was branded degenerate by the Nazis and his works were expelled from the German museums. He died in 1938.
This exhibition is made in collaboration with the Ernst Barlach Haus, Hamburg, where it will be showing from 24 April – 24 July 2005.
Images and a 96 page colour catalogue are available on request
Gallery opening times: Monday – Friday 10 am – 6 pm
Saturday 11 am – 5 pm