Annely Juda

Katsura Funakoshi

27 Oct - 22 Dec 2011

© Katsura Funakoshi
The Tale of the Deep Forest 2011
painted camphor wood and marble
146 x 46 x 91 cm
KATSURA FUNAKOSHI
Recent Sculptures and Drawings
27 October - 22 December, 2011

Annely Juda Fine Art is pleased to present this exhibition of recent works by Katsura Funakoshi.

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.Â

Spirituality is increased by the surrealist additions of animal features or transplanted body parts. In some of these most recent sculptures Funakoshi has also added objects, animals and trees that form a circle around the figure’s head. In Funakoshi’s own words “When something happens, I can see lots of things which stand up from one’s shoulder just like an aurora and a rainbow, orbiting above one’s head, and sinking into the other side.”

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. His first exhibition at Annely Juda Fine Art was in 1991 and this is his fifth exhibition here. 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 and 15 drawings.
 

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