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Group Show in NYC Opens This Week
In News onThe show is organized by my friend, Frank Webster, with Paul Brainard. There are more than 20 people in the show so there will be lots to see.
Die Like You Really Mean It:
October 26 – December 3, 2011
Opening reception: October 26, 6-9PM
179 East Broadway
New York, NY 10002
917-463-3901
Featuring works of:
Erik Benson, Paul Brainard, Pia Dehne, Hiroyuki Hamada, Elizabeth Huey, Erika Keck,
Emily Noelle Lambert, Frank Lentini, Eddie Martinez, Brian Montouri, Bryan Osburn, Kanishka Raja,
Erika Ranee, Tom Sanford, Christopher Saunders, Kristen Schiele, Ryan Schneider, Oliver Warden,
Frank Webster, Eric White and Doug YoungYou can see some works included in the show here and here.
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Scope Miami 2010
In News onAureus Contemporary is taking #56 and #68 to Scope Miami. If you are in Miami, please stop by to say hi to the friendly Aureus crew!
#56, 2005-10, 41 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, enamel, oil, plaster, tar and wax
#68, 2007 – 09, 41 x 23 x 20 1/2 inches, enamel, oil, plaster, tar and wax
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cutlog Paris 2010
In News on#56 and #68 will be at cutlog, a contemporary art fair in Paris (Oct. 20-24) with Aureus Contemporary.
The people at Aureus are all very excited, and I am of course very excited and happy to have my work
introduced to people in Paris! -
The Last Weekend For The Art Sites Show
In News onIt’s been a great few weeks having a show at Art Sites. The show turned out to be super
featuring the latest works as well as the oldest ones. Last week, we have also added nine
of my oldest drawings predating the plaster sculptures. You can see them in the office area.And, we have one more weekend to go! The show will be closing on Sunday the 10th. Here
are a few images from the show. More photos with large view options will be added to the
main part of the site in a few weeks.Here is how to get to Art Sites: Direction to Art Sites
Art Sites651 W. Main St.Riverhead, NY 11901631-591-2401hours: th-sun 12-5Please call for additional hours -
New piece “#56” added to the site
In News onI got the idea for #56 a long while ago. It must have been a little after the year
2000 or so. The image kept coming up in my sketch books repeatedly but I didn’t
start working on it till 2005. Initially, I imagined it to be a simple, but
confrontational piece with a clean, sort of lofty presence like that of #37.But for the past few years, I’ve been really craving to see a bit more emotional,
rough, and dynamic dimension in the work. And here, I’m not talking about the
basic nature of the work that determines what the essence of it is, but I’m talking
more about the window of how the work can be: Sort of like playing the same song
differently perhaps. It must be that there is some sort of expressionistic streak in
me and perhaps that’s guiding the work to go that way right now.I keep finding out that being 42 years old with a wife and two small boys (well two
dogs too) is nothing I have expected. Actually, 10 years ago, I had no idea that
this would be the picture I would be in. I just wanted to be with then-my-girl-friend-now-my-wife
and I simply followed her to live with her. I bet my wife knew though… Anyway,
it’s amazing to see life through kids’ eyes, keeping up with their energy, trying to
be patient in a group setting, and just trying to balance the time I spend in the
house and in the studio. It’s very, very challenging, exciting, and I should
say that it’s a life on the edge! I thought growing up as a teenager was tough
but growing up as a parent and husband, I mean just as a man can be a time
with lots of dramas and turmoils.So getting back to talking about #56, I wanted the piece to go through a bit
more, like I’ve been going through. I think I am very comfortable with how
it looks now. And I hope you enjoy it too.Here are a few of the images. You can find the full set (8 views with large view
option) at the main part of the site. At the page, please click on #56 at the bottom
bar to go to the #56 menu page. It does take a bit to load, please be patient. If you
have been to the site lately, you might have to clear the cache of the browser to see
the new addition. -
3 New Pieces in the Next show
In News onLast year, my painter friend Darlene Charneco kindly introduced my work to
people at Art Sites, a gallery in Riverhead, NY. They actually liked the work
enough to do a show. And it’s coming up!The town of Riverhead is located at the northern part of eastern Long Island,
NY. It’s a rather big town for the area with its set of county buildings. It can
also be beautiful with the river going nearby and it’s got an aquarium
(Atlantis Marine World) where I take my kids. The town is not fancy at all like
some of the summer spots in the Hamptons. It’s sort of rustic, can be seedy,
sort of reminds me of towns I’ve seen in Weird NJ. OK, it’s sort of weird and
it’s been making me want to find out more about its curious nature. It’s an
intriguing place where I would want to walk around with my camera. In short,
I like the town.The gallery is run by an architect couple, Glynis Berry and Hideaki Ariizumi,
who converted a Jeep dealer building, basically with their bare hands into
three gallery rooms and their architect office. The ground also includes a
park-like outdoor exhibition area facing the river. It’s very nice. In addition
to their regular gallery schedules, they’ve been opening the space for various
community activities, and this year they had their 2nd annual Peconic River
Festival. And this is not their first gallery space. They have a quite followings
since their Greenport gallery era (Their first gallery space was located in the town
of Greenport where they still reside). They’ve been known in the area to put up
solid shows. It’s really generous of Glynis and Hideaki to let me be part of their
programing. Thank you so much.I’ve been looking forward to seeing how my work will interact with their rooms
(101, 101 and 102A). Also, I’m excited to show three new works which I’ve been
working on for the past years. One of them (#63) appears in the announcement
above. More images of #63 along with images of #56 and #69 will be added shortly
to the main part of the site. The show will likely include over 10 pieces and I will
post details as we get closer to the opening.Here is an excerpt from Art Sites’ press release:
Hiroyuki Hamada’s works are monumental in impact, but built with delicacy.
They are filled with an unknown spirit. There is no direct reference, but one can
read the mysteries of the ancients or the mapping of a digital age in their rich
surfaces. The forms hold space, rather than make it. Tension pervades, as each
mark and tone tell a story of perfection, balance and upset. Hamada spends up
to three years creating the sculptures, as he applies plaster over burlap and
wooden forms. He then shapes and stains them with wax, resin, and paint.Hamada, at 18, moved from Tokyo to West Virginia, due to his father’s
involvement with the steel industry. Culture shock, language challenges,
and minority status were exacerbated by the parallel shift from an urban
to a rural lifestyle. In college, after starting in psychology, Hamada
became more enamored of art, especially after being exposed to the work
of Karl Jacobson. With a M.F.A. from the University of Maryland,
Hamada’s art transitioned from emotionally generated art, to a
fascination with the abstract, especially the interaction between
lines, colors, tones, and shapes in three dimensions.Hiroyuki Hamada has developed his work with the support of the
Pollock-Krasner Foundation, residencies at the Fine Arts Works
Center, the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for creative
Artists, and the Edward Albee Foundation, and more recently, a
grant from the New York Foundation of the Arts.