Japanese Hand Blown Glass Artist Shuro Kasai in Brussels
Hand blown Glass Made from Recycled Materials -
From 16th to 30th of September 2001 at Gallery Fayla in Brussels.
Japanese artist Shuro Kasai will exhibit his works of hand blown glass made of recycled materials in Brussels from 16th to 30th of September 2001 at Gallery Fayla, 43 Rue Lebeau (Zavel) 1000 Brussels from 12H to 18 H. The exhibition will take place together with local, Brazilian born painter, Margareta Diana Heinbeck. Shuro Kasai will travel to Brussels for this first exhibition in Europe. Both artists will be present at the opening on 21 September at Gallery Fayla at 18:30 H.
Shuro Kasai
Shuro Kasai was born in 1949 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. He graduated in 1971 from Nihon University with a degree in Applied Physics. Shuro Kasai is self-taught in this art. In 1983, he took up glass blowing, using recycled materials. Although glass objects were made in Japan for centuries, they are not seen as a traditional art form. Kasai's glass blowing is therefore not constrained by the conventions that rule other media. The vases and glass objects he produces have a wonderfully soft and unusually warm feeling unlike most glass objects that appear cool and hard. He is very concerned with the preservation of the environment and has a deep love and respect for nature. All the beautiful pieces he produces are made from broken glass and recyclable bottles.
Shuro Kasai participated in nearly one hundred solo and group exhibitions throughout Japan and the USA, Canada, and Australia.
Some of the major exhibitions outside Japan are:
1993 exhibition at the KCC Gallery in New York City, USA, with Tadahisa Azuchi.
1997 officially invited as part of The Festival of Perth, Australia.
1999 Exhibition at the Gallery EAST, Australia with Hiroshi Saito.
1999 Exhibition with Yuka Inomata at the Japan Pavilion in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
2001 First exhibition in Europe at Gallery Fayla in Brussels.
Some of the observations about Shuro Kasai's glass work from the foreign press
Eve Arnold of Business Review Weekly in March 3 1997 "His pieces are formed by the irregular shapes and natural surfaces of antique tea-ceremony ceramics. All of pieces are made from reclaimed glass. Some pieces use cobalt and various oxides, some are more feminine, seductive, and tactile. Other glass pieces appear to have the clarity of ice. Because of the unique process that Kasai uses, he has a rather limited control over the outcome. All of the pieces evoke a form of freedom.
The Tokyo American Club wrote: "Kasai seeks to express the feelings of wabi (quiet refinement) and sabi (antique look) as well as the spontaneous quality of shodo (Japanese calligraphy). Says Kasai "I feel that I am part of a big explosion in the universe, I am a creator who breathes in the soul," as he throws all the old bottles in the red-hot flame and watches the melting glass. Because he uses old broken pieces and bottles each vase or glass he creates is different and the colour will vary according to the colours of the old bottles. When he is not satisfied with what he has made he reuses the same material. Maybe we all have a lesson to learn from this talented artist who feels we must take care of nature and respect the "soul" of the objects around us.
Margareta Diana Heinbeck
Margareta Diana Heinbeck was born in Espirito Santo Brazil.
Studies at the Academie Royale des Beaux Arts and the Akademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Brussels.
Fons Schippers says, "Margareta Heinbeck is an accomplished artist that applies in the execution of her work the strict classical rules and methods. Inspired by the human model, nature and still lives, the paintings of Margareta Heinbeck are essentially figurative, and carry the mark of an incontestable realistic freshness. Very much present in her time, - our contemporary time, - Margareta Heinbeck, possesses a stroke of paint that manages to attract the viewer with a strong feeling."
Emil Kesteman, Vice-President of the association of Belgian French languages writes:
"She penetrates with a certain audacity a quasi intact nature or the life of human beings and manages at the same time with a refined concern to marry forms of true life. Margareta Diana Heinbeck paints a world which in our eyes has consistency and is intersected by something which transcends our universe."
Margareta Heinbeck has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Belgium, Germany, and France.
Some noteworthy exhibitions:
1995 The Gallery of the City Hall in Karben - Germany.
1997 Alfa Hotel, Brussels.
1999 The Gallery at Volvo Cars Europe Industry, Gent.
1999 The Gallery of the City Hall in UFACSI - Lille, France
2000 Gallery Alfican (Sablon) Brussels.
2001 Exhibition with Shuro Kasai in Brussels.
For more information call: Martine Carlier 02.763.01.39 - 0486.463.648
Gallerie Fayla: 02.511.17.35