The Cultural and Information Center of the Embassy of Japan

Avenue des Arts 58 - Kunstlaan 58 1000 Brussels Tel. 02 511.23.07

Exhibition

Shuro KASAI -Hand Blown Glass and Hiroshi SAITO -Dyed Cloth
20 - 28 May 2003 from 9:30H to 17:30H
Closed between 12:30H and 14H and on weekends

About the exhibition

Shuro Kasai and Hiroshi Saito present their exhibition, DIA LOG, from 20th May at the Cultural and Information Center of the Japanese Embassy in Brussels. Mass produced glassware and textiles are part of our daily lives. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the wonderful irregularities and subtleties of handmade glass and dyed fabrics. For more than 20 years Shuro Kasai has been using recycled glass to craft wonderfully off-centre, abstract glass works that are reminiscent of the ancient pottery used in the Japanese tea ceremony. Hiroshi Saito has been creating hand-dyed cottons fashioned into shirts, kimonos, scarves and jackets for nearly 30 years Both artists show in their art and selection of materials a profound concern with nature and the environment.
Although Shuro Kasai and Hiroshi Saito have individually presented their art in Europe, North America, and Asia, this exhibition is a first collaboration in Europe. Following several highly successful exhibitions in Japan and Australia, this joint showing will be presented from 20th May until 28th May at the Cultural and Information Center of the Japanese Embassy in Brussels, Avenue des Arts 58, 1000 Brussels, Metro: Trone.
Both artists will be present during the opening of the exhibition on 20th May at 18:00 H at the Cultural and Information Center of the Embassy of Japan.

Biographies

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.

Selected Exhibitions

Shuro Kasai participated in nearly one hundred solo and group exhibitions throughout Japan, the USA, Canada, and Australia.

Some of the major exhibitions outside Japan are:
1993 Exhibition with Tadahisa Azuchi at the KCC Gallery in New York City, USA.
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 Exhibition with Margareta Heinbeck at Gallery Fayla in Brussels.
2002 JAPAN WEEK Exhibition at the Prague Congress Centre in the Czech Republic.
2002 Exhibition at the Melbourne Art Fair 2002, Australia

Some of the observations about Shuro Kasai's glasswork from the press
"His pieces are formed by irregular shapes and natural surfaces of antique tea-ceremony ceramics. All of them 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.・Eve Arnold of Business Review Weekly, March 3 1997

"Kasai seeks to express the feelings of wabi (quiet refinement) and sabi (antique look) as well as the spontaneous quality of shodo (Japanese calligraphy).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. 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.  The Tokyo American Club, 1997

Hiroshi Saito
Hiroshi Saito was born in 1947 in Yokohama (near Tokyo). Hiroshi Saito started as a dyer of silk used in making traditional kimonos. At age 35 he decided that there was more to life than to dye every day up to 10 bolts of fabric, all exactly the same colour. He began experimenting with handmade cottons and uses cotton from Thailand, Peru, Mali, India and China because of the warm, human quality. His extensive knowledge of traditional dyeing techniques is now used in the production of materials and clothing used with contemporary dance and music companies in Japan.

Hiroshi Saito also works on large installations, including one he performed in the renowned Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York. He is also well known for ”Nozome", an outdoors activity in which he supervises groups of up to 100 people dyeing 20m lengths of cloth.

Hiroshi says he loves to travel and to leave his mark. “Most people take photos when they travel," he says, “But when I find a place I really like, I'm going to commemorate it by dyeing cloth there."

Selected Exhibitions

1986 Outdoor play at Honennin-temple in Kyoto, Japan
1988 The Elements of the Exodus at The Cathedral of the St. John the Divine, in New York USA
1988 Participation of New York Memorial Quilt Display in Central Park, New York
1989 Touch Me series at Sakaimachi gallery in Kyoto, Japan
1990 Establishes Memorial Quilt Japan
1997 Japanese Textile Design Exhibit at Indra Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi India
1999 Scene of earthquake exhibition with Horio Sadaharu at Studio Wind, Japan
1999 Exhibition with Shuro Kasai at Gallery EAST in Perth, Australia
2002 Exhibition at the Melbourne Art Fair 2002, Australia
2002 AIDS Memorial Quilt display at Studio Wind

From the Australian Press about the Perth Exhibition in 1999
Cut from different cloth
Two Japanese artists delight in the magic of chance imperfections We are so familiar with perfectly regular mass-produced glass and textiles in our daily lives that often we forget to appreciate the wonderful irregularities and subtleties of handmade glass arid fabric. Glass artist Shuro Kasai and textile artist Hiroshi Saito have come to Fremantle from Japan to set up an exhibition of their work at Gallery East, and remind us of what we are missing. Glass is a super fluid, that is, it keeps moving - be it ever so slightly I and is created almost magically by subjecting sand to intense heat. Shuro Kasai studied applied physics before deciding to become an artist. He is self-taught and uses recycled glass in modern forms. The wonderfully off-centre, abstract works in this exhibition were inspired by a visit to The Pinnacles in 1997 and look somewhat like sacred vessels from ancient times. Suspended above these frosty glass forms hang the unique textiles of Hiroshi Saito - hand-painted and hand-dyed cotton fashioned into shirts, kimonos, scarves and jackets. Before becoming an artist Hiroshi trained in Kyoto as a dyer of silk used for making traditional kimonos, but became bored dyeing up to 10 bolts of fabric all exactly the same colour. "At 35 I decided I didn't want to dye kimono for he rest of my life," he says. "There I was, producing something that my own wife didn't own or even want! I also realised that I'd never really liked silk, either the feel or the formality of it.” He began experimenting with handmade cottons. Because the Japanese variety is so expensive he tuned to cotton from developing countries such as Thailand, Peru, Mali, India and China. They were not only more affordable, they also possessed a warm, human quality that Hiroshi considered was lacking in the Japanese cloth. Hiroshi employs his extensive knowledge of traditional dyeing techniques in experimental ways, and has achieved fame for his skill in the production of dyed cotton for his work with modem dance and music companies in Japan. He also works on large installations, including a huge one in the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York, and is renowned for an activity he calls ”Nozome" in which he supervises groups of up to 100 people dyeing 20m lengths of cloth outdoors. Hiroshi says he loves to travel and to leave his mark. “.Most people take photos when they trave1," he says. “But when I find a place I really like, I'm going to commemorate it by dyeing cloth there." Happily, Perth is one such place. Hiroshi will be conducting Nozome on Sunday May 9, between loam and noon at Bathers Beach in Fremantle. Ring Joanna Robertson on 9483 2696 for details and bookings.
May 11-30, Gallery East, 94 Stirling Hwy, North Fremantle. 9336 6231. Open Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 2-5pm.
Evi Perrier in The Perth Weekly, May 5,1999