Monday 10 November 2008

Surface Matters: Machine Drawings by Tetsuo Fujimoto


Venue: Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP
Date: 12 November 2008 - 17 December 2008 (Monday-Friday, 9.30am-5.00pm)
Organised by: The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation


Fujimoto describes his work as ‘machine drawings’ which are created through layers of stitches upon stitches, covering the base cloth and building up an extraordinary surface which ultimately becomes three-dimensional. The marks are laid down in a random manner creating a form of impasto or surface layering of lines that build towards the viewer. Such a dense surface texture causes considerable shrinkage; a 5 meter cloth can end up as a 4 meter finished piece.

Fujimoto talks about his work as encompassing the macro and the micro. From a distance the work appears as a dynamic surface, from 2 meters we experience it as an engulfing space and from 15 cm we see the intense layering of thread and stitch. He says ‘I am now very interested in the fact that the universal macro world and the inner micro world seem to be alike. I am trying to make the macro and micro world coexist in one picture surface, through the linear expression of the sewing machine. The overlapping of lines leads us from the surface to the inner world of that thing.’

Tetsuo Fujimoto (b. 1952) was initially trained and practiced as a weaver for many years before deciding to experiment with freer forms of expression. He studied at the Kyoto City University of Arts and was awarded Fulbright Artist/Scholar in Residence (1992-3) and stayed at Montclair State University as Visiting Professor. He is currently Professor at Division of Contemporary Art and Theory, Faculty of Art, Hiroshima City University. He has had numerous solo and group shows internationally. Recent exhibitions include Vision of Asia Contemporary Fiber Art at The Museum of National Academy of Arts, Soeul (2008), Transformations: the language of craft at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2005- 2006), Textural Space, touring exhibition in the UK (2001-2002), and ITF the 6th International Textile Competition at the Museum of Kyoto (1998). Public collections include The Museum of Kyoto, Museum Bellerive, Switzerland, and The National Museum of Art, Osaka.

Surface Matters: Machine Drawings by Tetsuo Fujimoto is organised by The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. It is a Japan-UK 150 event and is supported by the Pola Art Foundation in Tokyo and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

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