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Katsunori Hamanishi and the art of the mezzotint: a patient technique.New and earlier work by a master of the mezzotint process |
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When: September 9 – October 2, 2004
Hours: by appointment only
Where: The Williams Gallery |
Stage Contest © 2004 Katsunori Hamanishi |
About the Exhibit:
Few contemporary artist have the time and patience to rock a plate with a mezzotint rocker long enough to produce the velvety black impression so characteristic of the best work. Hamanishi explains: "It is patience that is necessary to produce the jet-black texture peculiar to mezzotint; the foundation of infinite tones from black to white. This is similar to the grounding of an oil painting before the image is applied. To prepare the copper plates may take 10 – 13 hours using a process called ‘burring’. A comb-like tool is rocked methodically, vertically, horizontally and diagonally over the plate until it is completely covered with impressions made by its teeth. It is after the plate is burred that the drawing of the image into the prepared surface begins".
About the Artist:
Like the surrealistic paintings of Dali and Magritte, Katsunori Hamanishi's
mezzotints combine nature and abstraction. Born in Hokkaido, he studied painting
and graduated from Tokai University with a degree in Art in 1973 and next
studied at the University of Pennsylvania on a grant from the Cultural Affairs
Agency, 1987-88. Hamanishi has won numerous prizes for his work, including the
Ibiza International Print Biennial, the Grenchen International Triennial in
Switzerland and the Valparaiso International Exhibition in Chile. He now lives
in the Tokyo area and his primary focus is printmaking. His works are in the
permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum and the MOMA
in New York; the Art Institute, Chicago; the Library of Congress, DC; Taipei
Fine Arts National Museum; Krakow National Museum; Osaka National Museum of Art;
and others. In September 2004 he will be honored in a two-man show along with
venerated mezzotint artist Yozo Hamani at the Worcester Art Museum in
Massachusetts, where Hamanishi will present a demonstration of his own
technique.
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