KATSUNORI HAMANISHI BORN 1949
HAMANISHI is regarded as one of the most prominent Artists of our time, working in the demanding, difficult and time-consuming medium of Mezzotint. His Work is sometimes reminiscent of traditional Japanese screens that adorned the castles and mansions in historical Japan – using images of nature and embellished by gold.
From the rich dark background created by the mezzotint technique, warm colors of red, green, burgundy emerge, often enriched with silver and gold; vibrant contrasts are created by the use of flat areas of color and fine linear detail of river, tree, rice plants and, in the latest work, planets and the moon.
A mood of contemplation and a sublime relationship with nature and time is apparent in Hamanishi’s work: sunrise and sunset, dawn and dusk, night and day. In earlier work, meticulously worked mezzotint details of metallic constructions, branches, rope and abstract compositions of color appear in intriguing combinations. Later Works concentrate on images of nature and the environment of the natural setting around the Artist’s home and – in his new Works – an interpretation of the moon, planets and the universe.
For a detailed description of the mezzotint process, see:
“THE MEZZOTINT, History and Technique” by Carol Wax, 1990
*Collections:
British Museum, London
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Art Institute of Chicago
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
National Museum of Art, Osaka
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo
Krakow National Museum of Art, Poland
Cleveland Museum of Art
Achenbach Foundation, San Francisco
*Exhibitions:
Ibiza Biennial, Spain – Grand Prize
Original Colored Graphic Print Triennial, Switzerland – Grand Prize
Cabo Frio Int’l Print Biennial, Brazil – Grand Prize
CWAJ Print Show, Tokyo – Art Grant Winner
Republic of China Print Exhibit – Gold Medal
Graphic Arts Council, Achenbach Foundation, San Francisco – Commissioned Print
Art Institute of Cleveland
University of Alberta, Canada – Visiting Artist
Shun-yo-Kai – Prize Winner
Bhara Bhavan International Print Biennial, India
Scriptum Gallery, Berkeley
The Ren Brown Collection Gallery, Bodega Bay