Mitsumoto works primarily in iron. Like others of his generation, he is, despite the highly crafted nature of his work, less interested in delicacy and sleekness than in the exploration of rawness of material and texture. Differences of scale aside, parallels can be drawn with the rusted iron sculptures of Richard Sera or Anthony Caro.
There is also an appeal, pointed or humorous or both, to contemporary concerns with conservation and the environment. This is evident in this set of vases, which are constructed from recycled drain-piping and fencing wire. While each vase has a clearly independent presence, the three vases were created as a set in which the variation of the stringing of the fencing wire sets up rhythms and counterpoints of an almost musical quality.-
-
V&A Museum
East Asia Collection
.
Member and former Director of the Japan Craft Design Association, Mitsumoto’s work is regularly selected for public competition exhibitions and has won numerous major prizes, including the Talentborse Handwerk Prize in Munich in 1991.
.
Over the artist's career, his work has been exhibited in London, New York, Belgium and Australia, and placed in numerous private collections and the Museum of Kyushu Sangyo University Fukuoka, the National Gallery of Australia and the Victoria and Albert Museum London.
.
Closest to his heart, and beautifully brought to life in this recent collaboration with Sogetsu Ikebana artist Roka Atsuko, are his smaller scale sculptural art forms.
Free from the constraints of commissioned work, imbued with the technical & intellectual depth & creativity of a master artist, these works are a manifestation of his unfettered artistic genius
Sogetsu Ikebana Collaboration
MITSUMOTO TAKESHI
X
ROKA ATSUKO
An audience accustomed to form over surface, and preciousness over creative input was astounded by appearances of silver, gold, bronze and copper in seemingly endless variations of hue and tone, by masterful casting and intricate inlays.
Large inlaid bronze vessels and vases, jewellery and cutlery, all saw the application of Japanese inlay and alloying techniques. Highly sought after today by international museums and private collectors alike, these paved the way for today’s dynamic and original work.
-
Box about 1890-1900
Iron, with a shibuichi panel decorated in gold, silver, shakudo, and shibuichi
Khalili Collections
-
Japanese artists pay respect to the inherent characteristics of the material with which they work.
Exploiting the fluidity of the metal, its capacity to hold colour and textures and its richness in being just what it is – it matters not whether it's inexpensive aluminium or expensive gold.
-
Mitsumoto Takeshi
Architectural Installation Piece
Lake Biwa Otsu Prince Hotel | 2017
-
What may be regarded as ‘weakness’ or ‘faults’ in material or technique are often highlighted, even exaggerated, to become an integral part of the beauty of the work.
This may also be seen as an inherent characteristic of the Japanese aesthetic, evident also in the worlds of ceramic, the practice of tea, and in the art of flower arranging.
-
Mitsumoto Takeshi
Flower Vessel, 2005
-
Less known perhaps is the world of accessories to the sword in which precious metals combined with magical alloys of copper, gold, and silver to create visual and technical miniature masterpieces.
Add to this Japan’s long tradition of iron and bronze casting, and the leadership of Japan’s artists in contemporary metal work is a predictable outcome.
-
Pair of Samurai Figures. Circa 1890
Bronze, thick gilding, silver and shakudo
Khalili Collection
-
After the Meiji Restoration (1868), the abolition of the samurai class, and the banning of the sword, metal craftsmen turned the newly emerging European market. Their skills and sensibilities were applied to the creation of decorative objects for the series of international great exhibitions at the end of the nineteenth century.
-
Soft metal inlaid iron incense burner,
Meiji Period, signed Mitsutaka (Kajima Ikkoku II) and
Hogashiyama (Hogashiyama Motonobu)
Christies New York 2018
-
These large international art expositions, for example, Metalwork World Exhibition at Nuremberg in 1885, provided a reciprocal stimulus between Japan and the West and introduced new techniques, designs and materials.
-
Incense Burner (Koro) M72 Circa 1890
Silver, shakudō, shibuichi, gold, silverAnd a shakudō-copper mokume alloy.
Khalili Collections
-
Contemporary Japanese metalwork artists are moving away from the embrace of traditional processes, much like contemporary Japanese ceramic artists, towards ones that allow more creative control and provide for the exploration of the full range of potentials of their medium.
-
Mitsumoto Takeshi
波濤の花器 Hatō no KakiSwirling Waters
Recently Available Work
-
Still faithful to the Japanese aesthetics of beauty of function, imperfection and the appreciation of the changes inherent in nature; contemporary metalwork artists adapt traditional techniques and materials to the modern world.
-
Mitsumoto Takeshi
波涛 Hatō
Stormy Waters
Hyatt Regency Yokohama 2020
-
