KAN YASUDA

In 1970, at the age of 25, Kan Yasuda moved to Rome, Italy, where he studied under Pericle Fazzini, a master of figurative sculpture, and learned the essence of Italian sculpture. While searching for his own path as a young sculptor, Yasuda encountered Michelangelo’s final work, Rondanini Pietà. Deeply moved by the sculpture, in which the spirituality embodied within it transcends its physical form, he began to forge his own artistic path. He later moved to Pietrasanta and has since continued to work with marble from Carrara, renowned as a historic center of marble, carving to this day.

Among the most notable aspects of Kan Yasuda’s career are the numerous large-scale outdoor sculpture exhibitions he has held in Italy. His solo exhibitions at historic sites such as the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi (2005) and the Roman Forum in Rome (2007–2008), as well as in the urban settings of Milan (1991), Florence (2000), and Pisa (2016), presented new possibilities for sculpture both within the continuum of history and amid the everyday lives of people today. These experiences, in turn, have continued to inform and inspire new directions in Yasuda’s artistic practice.

Last year, Yasuda received the Isamu Noguchi Award from The Noguchi Museum in New York. Noguchi frequently visited Pietrasanta to work in marble, and it was through sharing a studio there with Yasuda that the two artists first came to know one another. Their relationship continued until the final years of Noguchi’s life.

This year, coinciding with the Venice Biennale, Yasuda is also presenting new possibilities for the relationship between people and sculpture in Isole del Silenzio (Islands of Silence), an exhibition organized by the Wilmotte Foundation.

Through his work, Kan Yasuda can be seen as an artist who has consistently explored the possibilities of sculpture that transcend physicality and even time itself.

This exhibition at ShugoArts will offer a glimpse into this ongoing exploration.

In the gallery’s second room, the paired TENPI works, each large enough to embrace the human body, are presented as forms in upward and downward motion.

Visitors are invited not only to encounter the forms visually, but also to touch and experience them through their bodies, and in doing so, to sense “something invisible” within the works.

In the first room and by the window, a selection of Yasuda’s signature works in white marble will be presented, including TENPI, ISHINKI, and MYOMU.

When encountering Kan Yasuda’s sculptures, children instinctively run up to them, while adults sit or lie down on them, enjoying a moment of rest. Perhaps the true beauty of Yasuda’s work lies in the way it always remains open to those who encounter it.

At the heart of sculpture lies its fundamental role as a place of refuge for people. Rooted in this awareness and conviction, Yasuda’s sculptures possess a rare power to welcome and embrace those who encounter them.

We hope that, within the space of ShugoArts, visitors will take a moment to experience for themselves what it means for the mind to meet forms. We look forward to welcoming you to the exhibition.

ShugoArts