The Japanese artist, Yoshikuni Iida is closely associated with the architect Fumihiko Maki as well as Reinhard Ernst.
In 2002, the architectural firm Maki and Associates designed the multifunctional complex TRIAD for Harmonic Drive Systems Inc., Japan and its Chairperson, Mitsumasa Ito, which includes a Laboratory, Guardhouse and an Exhibition pavilion called the Iida Gallery for the display and preservation of the World’s largest collection of Yoshikuni Iida’s works.
Like Reinhard Ernst and Fumihiko Maki, Yoshikuni Iida is regarded as a mediator between East and West. After studying art, art history and oil painting, he set off for Europe, fascinated by European culture. In 1963, he was invited to attend a symposium of European sculptors in Berlin, which gave him a foothold in Berlin’s art scene. It was not until 1967 that he returned to Japan and continued to work with sculpture, stainless steel monuments and published critical texts and poems. In his word strip paintings ‘Chromatopoiema’, a Japanese word is juxtaposed with its English translation at the edges of the picture. Coloured bars connect identical letters from the Japanese-English word pairs or mark them in colour. In the steel sculpture shown here, too, with its unpretentious monumentality and clarity, coloured polyester cords establish a connection between the two contrasting steel elements.
Yoshikuni Iida (*1935)
Untitled, 1976
Currently exhibited: Yes (1st floor)
Material: Steel
Size: 178.5 x 283 x 50 cm
Inv-Nr.: A_224
Keywords:
Acquisition: Reinhard Ernst Collection, Studio Yoshi Iida, 1995
The Japanese artist, Yoshikuni Iida is closely associated with the architect Fumihiko Maki as well as Reinhard Ernst. In 2002, the architectural firm Maki and Associates designed the multifunctional complex TRIAD for Harmonic Drive Systems Inc., Japan and its Chairperson, Mitsumasa Ito, which includes a Laboratory, Guardhouse and an Exhibition pavilion called the Iida Gallery for the display and preservation of the World’s largest collection of Yoshikuni Iida’s works, with around 20 sculptures, 170 paintings, 620 drawings, 240 collages, 120 prints and 3200 other objects such as memoirs and letters. Reinhard Ernst’s concern was to create a place for Iida’s works without neglecting aspects such as technology and security. Fumihiko Maki wanted to create ‘a kind of harmonious dialogue between them, both morphologically and spatially’. The result is a combination of three buildings, each representing a different function, technology and security.
Like Reinhard Ernst and Fumihiko Maki, Yoshikuni Iida is considered a mediator between East and West. After studying art, art history and oil painting, he set off for Europe, fascinated by European culture. In 1956, he first moved to Rome and studied with sculptor Pericle Fazzini. On invitation, he travelled to Berlin in 1963 for the Symposium of European Sculptors, which enabled him to gain a foothold in Berlin’s art scene. He did not return to Japan until 1967 and continued to work with sculpture, stainless steel monuments and published critical texts and poems. In his word strip paintings ‘Chromatopoiema’, a Japanese word is juxtaposed with its English translation at the edges of the picture. Coloured bars connect identical letters from the Japanese-English word pairs or mark them in colour. It is a graphic-literary game, as it has been played in Japan for centuries. The word pairs are meant as ciphers with which he tries to show the original meaning of the words. In the steel sculpture shown here, with its undisputed monumentality and clarity, coloured polyester cords establish a connection between the two opposing steel elements.
‘What I am looking for with my work is the spiritual orientation as a human being among human beings, existence and its balance, but that means for me non-being or not-being, Japanese also mugen, which means: unlimited, unrestricted.’ [1]
[1] Yoshikuni Iida, quoted in Irmtraud Schaarschmidt-Richter, ‘Mittler zwischen Ost und West: Yoshikuni Iida’, in: Das Kunstwerk, 1979, p. 35/36, here p. 36.
