52 pages,A4, 21x29cm, 86 illustrations,
edited by the artist in 2000,
FRANCAIS, JAPONAIS, ANGLAIS
12 Euros / 1200 JPY / 15 US$ / 11 UK￡
buy, order directly Harada atelier + 33 1 43 38 05 15
|
2000
HARADA, ENVIRONMENT-ART
AN ART OF UNION AND RELATION
To try and grasp architecture or sculpture
simply through shapes would not lead to a clear understanding
of the meaning and the sensation they convey : it would amount
to forget, on the one hand, that the empty space has a meaning
and on the other hand, that the meaning not only lies in space
as such, but also in its occupancy, in the relations that emanate
from it.
Shape, space, relation : an environment.
Though it speaks to the senses, and sometimes
to sensuality in its most carnal dimension, it is above all the primal meaning
that Harada's work pursues, a meaning that finds its source
in the imaginary of creation, in a literal meaning : union,
fold, interweaving, mating, birth. A creation appearing on
the edges, the lips, in the intervening space.
UNION
The
work of Harada is about shapes but mainly connections, relations.
A whole art of relation that disarms the apparent dialectic
of his production between simplicity and complexity. The creative
act turns over itself like a glove, and questions about its
birth, pointing at the immanence and the fundamental tautology
of creation.
Harada declines this theme at various levels :
-the union between artwork and nature or city,
-the union between artwork and the beings,
-the friendship of people, from the fusion of feelings to the
fusion of cultures.
A long list of countries attest to this cosmopolitism : Japan,
France, but also Italy, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Israel,
the United States, India... but also, among hundreds, regions
and landscapes : Toscany, Brittany, the Ardennes, the Beauce...
or cities : Saint-Malo, Paris, Pietrasanta, Niitsu, Tokyo,
Leiden...
INTERBREEDING
From
this human and geographical development, from his own family,
beautifuly mix-raced, from his itinerary made of teaching and
sharing, Harada builds up the arguments of an initiatory route
:
-a life and a work of art like a metaphor in progress, convening
in curious alchemy the union of art and the forms of union,
-a path of sympathy with the world and the things as well as
the beings, that probably is ' environment-art '. Though this
path indeniably and essentially belongs to sculpture, it carries
along close ties with landscape art, architecture and urbanism.
One of Harada's adventure is particularly representaive of
this aspect of his work : the cycle of the 'earth weaving',
a huge and protean sculpture supposed to traverse the globe
and spring up from the earth bringing a message of peace; its
most spectacular emergence is the Tazawako dam in Japan.
HOSPITALITY
But
to try and feel Harada's personality, as well as the two hundred
tons of granite of Tazawako, one would eventually have to mention
all the people that approached him, or followed him in his
teaching or in the adventure of the construction of his atelier
in Frenay-l'Evêque. They have seen the quality of his welcome,
his humble and insatiable curiosity, this other art of relation,
hospitality, which is a foundation of his art, much more than
a 'simple' practice, which he undoubtedly fully possesses.
TETSUO INTIMIST
Whether it be through his big environment-sculptures or through
smaller pieces, Harada's artwork involves the public and
invites it to participate in a more confidential and even
intimate encounter.
FOAMING
In the intimacy of his atelier, away from
the collective execution of big environment-sculpture projects,
Harada draws, shapes, curves, models and moulds small dimension
works. These artworks show unceasing returns, reflexion, dissatisfaction,
research, constituting the time and the milestones of a route
and of an intrigue fostered in the heart of the atelier, sometimes
a peaceful moment after a construction work or a class, somtimes
a moment of ' foaming ', a new find that might blossom and
meet its public, its environment.
DIVERSITY
There are of course, three-dimensional
artworks : proper sculptures made out of bronze, wood, marble,
granite or sometimes a simple pebble, differing from monumental
sculptures by its small scale. There are also the roughs (research
and studies, either with no goal, or for a project or a competition)
made from clay or plaster, that prefigurate big sculptures.
And there are drawings and paintings. He works on each of those
as a sculptor, deserting the easel for the drawing table or
the sketchbook, that never leaves him : vigorous hatchings
shape his drawings with large expanses of light and shadow,
often revealing a relief and a strong volume. His paintings
are adorned with raw material like metal dust, gold, silver,
bronze or cobalt, that he dilutes with water and fixes, or
with bright color pastels that look like pigment crushed on
paper.
MULTIPLICITY
In short, Harada's atelier forms a world gathering a fauna
of small paper or stone beings, of great diversity but always
born out of the same hand. Every work has a sensual, carnal
character, not only through gentle curves, smooth shapes and
soft material, but above all through the setting of an imaginary
world more or less blatantly erotic, where figures blossom
and unveil themselves, hide, unite, bind and interweave in
the most various ways.
PUBLIC / PRIVATE
Just like environment-sculptures, the spectator
is led to participate : if he cannot physically walk through
a sculptural space as it is the case in monumental sculptures,
he is this time the guest and the actor of an encounter of
a more private kind...
Hubert Lempereur Architect |
INTRODUCTION
Depuis le dernier catalogue de 1995, j'ai réalisé un certain
nombre de nouvelles sculptures que je voudrais vous présenter
dans ce troisième catalogue.
Avant tout, je remercie sincèrement toutes les personnes qui
m'ont donné la chance de réaliser ces sculptures. Ce que je
suis aujourd'hui, je le dois à la compréhension et à la coopération
de nombreuses personnes, à l'influence des grands artistes,
et à mon entourage dont ma femme Annie et mes deux fils qui
m'ont toujours soutenu.
La sculpture sur pierre est un exercice difficile et très
physique. La pierre est lourde, elle est dure. Dans mes réalisations
monumentales, le résultat final est quelquefois un peu différent
de ce que j'avais rêvé. Alors j'utilise plusieurs moyens d'expression,
je continue à peindre, à dessiner et à faire de petites sculptures
pour traduire mes idées plus simplement. Cela me donne beaucoup
de plaisir, de même que d'exposer mon travail en public.
J'ai eu la chance de travailler dans les pays nordiques, j'ai
apprécié la gentillesse, le calme et la sensibilité des gens
de ces pays. Cela me rappelle la nécessité et l'importance
du voyage. Il est source de nouvelles amitiés et de découvertes
culturelles. J'ai beaucoup appris en communiquant et en vivant
dans d'autres cultures. Je pense qu'il nous reste encore d'énormes
progrès à faire dans le domaine des échanges culturels, qui
pour moi sont vecteurs d'amitié et de paix. Les hommes ressentent
des sentiments variés de joie, de tristesse, d'amour, de haine
et de vanité. La musique, la danse, la sculpture, la peinture
sont des créations auxquelles chacun peut-être sensible : je
crois que l'art nous procure un plaisir qui nous fait dépasser
ces sentiments et atteindre une certaine plénitude.
Dans ma sculpture, je travaille aussi le bois et le bronze
mais la puissance, la présence et la délicatesse de la pierre
me fascinent depuis toujours. A travers elle, je ressens le
temps à l'échelle terrestre. Sculpter la pierre est un honneur
et une expérience très touchante; la nature mérite qu'on lui
rende hommage.
J'ai cinquante ans, ma réflexion mûrit
et j'ai encore beaucoup à dire et à sculpter. Aujourd'hui,
je tiens à développer mon thème du " tricot de la terre ".
Pour cela, j'ai besoin de votre compréhension et de votre
soutient. Je suis très heureux de vous présenter mes récents
travaux dans ce catalogue. |
