Yozo Hamaguchi (1909-2000) pioneered a new technique of copper-plate engraving in France and he was active as a leading copper-plate artist in the latter half of the 20th century. In Hamaguchi’s works, there is one with only a part of the vessel is transparent, or fruits float in the air like the moon, and it seems that eternal time is going by in soft space. In this exhibition, along with Hamaguchi’s works, copper-plate engravings by Bruno Mathon (1938-2020), who is one of the French painters familiar with Japanese art and culture, are introduced.

Bruno worked on short films, after graduated from a film school in Paris, but he decided to seek after expression more directly and studied copper-plate engraving. After that, while publishing prints, oil paintings, acrylic paintings, etc., he continued art criticism and he also published short stories. After the 90’s, he visited Japan frequently and found the possibility in Japanese crafts where “thoughts dwell in the artists’ hands” which Western art does not have.

He considered the process of copper-plate engraving itself as art and tried intellectual expression. For example, in the “Hidden Tuning Fork” series, the artist’s questions and eyes are softly imprinted in the works. The quiet, talkative, delicate, and humorous inside of the artist also becomes one element, that creates a dialogue between the copper-plate prints and the viewer.

The works in the series of lines that look simple are from the time when he pondered for a new dimension beyond the image. They tickle viewers’ imagination and represent their heart. For the exhibition, poets Ms. Aki Ooka and Mr. Shuntaro Tanikawa kindly wrote their words for the works in this series. Ms. Ooka’s words are also questions to visitors. Please appreciate them together with your own image.

Copper-plate engravings have different depth of expression from oil paintings and ink paintings. Although two artists’ works have different trends, they guide the sensations within us far like a quiet ebb tide, and illuminate the world ahead like the light of a star. The exhibition consists of approximately 20 works of Hamaguchi and approximately 50 works of Bruno.