Atsuo Okamoto

One Day Workshop at The Rodd

Friday 20th May 2011, 10.00-16.00

“Stone keeps huge memories inside, since the planet came into existence. I feel that stone is the most romantic and intellectual object on the earth.” Atsuo Okamoto, 2011

This one day workshop is a chance for practising artists / sculptors to spend a day with Atsuo Okamoto. He will demonstrate his techniques of splitting, drilling and cutting stone using power drills and hand tools. It will be an invaluable opportunity to meet artists from different backgrounds to discuss your work together with Atsuo.

Cost: £50 to include tea / coffee and lunch in the Farmhouse.
Bring your sketch books, camera, warm work clothing, strong boots / shoes and any particular tools that you might use for your own practice.

To book please call Maggie Jones on 01544 260149.

FOREST 28 March - 8 May 2011

Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground, Chelsea College of Art, London

'Forest' is a first London exhibition for Japanese sculptor Atsuo Okamoto (born 1951, Hiroshima), following his residency at The Sidney Nolan Trust in 2009 and exhibition at Corn Exchange Gallery Edinburgh in 2010. Forest takes place at the Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground, the outdoor exhibition space adjacent to Tate Britain.

Okamoto, whilst being a consummate carver and fabricator in granite is also a profoundly contemporary artist. His work not only celebrates the values and sensibilities of the stone carver but also transcends the conventions of sculpture in stone to engage with issues of contemporary life and art making. He uses sound as integral to his sculpture and reflects on his own history as a child of Hiroshima. This he does in the same moment that he reveals a wit, charm and sense of humour essential to his own being. The exhibition includes three new works, made in Japan this winter, together with Far Away Mountain, on loan from a private owner, and Forest Planet, on loan from the Cass Sculpture Foundation. A catalogue accompanies the exhibition. Click here for a biography of Atsuo Okamoto.

28th March – 8th May 2011: 10.00-18.00 (Mon-Fri), 10.00-16.00 (Sat, Sun)
Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground, adjacent to Tate Britain, Chelsea College of Art & Design, 16 John Islip Street, London, SW1P 4JU. Admission to the exhibition is free. The Parade Ground is immediately adjacent to Tate Britain. The nearest tube is Pimlico (5 minutes) or Vauxhall (10 minutes). Click here for more directions.

Exhibition presented by The Sidney Nolan Trust and University of the Arts London in association with Corn Exchange Gallery, Edinburgh. Japanese partners: Joshibi University of Art and Design, Tokyo; HISHIO Centre for Cultural Exchange, Katsuyama. Funded by: Arts Council England; The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation; The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.