Masayuki Koorida: Sculpture

144-page hardcover exhibition catalogue for Grounds For Sculpture. The exhibition catalogue features an extensive survey of Koorida’s work in his first major exhibition in the United States.

On view at Grounds For Sculpture's Museum Building and outdoor gardens, the exhibition features 26 of the artist’s sculptures. Koorida’s primary medium is stone, and the exhibition includes several large-scale pieces carved in granite and marble as well as new stone works created for this exhibition. The mezzanine gallery features smaller works in a variety of mediums, including milled stainless steel and cast acrylic. A collection of nine of Koorida’s new graphite drawings will complete the installation.

Koorida’s sculptures are as much serious as they are welcoming of interaction. The combination of highly textured and sensuously smooth surfaces are invitations to tactile exploration. Inspired by the natural world, the sculptures can appear as though they have paused for a moment as they sprout from the ground. Circular, amorphous shapes become legs or antennae. The titles, such as Rise, Black Seed, and Tentacle, reflect the organic forms that inspired the artist. To create his large works, Koorida often references one of his smaller-scale sculptures which he then uses to inform the process of enlarging the finished work to a greater scale.

Masayuki Koorida was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1960 and grew up in the post-World War II environment that formed his world. Koorida’s love of his culture, and of art and nature, led to his decision to become an artist. He attended Musashino Art University in Tokyo and in 1999, left Japan on a special residency grant in the Netherlands. In 2006, Koorida moved to Shanghai—a major multicultural metropolis—and established his studio. In these past 12 years, he has created some of the most striking stone works of his career. His work has been featured recently in an installation of the new Japanese Garden of the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan as well as having works on view at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in England.