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Friday August 1, 2014 | by Andrew Page

OPENING: Hiroshi Yamano’s “Branches” exhibition explores natural beauty

FILED UNDER: Award, Exhibition, New Work, News, Opening

Art, at its best, is interpretation. It allows the viewer, for a brief time, to share in the artist’s perspective on reality, be it the physical or the metaphysical — and gain new insights into one's own experience as a result. In the joint exhibition “Branches,” which opens at the LewAllen Galleries in the Santa Fe Railyard on August 8, artists Hiroshi Yamano and Pedro Surroca offer up different perspectives on the understated beauty of tree branches.  

Yamano’s work is technically advanced, as well as aesthetically pleasing. He has studied the art of glassmaking at schools throughout the United States and his native Japan, such as the California College of Arts and Crafts, the Tokyo Glass Art Institute, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. His work has been displayed worldwide.

In the early years of his career, Yamano’s art, while drawing heavily from traditional Japanese aestheticism, was more of a self-portrait than anything else. According to Yamano, the fish featured in his pieces, with their gaping mouths and waterless environments, were representative of his own feelings of displacement as a Japanese man living in America. Since then, his focus has shifted from personal feelings of cultural isolation to the universal serenity that can be found in nature.    

In “Branches,” Yamano demonstrates his 25 years of experience by blending multiple techniques— glass blowing, cutting, copper and silver plating, etching, and engraving— to create graceful still-lifes. Featuring delicate glass branches and detailed flowers, birds, and fish (that have finally found water in which to swim), the sculptures pay homage to the artist’s Eastern roots, while incorporating his knowledge of Western art.

These tranquil, almost fluid pieces are complemented by Pedro Surroca’s minimalistic oil paintings. Painted on linen canvases, Surroca’s work makes use of light, shadow, and color to emphasize the often overlooked elegance of natural forms, such as branches. It is this intense focus and careful scrutinization that reveals the seemingly ordinary to be truly extraordinary.  

The artists’ reception for “Branches” will be held on August 8, from 5 to 7 PM. The exhibition will run through September 21st, 2014.

IF YOU GO:

"Branches" 
Hiroshi Yamano and Pedro Surroca
August 8 – September 21, 2014
Railyard Gallery
1613 Paseo de Peralta
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
Tel: (505) 988-3250
Website 

Glass: The UrbanGlass Quarterly, a glossy art magazine published four times a year by UrbanGlass has provided a critical context to the most important artwork being done in the medium of glass for more than 40 years.