Page 42 - 2021 March 16th Japanese and Korean Art, Christie's New York City

25 MITSUTA HARUO (B. 1980)

Ruirui (One after another)

Thirty bronze and brass sculptures of
articulated hornet's corpse finely constructed
of numerous hammered parts jointed togather
with movable head, antennae, limbs, wings,
body and bee needle
1¬ in. (4.1 cm.) each approx
overall installation dimensions variable
With original wood box sealed Haru (30)

$30,000-40,000

Incorporating an utterly realistic form and image of Born in 1980, Mitsuta Haruo studied metal carving in
animal corpses, jizai sculptor Mitsuta examines the Tokyo University of the Arts. The multi-awarded artist
condition of existence through a group of “dead insects”. has been presented in nearly thirty group exhibitions
Whether a vivid representation of the expired bodies or and four solo exhibitions across public and private
a lifeless figuration of the unfading souls, the uncanny institutions in Japan.
feeling conveyed by this remarkably fine articulated
Trained with highly traditional metalwork techniques,
sculpture keeps the viewers pondering the ambiguity of
Mitsuta has been a faithful devotee of jizai, a special
impermanence and eternity.
sculptural corpus first appeared in the mid-Edo
Ruirui, meaning “one after another”, is the first adoption period and flourished in the Meiji period invented
of insect corpses, following several dozens of animal by samurai armorers. Unsatisfied with the extremely
species in “living state” created by the artist. These thirty refined craftsmanship he has been widely regarded of
hornets are composed of two thousand four hundred mastering, the artist revitalized the art genre by a more
and ninety copper plates, including nine hundred parts philosophical approach through juxtaposing the classic
for the limbs. figurines in a site-specific, modern-life setting.

満田晴穂 (B. 1980) 累々