Jiro Kamata – Residency of the Second Hanau City Goldsmith

In 2004, the appointment of a Hanau city goldsmith came into being as a further acknowledgement of gold and silversmithing in Hanau. Now, the second Hanau City Goldsmith has been invited as successor to the internationally known Rudolf Bott.
The jewellery designer Jiro Kamata will work for the next six weeks until the 29th July at the Staatliche Zeichenakademie Hanau, college and training school for young goldsmiths. During this time, he will conduct a workshop for a group of students and on 28th June 2007, he will show his artistic work in a lecture at the German Goldsmiths' House.
Jiro Kamata descends from a jewellery family; he was born in Hirosaki in Japan. He initially graduated as a goldsmith at Yamanashi Institute of Gemology and Jewellery Art. His master had once trained in Pforzheim, and so he decided to go to Germany in 1998 to study at the Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences.
Two years later he began to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich in Prof. Kuenzli's class. In 2003, he was awarded a scholarship of the Bavarian Ministry for Sciences, Research and Art; last year, he completed his degree. He lives and works Munich.
Jiro Kamata sees himself as a goldsmith, yet his experiments with small, sometimes trivial commodities depart from the path of classical goldsmith art: A golden miniature coat-hanger becomes an earring, simple sellotape-rolls turn into decorative rings, which attract attention through their magnificent play of colour. A banal paper-clip made in gold is transformed into a lapel-pin – it could be understatement, until another attachment such as a rose petal transforms the jewellery into a romantic evening piece. Toned lenses from sunglasses become butterfly-like rings, when they are overlapped. They appear on the finger light and transparent.
Concentration on everyday occurrences combined with artistic freedom also allows Jiro Kamata to create large-scale jewellery, which can develop from the usual jewellery piece to sizable jewellery installations.
Jiro Kamata participates internationally in Museum’s exhibitions and in galleries; European and Japanese prizes have been awarded to him. His works are represented in prominent collections in Nijmegen, Tokyo, Basel and Philadelphia. His jewellery is on sale in Germany by the gallery Oona in Berlin (www.oona-galerie.de).
At the beginning, Jiro Kamata had no special project plans for his time in Hanau. Yet, on his second day in Hanau he announced, that he now has a brilliant idea. He will use his experiences with Hanau citizens, the history of the city and meeting and discussions with the students of the Staatliche Zeichenakademie in the project. The rest is still a secret.
The German Goldsmiths' House will present the work of the artist at the beginning of the year 2008.

Further Informations:
Dr. Christianne Weber-Stöber or Astrid Huber
Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau/ Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst e.V.
Altstädter Markt 6, 63450 Hanau
Tel. 06181-256556 www.gfg-hanau.de www.jirokamata.com

27. Juni 2007