October 25, 2009, to January 10, 2010

Galerie B, Glas der Gegenwart, in Sinzheim/Baden-Baden displays recent works by Japanese artist Masayo Odahashi.

The show, that is entitled „The View Inwards”, is the first individual exhibition of sculptures by Masayo Odahashi in Germany. After the exhibition closes in Sinzheim/Baden-Baden, it will travel to the Ebeltoft Glass Museum in Denmark (from February 12, 2010, to June 13, 2010).

Masayo Odahashi, born 1975 in Mie, Japan, has a unique take on glass work fascinating people all over the world. Dagmar Brendstrup, director of the Ebeltoft Glass Museum on Odahashi: „These contemplative figurines make a strong impression on everybody looking at them. They convey the feeling of great closeness and constitute an invitation to reflect.” Masayo Odahashi has been awarded numerous prizes and awards, including a prize at the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa.

Masayo Odahashi finds her themes and subjects in everyday life. At first glance, they don’t appear to be matters of great import. It might be a color, a form, an old object, a memory or a traditional Japanese fairy tale. “I pick something up, try to combine some points and finally have a form developed out of this process. My work is also important for myself,” states the young artist.

She talks about the fairy tale of the white rabbit and about trips with her parents to the Ise-Shrine. With gentle gestures and a hearty smile she smoothes back her black hair and somewhat self-consciously accepts compliments for her artworks. Her pate de verre works, which fascinate people from different cultures all over the world, are manufactured mainly in a studio in Kanazawa. Reflective, almost meditative girls, young women with pinned up hair, looking almost like angels. And there are the duality works: The girl and the rabbit, face to face in a boat, the man and the rabbit. Often there are two beings facing one another, but for Masayo Odahashi, the sculpture always represents one person and its reflection, the two sides of life, the two sides of a character.

The opening speech is given by Dagmar Brendstrup, director of the Ebeltoft Glass Museum (Denmark).

Green Tea on the way to Jokkaichi.
A meeting with Japanese artist Masayo Odahashi

The ride from the old cultural and imperial city of Kyoto into the small Japanese industrial town of Jokkaichi takes us past countless tea and rice fields. The tea fields skirt the hillsides to the right and left of the small country roads like fluffy tubes, their unbelievably intensive green startling to the eye. In this region, one of the world’s most popular and aromatic green tea is grown: “Cha” or, as the Japanese sometimes fondly call it, “Ocha”. Green tea is the national beverage of Japan, and has long since become a part of its cultural heritage. A Chinese priest brought the plants to the district southwest of Kyoto in the 12th century and the tradition is maintained today just as it was a thousand years ago. From an architectural point of view, most of the villages and towns of this region seem rather inconspicuous, but the area boasts a unique accumulation of historical temples and shrines. One of them is an Ise Shrine from the sixth century, which numbers among the Shinto religion’s most sacred and revered. It is situated in the middle of a gorgeous natural park and represents one of the biggest attractions of the area. Not far from here is Masayo Odahashi’s hometown Jokkaichi. It is a rainy Sunday morning in May. Kyoto’s well-designed highways are only slowly coming to life and filling up with day-trippers. At one time a market town, Jokkaichi is today a significant industrial center for the whole area, home predominantly to chemical and electronics firms. This morning, however, everything still seems quiet and relaxed. Suddenly there she is, standing before me - Masayo Odahashi, a little shy, perhaps, but her face warmed by a hearty and friendly smile. The first ten works for the exhibition are ready. Masayo has arranged them in a small warehouse. The ten sculpted girls sit there, motionless and self-contained. They almost leave you with the impression of looking at ten small Masayo Odahashis. These are not self-portraits, however, although you will find in each of them something of the young artist’s character and philosophy, and perhaps even a trace of her gestures. In a soft voice she speaks diffidently about her ideas and inspirations. Her artworks communicate without words. Masayo Odahashi finds her themes and subjects in everyday life. At first glance, they don’t appear to be matters of great import. It might be a color, a form, an old object, a memory or a traditional Japanese fairy tale. “I pick something up, try to combine some points and finally have a form developed out of this process. My work is also important for myself,” states Masayo Odahashi. She talks about the fairy tale of the white rabbit and about trips with her parents to the Ise-Shrine. With gentle gestures and a hearty smile she smoothes back her black hair and somewhat self-consciously accepts compliments for her artworks. Her pate de verre works, which fascinate people from different cultures all over the world, are manufactured mainly in a studio in Kanazawa. These reflective, almost meditative girls. Young women with pinned up hair, looking almost like angels. And there are the duality works: The girl and the rabbit, face to face in a boat, the man and the rabbit. Often there are two beings facing one another, but for Masayo Odahashi, the sculpture always represents one person and its reflection, the two sides of life, the two sides of a character. And here again, the rabbit suddenly reappears, the one she was talking about when recounting the fairy tales of her childhood. Can Masayo Odahashis art works build bridges between people of different cultures? The answer comes on second thought: “It always depends on the viewer. All I can do is bring my ideas and my energy into my work, but I can’t influence the resulting outcome. I hope and would like to think that it builds bridges.” And how would Masayo Odahashi describe the concept of the joint exhibition in the Gallery B in Sinzheim/Baden-Baden and the Museum Ebeltoft? “Maybe it is the view inwards...” answers Masayo softly. With that, the title for the exhibition was born: The view inwards. I am very glad about this extraordinary exhibition in Sinzheim/Baden-Baden and Ebeltoft. The joint venture with the famous museum in Ebentoft is also a great honor for me. I thank Dagmar Brendstrup for her confidence and the outstanding cooperation efforts. I also thank Dr. Eva-Maria Fahrner-Tutsek from the Alexander Tutsek Foundation in Munich for contributing a wonderful essay to our catalogue. It was, by the way, at an exhibition of the Alexander Tutsek Foundation that I first discovered the works of Masayo Odahashi. And last but not least I want to thank my husband Horst and the artist Masahiro Hachida from Kyoto, who saw me through all the talks and preparations in Japan and who excelled as interpreter as well as tour guide. We owe it to Masa that we got to know where one of the best green teas of the world is grown and how important it is for Japanese culture.

Thank you. Arigato-gozaimas! Barbara Koppelstätter, Galerie B, Glas der Gegenwart