Masayuki Koorida

(Japan) *1960 in Kyoto

The granite and marble sculptures of the Japanese artist Masayuki Koorida impress through the interplay of their unique abstract form and the evenness of their polished surfaces. A number of stone sculptures by Koorida – their perfect curves making them seem artificial yet at the same time alive – could be seen in earlier “Blickachsen” exhibitions. This year, three of his most recent works, entitled “Twist”, are on display in the Bad Homburg Kurpark, and further works can be seen at the “Blickachsen” location on the site of the Roman fort of Feldberg. The torsion suggested by the title of these monumental “Twists” is vividly present. Two bulging protrusions of one and the same body mass seem to twist against each other in opposite directions. It is as if they were in motion before our very eyes. The hardness of the stone is transformed by Koorida into an organic mutability and softness. Yet these works, polished to a high gloss, with their smooth, and thus reflective, surfaces, stand in sharp contrast to their natural surroundings. Through the multi-layered visual presence of these formally reduced sculptures, Koorida succeeds in opening in the observer’s imagination an infinite room for play. Internationally known for his remarkable abstract stone sculptures, Masayuki Koorida studied in Japan and later lived in The Netherlands and Taiwan. Since 2006 he has lived and worked in Shanghai. In “Blickachsen 9”, Koorida presents two highly contrasting facets of his work: on the one hand, three of his characteristic marble and granite sculptures, with their perfect curves and high gloss polish, are on display in the Bad Homburg Kurpark. On the other, an installation of eight – in their outward form very different – works can be seen in one of the two “Blickachsen” locations on the Limes in the Taunus. Placed between the preserved, almost two thousand year-old foundation walls of the Roman fortress of Feldberg, the works are entitled “Core” and “Correlation”. The surface of the individual granite boulders is unhewn, or only roughly worked. Only at the top of the sculptures is there a subtly curved and polished section: appearing either as a bulging protrusion or complementing it as a recess. Like the remains of a long lost time, like archaeological artefacts whose function is unknown, they insert themselves into their archaeological context, forming contrasting highlights with the straight lines of the fortress walls.