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Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork

A close-up view of a golden metal vessel, hammered into a textured surface with a pattern of interconnected ridges and smooth roundels.

  • Dates

    March 2, 2024–early 2026

  • Location

    Arthur M. Sackler Gallery | Gallery 22

  • Collection Area

    Contemporary Art, Japanese Art

Metalworking is at once powerful and delicate. Immense labor and heat are required to extract pure metals from ore to form alloys that are then made into flat metal sheets. The technique of hammering introduces powerful blows to create a shape, yet it can also soften and refine metal through the gentle warmth of rhythmic strikes. Traditional Japanese metalworking evolved to produce functional items, such as vessels and tools. Hammering was primarily applied to create water containers for making tea, gongs for both religious and secular use, bells, swords, and armor. Over time, the development of alloys, patination methods, and the infusion of foreign decorative techniques, such as chasing and inlay, expanded the visual and aesthetic potential of hammered metalwork.

Contemporary Japanese metalworking breathes life into traditional methods that have been passed down and practiced over generations. The artists featured in Striking Objects create masterpieces that combine tradition with creativity and innovation. The exhibition highlights works from the collection of Shirley Z. Johnson (1940–2021), distinguished lawyer, philanthropist, and former board member of the National Museum of Asian Art. Her passion for contemporary Japanese metalwork and her visionary gift have made the National Museum of Asian Art home to the largest collection of such works in the United States.

 

 

Object Gallery

 

 

Working Processes

Hammering is a rhythmic process that gradually transforms metal. This video captures two artists, Ōsumi Yukie (b. 1945) and Tanaka Terukazu (b. 1945), in action as they shape and decorate metal vessels.

Total run time: 39min 48sec

© Ōsumi Yukie © Tanaka Terukazu

Video Poster

Working Processes | View on YouTube

 

 

Keep Exploring

Art Stories | Gold

Many of the artists featured in Striking Objects work with gold as well as a range of other metals. Learn why gold has captivated us for millennia, and find out all the ways it was incorporated into objects across the museum’s collections.

A gold-and-black screen with wispily painted reeds, staggered blocks of Japanese calligraphy, and a brushed, speckled gold texture.

Support

This exhibition is made possible by the Shirley Z. Johnson Endowment Fund.

Generous support for this exhibition and the museum’s Japanese art program is provided by

Mitsubishi Corporation

Embossed gold jar (detail), Ōnuma Chihiro (b. 1950), Japan, Shōwa era, 1988, hammered copper with amalgam gilding (kinkeshi), National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Bequest of Shirley Z. Johnson, S2022.8.37a–c © Ōnuma Chihiro

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