A gallery where you can meet the shop owner
Kanagawa Gallery Walk
File.13 Utsuwa Rape blossoms
Yamamoto Shino (Gallery Watts)
The direct mail sent from Utsuwa Nanohana always includes a message.
This is the passionate desire of the restaurant's owner, Daiichi Takahashi, also known as Dai-chan.
Sometimes, Dai-san (as I call him), speaks from his perspective about how much he loves the artist, sometimes about his hopes for the creator's unknown world, and sometimes about the light that objects emit.
He speaks and presents his thoughts honestly, so when you read it, you just want to go.
Utsuwa Nanohana hosts exhibitions of works by renowned artists, but this time we will be strolling through the gallery with the aim of making you want to meet the shop owners.
After leaving Odawara Station, it's about a 15-minute walk along Odawara Castle Ruins Park, taking in the history, and you'll find Utsuwa Nanohana along the national highway that leads to Hakone.
You'll immediately recognize the shop, as its noren curtains, designed by Mochizuki Michiharu, a man of many talents who is a dye artist, sculptor and designer, catch your eye.
By the way, the back entrance looks like this. There is also a shop curtain with "Nanohana" written in Mochizuki's handwriting.
The exhibition featured Wireman by Gaku Kanbayashi, a sculptor well known at Galerie Watts.
Kamibayashi's sculptural ability is so impressive that he balances the hitokata (doll) on a point the size of a pinky fingernail, and viewers are tricked into thinking the doll is being held up by being glued to the floor.
As always, I was impressed when I looked at his work, knowing that this was possible only because he had fully captured the connection between the skeleton and muscles and the movements of the human body.
If you go through the courtyard to the back room, you will see drawings by Yoshida Motoko, who was also at the exhibition until the previous time, in the background to Kanbayashi's works.
Both appear incomplete at first glance, but there is a sense that there is something there that is not visible.
For example, in Kamibayashi's work it's muscles, and in Yoshida's work it's people and voices in the space where objects are placed. That's why I feel a comfortable affinity between the two works.
Now, Dai-san (left) and Kanbayashi-san (right) have known each other for about 35 years, and coincidentally, they are the same age. And they both like alcohol. They don't care if the exhibition is in progress. They started right away.
Odawara was a post town during the Edo period, and in the Meiji period it became a town associated with politicians, business leaders, and cultural figures who lived there as villas or residences. Dai-san, who was born in that area in 1947, says that there were many unique people in his neighborhood.
"When I went to pick up my grandfather from playing Go at the nearby Uiro (a famous herbal medicine in Odawara) house, there was a relaxing garden. Also, what is now Kataoka Art Store had white porcelain and art pieces from the Joseon Dynasty. I was a child and didn't really understand the meaning of 'beautiful,' but I already had an understanding of why old things are beautiful," says Dai.
On the other hand, Chotaro Kawasaki, who lived in a shed on the Odawara coast and depicted the lives and human relationships of the lower classes, and "Garando" (Naotaka Yamauchi of Garando Kogeisha), who also appeared in Ango Sakaguchi's works, lived in the area, so he was able to witness the down-to-earth and pure nature of human beings. Perhaps that is why I feel that Dai-san has a great tolerance.
Now, Mr. Kanbayashi is a tough sculptor and mountain man who also worked as a mountain hut keeper. A long time ago, he told me the following story.
"Compared to sculptors and painters, there are more painters who commit suicide. Painters probably feel limited because they have to fit their work into a frame. Sculptors are, in a sense, unlimited. There is no limit to the space. So sculptors have it easy mentally (laughs)."
I thought, “I see.”
However, even though he claims to be relaxed, he is strict about his existence as an artist, adhering to his principle of "never pandering to others and remaining true to himself under any circumstances."
They value intuition and don't lie to themselves. And yet, because they are both generous people, their conversations over drinks ranged from art theory and materials to human strength, and were really interesting to listen to. I left "Utsuwa Nanohana" with tears in my eyes and a feeling of reluctance as the time limit approached.
We then headed to Nanohana Living Tools Store, located in a corner of the underground mall at the east exit of Odawara Station. Here, daily necessities recommended by Dai and Nanohana staff are on permanent sale, and they also regularly hold special exhibitions by makers such as dyers and potters.
Next door, at the Nanohana Moon Cafe, there was a large floating piece by Kanbayashi.
In fact, Nanohana is a long-established Japanese confectionery shop that was founded in 1905, and Dai is the third generation owner (his son is now the fourth generation owner). Many people may have seen the manju "Hakone no Otsukisama" around Odawara and Hakone.
The moist skin and the sweetness of the brown sugar-based bean paste are a perfect balance. Even though it's a common manju, it has a subtle elegance to it, just like Dai-san. If I said that, Dai-san would probably laugh out loud.
(Interviewed in September 2020)
Gallery Information
Utsuwa Rape blossoms
1-3-12 Minamimachi, Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture
TEL: 0465-24-7020
Business hours: 11:00-18:00
*The gallery is open only during special events (the Kanbayashi Manabu exhibition has ended)
Parking: None
http://utsuwa-nanohana.com/
"access"
▶︎About 15 minutes walk from JR Odawara Station
Sister store
Nanohana Living Tools Store
http://kurashinodouguten.com/
"Hakone Rape Flower Exhibition Room"
http://nanohana-tenjishitsu.com/
