Tokyo-born and
Warsaw-based artist Koji Kamoji has lived in Poland for over 50
years. His art, shaped by both his Japanese roots and his Polish
upbringing, reveals a truly contemporary aesthetic. Combining his interest in sculpture, installation and painting Mr. Kamoji resists a direct narrative in his artwork and instead focuses on the relationship between nature and the objects imposing on its man-made environment. Mystical and contemplative it distracts our senses appearing almost suspended in time.
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| Courtesy of Foksal Gallery |
Q. You have been living
and working as an artist in Poland for close to 52 years. Tell us
how did you end up in Warsaw?
Koji Kamoji: My maternal uncle
Riotsu Umeda was a translator and historian of Polish poetry and
literature. In 1923, he left Tokyo on a ship to Berlin to continue
his studies in European philosophy. During his voyage he met a young
Polish man, Stanisław Michowski, and quickly became friends. After
my uncle's stay in Berlin he came to visit Stanisław in Warsaw and
stayed until the war broke out in 1939. He was evacuated by the
Japanese Embassy and sent to the Balkans and then to Japan. He kept
in contact with his friends in Poland, read Polish newspapers and
while in Tokyo he exerted a strong influence on me. It was under his
influence that I came to Poland because he wanted me to continue his
love of Poland.
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| Courtesy of Foksal Gallery |
And then what happened?
My uncle wanted me to study art history
but I wanted to paint, so I painted and I paint still. I came to Poland in 1959 and studied
Fine Arts at the University of Warsaw and spent almost my entire life
here.
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| Courtesy of Foksal Gallery |
Did you ever think of going back to
Japan at any point in time?
No. I met my wife really quickly and
then our three kids were born. I set up my roots here and I had to
work and earn a living, I had to study and and I had to paint.
Those were difficult times in Poland
how did you manage?
Those were Socialist times but I met a good group of
artists and after my studies, one of the founders of the
Foksal Gallery, Zbigniew Gostomski, saw my abstract work and proposed to
exhibit my work the following year at his gallery.
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| Photo: Tadeusz Rolke |
So, you achieved success rather quickly after your
studies.
Yes, because right away I was discovered by one of
the best galleries and here was the best environment for an artist. I
was surrounded by Polish artists such as, Stażewski, Kantor, Lenica
and many others. It was an ideal environment and I have been
associated with the Foksal Gallery ever since.
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| Photo © Erazm Ciołek |
Did you feel that you had the freedom to
paint the type of work you wanted to paint in
Poland when you began in the 70's?
Yes, because although Poland was a socialist country,
there was still plenty of freedom and there were no barriers. There
were also many artists coming to Poland from other countries at that
time and there was an exchange between artists and their works
through the gallery.
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| Courtesy of Foksal Gallery |
Do you have a Japanese community here in Poland?
When I first came I was the only one here, together
with my Japanese friend but we didn't even speak Japanese to each
other. There are now I think around 300 Japanese people here in
Warsaw.
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| Courtesy of Foksal Gallery |
Do you keep up with your Japanese culture now and
do you speak with Japanese?
Yes thanks to the internet, I read Japanese
newspapers on a daily basis and I listen to the radio.
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| Courtesy of Foksal Gallery |
When was the last time you were in Japan?
Two years ago.
You are a practitioner of yoga, do you find that
influences your current work?
In a sense yes, because I also look for solace in art
as I do in yoga. It has the same goal, much like meditation, it is
very zen. Hence the name for one of my exhibitions, “Portable Zen
Garden.” I thought that a work of art is like a window overlooking
a zen garden in here and the rock which lies in the center represents
reality. And the paintings are the perceptions of the world and they
blend together on a symbolic level as gardens.
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| Courtesy of Foksal Gallery |
Does that exhibition reflect a sort of nostalgia
for Japan?
In a certain sense, there is something of that. One
who paints is always searching for who they are, their roots. So
there is a Japanese tradition in my work. I really like zen gardens
and I often visited them in Japan, in Kyoto. And there is peace in
there.
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| Courtesy of Foksal Gallery |
What do you want your audience to understand about
you as an artist?
I want my paintings to convey peace, and happiness,
because that is what I'm looking for myself, not drama, extreme
emotions or controversy.
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| Artist: Koji Kamoji |
