DENSABUROU OKU
Born - Japan
Residence - Pennsylvania
Densaburou Oku was born in Kagoshima, Japan in 1945 and completed his studies in
glass at the Tokyo Glass Art School in 1986. In 1989 he relocated to Bucks County,
Pennsylvania.
As a recipient of a Wheaton Arts Fellowship in both 1993 and 1994, Densaburou was given the opportunity to study at the Creative Glass Center of America in Millville, New Jersey. This experience helped further his skills and his unique vision as a sculptor.
His mixed media fish sculptures are created with glass, steel, found objects and paint. He uses steel elements and found objects to create the fins and head and then combines these with segments of blown and cast glass that are assembled to form a skeleton-like structure representing fish bones. His work combines great skill and an unusual, lighthearted approach to his subject.
The meaning of his art comes from Densaburou’s belief that everything is connected and is part of the cycle of life and death. His sculptures are a metaphor for life and our place within it. In speaking about his own work, he has said, “I am doing art stuff (laughter) and I have my feeling. I make art to catch and express feeling. Each place I have known grows a different stream. I am now at the point where I am in my life and my time here in this community. This…collection of my work over these years is not looking back, but the other point, reflecting forward.”
Education:
1993,1994 - Creative Glass Center of America, Millville, NJ
1985-1986 - Tokyo Glass Art School, Tokyo, Japan
Awards:
1997 - Honorable Mention, Society for Contemporary Crafts, Pittsburg, PA
1993,1994 - Wheaton Arts Fellowship
PISMO Fine Art Glass www.pismoglass.com info@pismoglass.com
Denver 303.333.2879 Beaver Creek 970.949.0908 Vail 970.476.2400 Aspen 970.920.1313
Publications:
1992 - Art Matters, Vol. 11 No.9 June
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 28
1990 - "Glass does not Grow in the Forest", American Craft Magazine,
October/November
1989 - New Hope Gazette, July 20
1987 - New York Times, July, 19
Exhibitions: Including but not limited to:
2009 – Mary Martin Gallery of Fine Art, Charleston, SC
2007 - Ava’s Glass Gallery, Quakertown, PA
2006 - “Fish Out of Water”, PISMO Gallery at Aspen, Aspen, CO
2003 - The Glass Gallery, Bethesda, MD
- “The Great Rivers-2003”, Nizhny Novgorod Trade Fair, Moscow, Russia
2002 - Solo Exhibition, Payne Gallery, Bethlehem, PA
2001 - Kirishima Open-Air Museum, Kagoshima, Japan
1995-1999 - Solo Exhibition, Kagoshima, Japan
1997 - Society for Contemporary Crafts, Pittsburgh, PA
1996,1997 - The Rachael Collection, Solo Exhibition, Aspen, CO
1994,1995 - Solo Exhibition, The Rachael Collection, Aspen, CO
1993-1995 - Habatat Galleries, Farmington Hills, MI
1993,1994 - Heller Gallery, New York, NY
1993 - Kittrell/Riffkid Art Glass Inc., Dallas, TX
1992 - Owen/Patrick Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- Carpe Diem Gallery, Paris, France
1991 - Habatat Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
- Sanske Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
- The Rachael Collection, Aspen, CO
- Gotthelf Gallery, Vail, CO
1990,1991 - Chicago New Art Forms, Chicago, IL
1990 - Judy Youens Gallery, Houston, TX
1989 - The Stein Gallery, Portland, ME
- Heller Gallery, New York, NY
- Dor Lein Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Riley-Hawk Gallery, OH
1986 - Maruzen Gallery, Japan
Kagoshima Museum, Japan
Heller Gallery, New York, NY
PISMO Denver,Co
Collections:
Museum of Decorative Arts, Zurich, Switzerland
Segusto Vitre De Arte, Murano, Italy
Museum of American Glass, Millville, NJ
Kirishima Open-Air Museum, Kagoshima, Japan
Kagoshima Museum, Kagoshima, Japan
Jerome Chazen, New York, NY
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
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