SHINKICHI TAJIRI
RED BRICK SERIES
"Here in my foundry I feel like the old Alchemist, pouring white hot liquid metal into molds; changing matter." - Shinkichi Tajiri
In 1956, Tajiri found a soft red firebrick used in constructing ovens. He carved and engraved the bricks - sometimes up to 100 pieces - and assembled them into one large mold. The mold was then filled with molten bronze and later broken open to reveal the sculpture. The Red Brick series dated until 1965.
text: S. Tajiri, Autobiographical notations, Kempen Publishers, 1993
photo above: © Erhard Wehrmann, Baarlo 1964
Bronze, 61 x 95 x 94 cm Private collection
Bronze, 130 x 23 x 25 cm Collection: Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, on long-term loan at the Cobra Museum for Modern Art, Amstelveen.
Bronze, 45 cm Private collection
Bronze, 67 cm Private collection
Bronze, 86.5 x 26 x 54 cm Private collection
Bronze, 55,5 x 34 x 22,5 cm Collection: Kröller-Müller Museum, gift from Ida and Piet Sanders, Schiedam.
Bronze, 65 cm Private collection
Bronze, 106 cm Collection: Niedersachsen, Germany