Ainu Dancer - Bronze 1950 - Kai Ito 1918-2009

- A young woman dances, seemingly in a trance. She is an indigenous Ainu woman from northern Japan. The Ainu are an animist population long discredited by the authorities. - Kai ITO (real name: Shigeyuki Ito, 1918 - 2009; Japanese sculptor. Professor emeritus at the Tokyo University of the Arts. Son of an algae producer and wholesaler. After school disrupted by health concerns , in 1939, he entered the sculpture department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts). Impressed by Rodin's "The Bronze Age", which is on the campus of school, the work will serve him for several years as a guideline for his subsequent productions. In September 1944, he obtained his diploma in sculpture. Called to the Pacific front, he was discharged for health reasons. In 1945, he became art teacher. In 1946, he won the New Artist Award. From 1947, he exhibited every year in various salons (until 2004). In 1952, he became a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1953, he worked on the design of Nissan automobile bodies. In 1955, at the 3rd International Art Exhibition, he saw sculptures by foreign artists such as Marino Marini and Henry Moore, and now his style moves from a traditional register to a more geometric form. Multitude of prices between 1962-86. Participated in the establishment of the Okinawa University of the Arts. In 2003, he became professor emeritus. He divided his art into four periods: the early years, the years 1955-1970 - 70-75 and after. Our sculpture borrows from the first period: influence of Rodin (cut lines, summarizing the masses). Works at the Okinawa Museum, etc. Public monuments.