Take an Art Walk at Ala Moana Center

Description: This bronze water sculpture standing at 8 feet tall was designed by the son of George Tsutakawa, the artist responsible for Waiola, art work located near Macy’s and anchoring the opposite end of the Center. Kia‘i, which can be translated to “the guardian,” draws from many rich cultures and themes and was specifically commissioned for Ala Moana Center. The wide top, taper and jagged edges evoke the shape of a Polynesian war club while the zig zags are reminiscent of the folded paper ornamentation of good fortune and purification seen at Japanese shrines. The divided base legs and circle also symbolize a spirit image.

About the Artist: Son of artist George Tsutakawa who created Waiola, Gerard Tsutakawa followed in his father’s footsteps and has made a name for himself as an accomplished sculptor. A studio apprentice for his artist father for 20 years, Gerard created his first commissioned work in 1976. In the same studio where his father worked, he continues to design and fabricate anything from small studio bronze pieces to large public art fountains and sculptures.

Description: Although the pumpkin is often overlooked as artistic subject matter, it has long been a source of inspiration for Yayoi Kusama. During WWII, pumpkins served as a means of substance and comfort for the artist and her family. Kusama prizes its unpretentious, yet generous nature which for her even attains a spiritual quality. Her deep regard for the pumpkin is conveyed by the monumentality of this bronze work standing 6 feet high and weighing more than 1,200 pounds.

About the Artist: Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist and writer. Throughout her career she has worked in a wide variety of media, including painting, collage, sculpture, performance art and environmental installations, most of which exhibit her thematic interest in psychedelic colors, repetition and pattern. A precursor of the pop art, minimalist and feminist art movements, Kusama influenced contemporaries such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. Although largely forgotten after departing the New York art scene in the early 1970s, Kusama is now acknowledged as one of the most important living artists to come out of Japan, and an important voice of the avant-garde.

Description: These three diamond shaped forms originally contained text written with broad brush strokes from the artist’s hand which read: "The words form cages but the letters are open windows through which meaning escapes." The negative space between the letters was cut away leaving a pierced form whose sense of volume is belied by its transparency. After firing and glazing, the text is largely illegible but retains the memory and rhythms of handwriting. The glaze is a high metallic bronze color with the variations and artifices of bronze cast metal.

About the Artist: Stephen Freedman's abstract ceramic sculptures have been widely commissioned and exhibited both at international and national galleries. His sculptures have been featured in over 100 exhibitions since 1983 and now reside in many public, private and museum collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, West Australian Museum of Art and The Getty Museum. Stephen Freedman is also the chief editor of HI ART Magazine, Hawaii's contemporary art publication.

Description: Wrought from bronze and steel, this piece was originally designed not for visual effect but for tactical purpose and was placed in a sandbox meant for exploration. It was intended to be appreciated not just with the eyes, but felt as well.

About the Artist: Brownlee is known for his modernist architectural creations. He joined the Army after three years of high school and was stationed overseas in occupied Japan working as a topographer. Brownlee received his formal education at Oregon State University and at the California College of Arts and Crafts. In 1954, he became the first recipient of a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Hawaii. The Hawaii chapter of the American Institute of Architects recognized Brownlee with a special award for "outstanding contributions of art to architecture".

Description: Tsutakawa is a sculptor and painter best known for some sixty public fountains created and installed in North America and Japan since 1960. Tsutakawa served on the faculty of the UW School of Art from 1947 until his retirement in 1976. Perhaps as much as for his body of artistic works, Tsutakawa is beloved as a "treasure of the Pacific Northwest" for the contributions he and his family have made over the years to the cultural life of the region.

About the Artist: Son of artist George Tsutakawa who created Waiola, Gerard Tsutakawa followed in his father’s footsteps and has made a name for himself as an accomplished sculptor. A studio apprentice for his artist father for 20 years, Gerard created his first commissioned work in 1976. In the same studio where his father worked, he continues to design and fabricate anything from small studio bronze pieces to large public art fountains and sculptures.