Iron Strokes: Forged Metalworks by Hajime and Yasuo Ishikura

Ippodo Gallery presents an online exhibition, Iron Strokes: Forged Metalworks by Hajime and Yasuo Ishikura, featuring the legendary metalsmiths’ Japanese forged iron. The Ishikura brothers are renowned for innovating iron as a medium of Japanese design. The forthcoming exhibition will showcase—both in-gallery and online—an impressive array of the brothers’ devotedly hand-crafted artworks, including candlestands, wall-hanging decorative pieces, and ornaments.

Hajime (b. 1948) and Yasuo Ishikura (b. 1953) are acclaimed internationally for their unparalleled skill in the intricacies of iron, drawing on European techniques and joining them with a minimalist sensibility. Wrought candlestands, sculptures and other furnishings are finished with a black matte that purifies and quietens their surroundings.

Born in Kyoto—where iron has long been implemented as a medium for tools—the pair now operates their shared forge in Shiga prefecture, amidst the mountains and Lake Biwa. The shift in scenery suits their reimagining of iron as an architectural material, rather than something rare and strictly functional. Uniquely Japanese versions of iron designs, the sophisticated details and lines of the artists’ ironworks attract diverse connoisseurs across various fields, seamlessly enhancing architecture and illustrious collections all over the world. With the start of this exhibition, Ippodo Gallery will begin to represent the brothers for new opportunities for collaboration on interior design projects and architectural commissions internationally.