Kobe’s brainchildren look lyrical, generally also unforced carefree, but they are still in a tight straitjacket. They radiate a contagious, cheerful simplicity, but at the same time are extremely ingenious. They have sprung from the brain of a perfectionist and aesthete, who towards the realisation in three dimensions, implacably rejects everything that is anecdotal. They are sculptures with voluptuous, supple lines, but built around a sterile geometric carcass. They seduce by their round, feminine forms and cheerful poses, but by their superhuman perfection and mysterious calm they also shut out. Faces are closed, stripped of personal features. Thematically, the female figure and the horse dominate the oeuvre. Classic themes with a long art-historical tradition. But Kobe doesn’t just carve ‘a’ woman or ‘a’ horse, he sculpts archetypes. His women and horses contain the essence of their being in their simplicity. The simplicity that Kobe’s sculptures radiate, conceals their ingenious nature. Between idea and finished image lies a world of abstraction and reasoning. Thinking about possibilities and solving problems of form.
Blossoming Love
€29.90Edwin Molenaar is a Dutch floral designer who went to Japan at the age of 21. He worked there as a floral designer for several shops until he started his own business in 1997. Meanwhile, he has a floral studio and a gallery in the Risonare Hotel. Edwin Molenaar is well-known in Japan for the beautiful decorating of wedding receptions and parties. This book offers a whole range of ideas for bridal bouquets, boutonnieres, bridesmaids, table decorations, church decorations and wedding cars.