Bumpei Akaji

Bumpei Akaji, Cyparissus, copper and brass, 1968, Hawaii State Art Museum

Bumpei Akaji (1921 – 2002) was an American sculptor. He was born in Lawai, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in 1921. In 1943 he joined the United States Army and was sent to Italy with the 100th Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.^[1] He was inspired by the artwork in Florence and received a discharge in Italy. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and at the Academia de Belle Arti, Brera, in Milan on a Fulbright Scholarship. In 1950, he returned to Honolulu and in 1951 was among the first to received a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.^[2] Along with Satoru Abe, Edmund Chung, Tetsuo Ochikubo, Jerry T. Okimoto, James Park, and Tadashi Sato, Bumpei Akaji was a member of the Metcalf Chateau, a group of seven Asian-American artists with ties to Honolulu.^[3]

Akaji learned welding from a local mechanic and is now best known for his large-scale welded copper and brass sculptures, which are both organic and abstract in nature, as typified by Cyparissus,. The welded and/or pounded surfaces of his sculptures are often warm and sensual and over time develop a unique patina. He died in 2002. The Hawaii State Art Museum and the Honolulu Museum of Art are among the public collections holding work by Bumpei Akaji. His sculptures in public places include:

• Untitled sculpture, Leilehua High School, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1976
• Na Mana Nu Oli, Bishop Trust Company, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1969
• Koaie, Anuenue Elementary School, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1972
• Nani Kaua`i: Ke Mau Nei Ke Ea O Kauaʻi I Puhi Aina Malu(Beautiful Kaua`i: The spirit of Kaua`i thrives in the peaceful land of Puhi), Kauai Community College, Lihue, Hawaii, 1977
• Untitled sculpture, Hana High and Elementary School, Hana, Hawaii, 1977
• Pule Oʻo, Molokai Public Library, Kaunakakai, Hawaii, 1973
• Reflections 1989, Kauai High School, Lihue, Hawaii, 1989
• Makaʻa eʻIke Aku i ke Awawa Uluwehi i na Kuahiwi o Manoa (Glowing Eyes Looking at the Lush Valley in the Mountains of Manoa, 1979) and VVV (1995), University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1995
• Moanalua, Moanalua High School, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1976
• Pupu Aʻo Ewa, Ewa Beach Community School, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1972
• Gushing Waters, Waipahu Elementary School, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1978
• Wilia i uka, wilia i kai, Pope Elementary School, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1977
• Hana Hihi-u O Na Makani Ika-ika O Hono Kaa, Honakaa School, Honokaa, Hawaii, 1975
• Hoʻolana, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, Hawaii, 1984
• Maui Snares the Sun, Maui Memorial Hospital, Wailuku, Hawaii, 1981
• The Sun God, Wailuku State Office Building, Wailuku, Hawaii, 1970
• The Eternal Flame, Hawaii State Capitol Mall, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1974
• Birds Aloft, Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1966
• Wai Hoʻola a Lono, Koloa Public School & Library, Koloa, Hawaii, 1973
• Brothers in Valor Memorial, Fort DeRussy Military Reservation, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1996
• Untitled copper sculpture, President William McKinley High School, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1963

References

• Morse, Marcia, Legacy: Facets of Island Modernism, Honolulu, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2001, ISBN 978-0-937426-48-7, pp. 13, 34-39
• Radford, Georgia and Warren Radford, "Sculpture in the Sun, Hawaii's Art for Open Spaces", University of Hawaii Press, 1978, 91.
• Yoshihara, Lisa A., Collective Visions, 1967-1997, Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1997, 145.

Footnotes