Friendship Knot, (sculpture).

Friendship Knot, (sculpture).

Tajiri, Shinkichi, 1923-2009, sculptor.

Friendship Knot, (sculpture).

Square Knot, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Painted fiberglass.

Approx. 18 x 3 x 2 ft.

Abstract -- Geometric

Allegory -- Life -- Fraternity

Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- Los Angeles

Administered by City of Los Angeles, Cultural Affairs Department, Public Art Division, 433 South Spring Street, 10th floor, Los Angeles, California 90013

Located Weller Court, Southwest corner of Second and San Pedro, Los Angeles, California

Knots have been a design element in Tajiri's sculpture since the 1960s. Originally the sculpture was located at Tajiri's home in the Netherlands and titled "Square Knot". When it was shipped to Los Angeles, its name was changed to "Friendship Knot" by the Friends of Little Tokyo Arts to transform the sculpture into a symbol of "unity between two cultures." The project was developed as part of the One Percent for the Arts, Community Redevelopment Agency, Art in Public Places program, with the East West Development Corporation, developer of Weller Court, contributing $40,000 toward the purchase of the sculpture; the remaining $35,000 raised by FOLTA. The piece is a memorial to Dr. Morinorsuke Kajima, the founder of the Kajima Corporation, and was donated to the City of Los Angeles by FOLTA as a gift for the City's Bicentennial. IAS files contain related excerpt from "Little Tokyo, the Public Art of Los Angeles, Part 2" by Michael Several and a City of Los Angeles Public Art Inventory sheet. IAS files also contain newspaper clippings from the Downtown News (Los Angeles, California) dated July 5, 1983 and November 14, 1988.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, California survey, 1994.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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