Mamoru Sato

Mamoru Sato
Born	(1937-04-15) April 15, 1937 (age 88) El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Nationality	United States
Education	University of Colorado Boulder (BA, MFA)
Occupation	Modernist Sculptor

Sol III, fiberglass and steel sculpture by Mamoru Sato, 1973, Kapiʻolani Community College, Honolulu

Mamoru Sato (born 1937) is an American modernist sculptor. He was born in El Paso, Texas in 1937. He initially majored in aeronautical engineering but switched to art, receiving a BFA in Fine Art in 1963 and an MFA in sculpture in 1965, both from the University of Colorado Boulder. He started teaching at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1965. During the summer of 1969, he worked with Tony Smith at the University of Hawai‘i. Smith titled a piece in his For... series for Sato: For M.S.

Makai/Ocean, one of two pieces at the newly opened Lelepaua Light Rail Station, which services the Honolulu International Airport—constructed of powder-coated aluminum rods

Sato is best known for his abstract sculptures constructed of industrial materials, such as Sol III, which is made of fiberglass. His commissions include sculpture for the Kona State Office Building (Hawai‘i), Maunawili Elementary School (Hawai‘i), the Reverend Benjamin Parker Elementary School (Hawai‘i), Honolulu International Airport (Hawai‘i), Hilo Hospital (Hawai‘i), Kapiʻolani Community College (Hawai‘i), the Pearl City Culture Center (Hawai‘i), the Makai Parking Structure (Hawai‘i), the Honolulu Community College Library (Hawai‘i), The James Michener Collection (Pipersville, Pennsylvania) and the Hayashide Onsen Hotel (Kagoshima, Japan). Sail II is in the collection of the Hawai‘i State Art Museum.

Interior shot of Mauka/Earth, completed in 2023

Exhibitions

• Artists of Hawai‘i 1986 (Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1986) ^[1]
• More of Mo: Sculpture by Mamoru Sato (Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, 2008) ^[2]

Bibliography

• Haar, Francis, Artists of Hawai‘i: Volume Two, University of Hawaiʻi Press, Honolulu, 1977, pages 69–73
• Radford, Georgia and Warren Radford, "Sculpture in the Sun, Hawai‘i's Art for Open Spaces", University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1978, page 96.
• Yoshihara, Lisa A., Collective Visions, 1967-1997, [Hawai‘i] State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 1997, page 146.

References

1. Arts, Honolulu Academy of (December 1986). "Artists of Hawaii, 1986". Calendar News (Honolulu Academy of Arts).
2. Oshiro, Joleen (May 27, 2008). "Wind inspires Mamoru Sato's art". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 2019-02-08.