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William Hemmerdinger

William Hemmerdinger

William Hemmerdinger is a Los Angeles born modernist artist now living near Provincetown. His artworks have been shown in curated and juried exhibits worldwide and acquired by museums, libraries, corporations and private collectors. His painting Untitled: Bunraku Performer, 1982, is a part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and, his professional archive William Hemmerdinger Papers is preserved at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. He is a member of the J. Paul Getty Founder's Society.

Historical Comment

As the Lantern of the East, Los Angeles member with potentially the oldest relationship to the group, I was asked to describe my introduction to our founder and my long-time friend Hideo Sakata.

My forty-five-year friendship with Sakata began at an opening at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1978. A small circle of artists connected to the city gathered on the lower level of the museum in front of a massive Assyrian relief and as we made polite conversation … Sam Francis, David Hockney, and Bong Tae Kim …came up with the idea that I should meet someone whom they all knew, an artist from Japan, who was nearby, as I had only recently returned from a sojourn in Kyoto. Shortly, we were joined by “Sakata-san.” He was a small-framed, affable, well-liked man. Black hair is worn in a longish “Dutch Boy” style, dark slacks, a red Henley shirt, and a brown leather jacket. Funny and amusing while being obviously serious about art and artists, our bond was immediate and lasting. Sakata was blessed with boundless energy and huge talent. Less than a year later he curated what I believe to have been his first overseas traveling group show which originated at M. M. Shinno Gallery on Wilshire Boulevard (across the street from LACMA) and later moving the exhibit to locations in Japan and Korea.

Sakata was an artist. Sakata was an activist. He cared deeply about people, young and old. As a survivor of an atomic bomb blast at Nagasaki, he opposed nuclear proliferation, and always pushed for peace, independence, freedom, dignity, and human rights. Through art making and art sharing Sakata believed the world might one day be a kinder and safer place.

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