Gallery Shows ASIAN ART 33


BAMBOO EXPOSED Mastery in Modernity of Hafu Matsumoto


THIS EXHIBITION explores the lineage of Take-Kogei bamboo from Rokansai and Shokansai Iizuka and is a solo show featuring Hafu Matsumoto (b 1952), the last disciple of Shokansai Iizuka (1919- 2004), and is dedicated to the tradition and innovation of Japanese craftsmanship. Twenty works are on view, demonstrating the evolution of bamboo artistry through the solo showcase of Matsumoto’s unique skill. Although bamboo has been


prized for thousands of years as a functional material, the Iizuka family led the life of modern bamboo. Te legendary Take (bamboo), Kogei (craft) master Rokansai Iizuka’s (1890-1958) life’s ambition was to bring flattened bamboo art to the forefront. He was among the earliest pioneers striving to showcase bamboo as a significant art. His strong will and extensive artistic training in drawing, painting, calligraphy, and poetry infused his interest in bamboo with a diverse range of knowledge and style. Because Rokansai studied Sado (tea ceremony) and Ikebana (flower arrangement), he manifested the three styles of tea ceremony and brought them into Take-Kogei. Iizuka’s bamboo wares are in one of


Fuhaku ( God of Wind) by Hafu Matsumoto (b 1952), 29 x 49 cm, Ippodo Gallery


three categories: Shin, Gyou, and Sou. Shin is characterised by elegant attention to detail in technique, while Gyou is a more relaxed. Te earthiness and simplicity of the Sou style renders it the most difficult. Sou, known as wabi-sabi, is beautiful in its imperfection. In its reflection of reality, the true challenge is revealed. Shokansai was Rokonsai’s


son. He pursued basketry under the family’s legendary master. He enhanced


Sashiami Mayly decoration box, 18 x 35.5 x 22 cm, Ippodo Gallery


Rokansai’s efforts in bamboo with the prized embroidered plaiting technique,Sashiami, as well as bundled plaiting, Tabaneami, and irregular ‘cracked ice’ plaiting, Hyoretsuami. As his career progressed, the dedicated Shokansai received the honour of Living National Treasure in 1982. Deriving from bamboo’s humble heritage and Rokansai’s groundbreaking technique, Matsumoto was Shokansai’s last apprentice. As such, Matsumoto’s work maintains Japanese functional traditions while innovating bamboo as a sculptural form. His methodology at once embraces yet opposes the original traditions, challenging in its bridge between bamboo’s artistic future and its past. Tat Matsumoto is one of few living artists upholding these three techniques today is rare and significant. Rokansai developed the Noshitake technique in Sou, but only Hafu Matsumoto has repeated this technique. Te bamboo is carefully boiled, stretched, and ironed flat for its final smooth and malleable texture. It is hard work, but the passion for the craft takes precedence, and the desire to present every aspect of the unworked bamboo in its final, finished glory.


As Matsumoto has said,


‘I weave bamboo with my pleasure. I weave by my body and mind, not by my hand’. Hafu Matusmoto’s current


Noshitake took shape by trial and error. He learned the process himself through careful study. Tere are two general techniques within this bamboo art: Ami (Weaving) or Kumi (Crossing). Tis new development, Noshitake, does not belong to either. He continues to train in the traditional martial art and sword practice of I-ai do, and studied Kendo (Japanese fencing), in childhood. He applies this discipline to the crafting of bamboo arts, treating it like the Do (way) he still studies today.


Bamboo is the most difficult


material in Japanese Kogei with its unbending nature. Like bamboo, the artist and his work need to have a straightforward and independent spirit: the work is deceptively simple, yet all-encompassing with much of the artist’s process in the preparation of the bamboo itself. Te craftsman faces the rawness of nature and rises to challenges that can break the spirit, but these obstacles are what make Take-Kogei so unique. • From 8 to 30 June, Ippodo Gallery, 12 East 80th Street, #507, (between Fifth and Madison Avenues), New York, www.ippodogallery.com


27 June – 2 July 2017 Preview 26 June


Featuring


For details & tickets visit olympia-art-antiques.com J310999_OIAAF03_Asian-Art-Newspaper_269x178mm_2017.indd 1 Untitled-2 1 12/05/2017 16:15 12/05/2017 12:44 SUMMER QUARTER 2017 ASIAN ART


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