Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Arts


Book Description

Works by artists of the Japan Craft Arts Association, the Nitten World, and independent artists.




Japanese Bamboo Baskets


Book Description

Japanese Bamboo Baskets: Masterworks of Form and Texture surveys nineteenth- and twentieth-century baskets of Japan, their place in history, and the elevation of bamboo craft work to an art form. It features more than 250 illustrations of selections from the largest known collection of Japanese flower baskets. This is the first book in English to examine bamboo baskets as modern sculptural masterpieces as well as chronicle the development of Japanese flower-arranging baskets from utilitarian containers through their subsequent transformation into art. At the heart of this volume are dramatic portraits of works in the Cotsen Collection. Full-page and double-page illustrations abound. Large-scale details and second views evoke the forms, textures and three-dimensionality Of the baskets, revealing their monumentality and the architecture of their construction. The baskets illustrated were selected primarily for their visual qualities, and are organized by region. They rage from 1890s examples by the first basket maker who signed his work to 1990s creations by leading bamboo crafts artists. Pieces by all those who have been made Living National Treasures are included. This book is filled with new information and superlative works of art. It will be treasured by anyone who has known the joy of holding a rough-woven basket or admired the delicate tracery of bamboo strips in a contemporary work of bamboo art.




Bamboo in Japan


Book Description

This is a fully illustrated guide to the art, craft and design of bamboo, as demonstrated by the Japanese. It demonstrates how to use inexpensive materials to create sophisticated effects in the home and garden. A list of bamboo collections, gardens and research sources is included. For centuries, bamboo has fascinated legions of craftspeople, plant lovers and devotees of the handcrafted object. And nowhere is bamboo used more elegantly and distinctly than in Japan. Its presence touches every part of daily life-art, crafts, design, literature, and food. Its beauty




Japanese Bamboo Baskets


Book Description

Once neglected in the West, Japanese basketry now claims a loyal following among art lovers, collectors, and craftspeople in the United States and Europe. Japanese Basketry acknowledges this growing interest by presenting a stunning array of the best baskets to come out of Japan in the last 150 years....[and] frames the pieces in a wealth of original material, beginning with a preface by pioneer collector Lloyd Cotsen -- from book jacket.




Fired Earth, Woven Bamboo


Book Description

Sculptural beauty and technical flair highlight Japanese ceramics and baskets from the Snider Collection The blossoming of contemporary crafts in Japan that began in the twentieth century is rooted in a long and rich tradition of exquisite design and technical accomplishment. Featuring some 100 works by close to 60 artists, Fired Earth, Woven Bamboo showcases the range of creative approaches in Japanese ceramics and bamboo art beginning in the postwar period and focusing on the past three decades. Some artists choose to break out of the bounds of vessel shapes to create wildly sculptural forms, whereas others choose to pursue individual expression through more nuanced approaches. All engage in dialogue with their materials as well as with traditional forms, functions, and techniques. The works that spring from their hands--delicate or monumental, humorous or spiritual, rustic or sophisticated--testify to the vitality of the contemporary crafts movement and to the marvelous variety of artistic achievement it has fostered. Enhanced with historical and biographical essays by a leading expert on Japanese crafts, Fired Earth, Woven Bamboo provides a fascinating tour of contemporary ceramic and bamboo arts in Japan as well as an introduction to the riches of the Mary Ann and Stanley Snider Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.




New Bamboo


Book Description

This title celebrates contemporary Japanese bamboo masters whose imaginative new works are changing the definition of basketry.




Godai


Book Description

"A homage to nature and to a long tradition of Japanese craftsmanship, Godai is a large-scale temporary bamboo installation by Tanabe Chikuunsai IV. Like all the works of this artist, this new creation balances tradition with modernity. Like an organic architectural form, Godai emanates a keen positive energy, forcefully captured in the photographs of Tadayuki Minamoto, taken in Paris during the exhibition at the Musee national des Arts asiatiques." -- Book jacket.




Tanabe Chiku'unsai IV


Book Description

* New monograph on bamboo artist Tanabe Chiku'unsai IV* Reveres the long tradition of bamboo art in Japan* A detailed exploration of Chiku'unsai IV's life and motivations* Exclusive insights into the working methods of a master craftsman* Chiku'unsai IV has exhibited at TAI Modern, Mingei Gallery and the Metropolitan, among many moreThe bamboo: tall, strong and flexible. This fast-growing shoot has been used as a construction material, a foodstuff and fuel for millennia, from India to Japan. Tanabe Chiku'unsai IV's art elevates bamboo to new heights. By weaving together small pieces of fibrous stalk, he creates vast, detailed sculptures without the use of rivets or adhesives. Under Chiku'unsai IV's skilled craftsmanship, bamboo is more than a functional tool: it is modern art, a unifying symbol of Japanese culture. His sculptures revere traditional workmanship, while conveying important contemporary messages - the codependence of nature and man, and the importance of protecting our environment. Part autobiography, part introduction to the craft, this monograph follows Chiku'unsai IV's growth from a child marveling at his grandfather's mastery of bamboo, to a maestro in his own right. Bamboo weaves his past to his present, providing a sturdy foundation on which his art continues to build. "Love bamboos, live with bamboos," says Chiku'unsai IV. As this book demonstrates, he has done precisely that.




Modern Twist


Book Description

Issued in connection with an exhibition organized by the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture and International Arts & Artists, held Nov. 13, 2012-Feb. 3, 2013, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Washington, and at four other institutions at later dates.




Bending Adversity


Book Description

“[A]n excellent book...” —The Economist Financial Times Asia editor David Pilling presents a fresh vision of Japan, drawing on his own deep experience, as well as observations from a cross section of Japanese citizenry, including novelist Haruki Murakami, former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, industrialists and bankers, activists and artists, teenagers and octogenarians. Through their voices, Pilling's Bending Adversity captures the dynamism and diversity of contemporary Japan. Pilling’s exploration begins with the 2011 triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. His deep reporting reveals both Japan’s vulnerabilities and its resilience and pushes him to understand the country’s past through cycles of crisis and reconstruction. Japan’s survivalist mentality has carried it through tremendous hardship, but is also the source of great destruction: It was the nineteenth-century struggle to ward off colonial intent that resulted in Japan’s own imperial endeavor, culminating in the devastation of World War II. Even the postwar economic miracle—the manufacturing and commerce explosion that brought unprecedented economic growth and earned Japan international clout might have been a less pure victory than it seemed. In Bending Adversity Pilling questions what was lost in the country’s blind, aborted climb to #1. With the same rigor, he revisits 1990—the year the economic bubble burst, and the beginning of Japan’s “lost decades”—to ask if the turning point might be viewed differently. While financial struggle and national debt are a reality, post-growth Japan has also successfully maintained a stable standard of living and social cohesion. And while life has become less certain, opportunities—in particular for the young and for women—have diversified. Still, Japan is in many ways a country in recovery, working to find a way forward after the events of 2011 and decades of slow growth. Bending Adversity closes with a reflection on what the 2012 reelection of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and his radical antideflation policy, might mean for Japan and its future. Informed throughout by the insights shared by Pilling’s many interview subjects, Bending Adversity rigorously engages with the social, spiritual, financial, and political life of Japan to create a more nuanced representation of the oft-misunderstood island nation and its people. The Financial Times “David Pilling quotes a visiting MP from northern England, dazzled by Tokyo’s lights and awed by its bustling prosperity: ‘If this is a recession, I want one.’ Not the least of the merits of Pilling’s hugely enjoyable and perceptive book on Japan is that he places the denunciations of two allegedly “lost decades” in the context of what the country is really like and its actual achievements.” The Telegraph (UK) “Pilling, the Asia editor of the Financial Times, is perfectly placed to be our guide, and his insights are a real rarity when very few Western journalists communicate the essence of the world’s third-largest economy in anything but the most superficial ways. Here, there is a terrific selection of interview subjects mixed with great reportage and fact selection... he does get people to say wonderful things. The novelist Haruki Murakami tells him: “When we were rich, I hated this country”... well-written... valuable.” Publishers Weekly (starred): "A probing and insightful portrait of contemporary Japan."