Yamaguchi Ryuun

Yamaguchi graduated in bamboo craft from the Beppu Occupational School in 1957 and, at 23, apprenticed to Living National Treasure Shono Shounsai.

A decade later he began receiving accolades, garnering the Beppu City Mayor’s Award and Oita Prefecture Governor’s Awards. Between 1966 and 2004, he won more than 25 important prizes. His work has been purchased by the Oita Prefectural Art Hall, Oita City Museum of Art, and Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC and exhibited in Best Bamboo Baskets: the Cotsen Collection at Long House Reserve in East Hampton, NY.

“Frankly speaking, I never thought of the possibility of being an artist until I apprenticed with the first Living National Treasure in bamboo arts, Shono Shounsai,” he says. “His example deeply inspired me to express myself. Even now, it is a great struggle for me with each new piece. I feel the beauty of the flowers. I feel the beauty of the water flow. I try to bring that flow into my pattern. At first I was very surprised that people wanted to collect my work in the West, but now it has given me more confidence as an artist.”

BIO/CV

b. 1940, Saga Prefecture, Japan

Education

1957
Graduated from Oita Prefecture Beppu Advanced Occupational School, Department of Bamboo Craft Art
1963
Apprenticed to Shono Shounsai (Living National Treasure)

Exhibitions & Accolades

1967
Excellence Award, 3rd Beppu City New Bamboo Craft Art Exhibition (again in 1972)
1969
Beppu City Mayor’s Award, 9th Oita Prefecture Craft Arts Exhibition (thereafter winner eight times including Governor’s Award and Shono Shounsai Award)
Paulownia Award, 2nd Kyushu Modern Craft Arts Exhibition (again in 1972)
1970
Encouragement Award, 3rd Exhibition for Modern Craft Art Association in Kyushu
1987
Admitted to Japan New Craft Arts Exhibition (thereafter admitted 10 times)
1988
Governor of Oita Award, 9th Japan New Craft Arts Kyushu Exhibition
1990
Admitted to Paris Top 100 Artists Award Competition
1993
Northern Kyushu Art Museum Award, 15th Japan New Craft Arts Exhibition
1994
Admitted to 26th Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition)
1997
Admitted to 29th Nitten
1998
Admitted to Japanese Citizen’s Cultural Festival
1999
Bamboo Masterworks, Asia Society, New York, NY
2000
Bamboo Masterworks, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
Northern Kyushu Museum Prize, Japan New Craft Arts Exhibition
Bamboo Masterworks, Honolulu Academy of Art, HI
2001
Bamboo Fantasies, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Best Bamboo Baskets: The Cotsen Collection, Long House Reserve, East Hampton, NY
2002
Group Show, Tigerman Himmel Gallery, Chicago, IL
2004
Exhibited in the Hand Workshop Art Center, Richmond, VA
2006
Power & Delicacy: Master Works of Japanese Bamboo Art, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Art, Grinnell College, IA and Chicago Cultural Center, IL
Beyond Basketry: Japanese Bamboo Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2008
New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters, Japan Society, New York, NY
2009
Many Shapes of Bamboo III, Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita
Yamaguchi Ryuun and Kibe Seiho two-artist show, TAI Gallery Santa Fe, NM
The New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe
Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection
Member’s Award, 31st Japan New Craft Arts Exhibition
2010
Intertwined:Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection, Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY
Many Shapes of Bamboo IV, Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita
2011
Many Shapes of Bamboo V, Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita
2012
Legacy of Inspiration: Shono Shounsai and His Students, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe,NM
2013
Oita’s Art Movement, in partnership with the Oita Prefectural Government, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2014
Group show, Japanese American Cultural Community Center, Los Angeles, CA
Fired Earth, Woven Bamboo Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2016
Bamboo: Tradition in Contemporary Form, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2017
Masterpieces of Japanese Bamboo Art, TAI Modern at Joan B Mirviss LTD, New York, NY

Museum Collections

Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Oita City Museum of Art
Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

ARTIST STATEMENT

Bamboo is beautiful.

I listen to it. The bamboo says many things tome.

I enjoy my conversations with it.

I express beauty through bamboo: the beauty of water flowing,

the beauty of flowers, the beauty of moving clouds.

I try to bring the beauty of nature into my sculpture.

At the age of sixteen my father encouraged me to learn bamboo basketry. After learning the basics at the Beppu Occupational School, my first opportunity knocked at my door in 1963 when I became a live-in-assistant to local basket maker, Shono Shounsai. I worked at his Shikutei Studio for a year making Shounsai-designed bamboo trays. I spent as much time as possible after hours at my master’s studio watching and learning how he created his exhibition pieces. This became the foundation of my art making. After leaving his studio, I started to create my own art work submitting one or two pieces a year to juried public exhibitions, while earning a living making simple flower baskets ordered by bamboo wholesalers.

The second opportunity knocked at my door when Mr. Robert Coffland visited me. He introduced my work to the West. To my great surprise the Western audience accepted my artwork, and I became a full-time artist. Mr. Coffland kindly offered me a solo show in Santa Fe, NM. I have participated in a number of group shows in Japan, but this was my very first solo show. I am very grateful. It is the third opportunity knocking at my door for the next chapter in my bamboo art.