The Craft & Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) in Los Angeles presents Bamboo, an exhibition of 30 historical and contemporary works that explore the trajectory of Japanese bamboo basketry and sculpture. Drawn mostly from the Los Angeles-based Cotsen Collection, this exhibition reflects the evolution of the art form—from Chinese-style tea ceremony baskets to striking contemporary sculptures. A large-scale, site-specific installation by Japan-based artist Akio Hizume evokes the possibilities of bamboo as an artistic material. The exhibition will open on May 27 and run through September 9, 2018.

Fine bamboo basketry gained a foothold in Japanese culture during Japan’s medieval period (1185-1573 CE) as the tea ceremony was adapted from China and became an important part of Japanese lifestyle. The demand for fine Chinese style bamboo tea and flower arranging vessels resulted in numerous talented artist and apprentices devoted to the artform. Though earlier artists were emulating Chinese forms, by the mid-19th century Japanese bamboo artists were making artist-signed baskets with a distinctly Japanese aesthetic that embraced the imperfect and organic simplicity known as wabi-sabi. From the 20th century to present day, bamboo basketry became less functional and more radically sculptural.

Bamboo is an expressive material that is challenging to work with, involving complex weaving, plaited, dyeing, bending, and knotting. Though early artists learned through apprenticeship and were part of artist lineages, present-day artists are often self-taught and begin learning through university programs,. Included in the exhibition or two works by Shono Shounsai (1904-1974), the first bamboo artist named a Living National Treasure (1967) by the Japanese government. Artist Yamaguchi Ryuun, noted for his voluminous bamboo forms, apprenticed with Shounnsai and is active in teaching a new generation of bamboo artists. Though the art mostly passed down to male practitioners, there are a small number of women artists working today. These include Kajiwara Aya and Tanabe Mitsuko, who both studied the art form after marrying into families of bamboo artists.

Architect and artist Akio Hizume’s Fibonacci Tunnel (2018) is an architectural installation that shows new directions in bamboo artistry. Made entirely of bamboo poles and stakes, the large tunnel incorporates the geometric principles of the golden ratio and Fibonacci sequence and is meant for visitors to walk through. Hizume will lead a workshop at the museum during the course of the exhibition.

As the importance of the tea ceremony declined in Japan during the last century, bamboo basketry was no longer a sustainable enterprise for artists. Collector Lloyd Cotsen saw decline in the artistic legacy and created a competition for young bamboo artist that took place from 2000 to 2007. The competition helped revive contemporary bamboo basketry and has encouraged a new generation of artists to expand and innovate the artform.

Bamboo is organized by CAFAM exhibitions curator Holly Jerger and Lyssa Stapleton, curator of the Cotsen Collection, at the Craft & Folk Art Museum.

For more information and museum hours please visit www.cafam.org

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In honor of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition centennial celebration, TAI Modern is thrilled to present an expansive group exhibition at the Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego, San Diego, CA, September 12 – December 6, 2015.The show will include over forty bamboo artworks created by a variety of artists. This special preview exhibition on view at TAI Modern highlights several historic works, some on view for the first time.

The 1915 Panama-California Exposition—which celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal and sought to establish San Diego as a port of call—was the site of a major early exhibition of Japanese arts and culture, including bamboo art, in the United States. Beginning in the late 19^thCentury, Japan’s participation in the world’s fairs initiated some of the earliest encounters with Japan’s art and culture within Europe and the Unites States, resulting in an enormous demand for their unique products.

Japanese Bamboo and the World Expo: A Century of Discovery celebrates the fairs’ roles as critical moments of international exposure that inspired Japanese bamboo artists to further their crafts. With pieces spanning from an 1887 vessel by Hayakawa Shokosai I to Nakatomi Hajime’s 2015 Prism: Square, the exhibition provides a rich introduction to the diverse developments bamboo arts have undergone throughout the last century. The show is organized around three primary regions of bamboo art: Kansai, centered around the historic cities of Kyoto and Osaka; Kanto,which encompasses the Tokyo metropolis and the urbanized center of Japan; and Kyushu,the southernmost of Japan’s main islands.

KANSAI

The birthplace of modern Japanese bamboo, the Kansai aesthetic is characterized by elegant forms, balanced proportions, refined craftsmanship and elaborate detail. Kyoto, the historic capital of Japan for over a millennia—also the birthplace of the sencha tea ceremony—was traditionally home to members of the nobility, whose refined tastes and high culture influenced bamboo artists. Three pieces from the Hayakawa Shokosai lineage, spanning almost a century, exemplify the region’s graceful shapes,intricate rattan work, rich dyes, and harmonious integration of various weaving techniques. In later works, such as Tanabe Chikuunsai II’s Lily-shaped Flower Basket, all of these traits are retained while artists have shifted toward lighter constructions and airy, open weaves.

KANTO

The Kanto region, centered around the Tokyo metropolis, is home to artists known for their innovation and break with tradition. From a broad range of colors and types of bamboo to inventive, asymmetrical shapes, these artists share an impulse for experimentation. This is evident in Isohi Setsuko’s cherry-red dyes and Honma Kazuaki’s use of shakotandake, a unique type of speckled bamboo grass. Oki Toshie’s geometric Spring Breezeand Honma Hideaki’s abstracted sculptures exemplify ongoing explorations within bamboo’s potential for new techniques and forms.

KYUSHU

Kyushu, the youngest of the three regions (bamboo art began in this region in the early 1900s), is currently home to the largest number of practicing bamboo artists due to the establishment of the Oita Prefectural Bamboo Craft and Training Support Center in the city of Beppu. Influenced by a number of teachers from various regions, the Kyushu artists are known for powerful constructions and robust, jar-shaped curvatures.Interest in dynamic horizontal progression can be seen in pieces such as Honda Syoryu’s Sound of Wavesand Okazaki Chikuhosai’s Flower Basket with Arrow Design. Many of these artist’s styles embrace bamboo’s wooden qualities, often using wider strips of material and dyes in a natural palette; this is seen in Yufu Shohaku’s muscular Sacred Mountainand Iwao Honan I’s Blue Ocean plaited Flower Basket.