January 1, 1970

EXHIBITING AT:
Colnaghi
38 E 70th Street
New York, NY 10021

OPENING RECEPTION:
Thursday, March 17, 5pm – 9pm

OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND:
Saturday, March 19 – Sunday, March 20

GALLERY WALKTHROUGH:
Saturday, March 19, 2:30pm

HOURS:
Daily, 11am – 6 pm (or by appointment)

For the 2022 edition of Asia Week New York, TAI Modern is proud to present Japanese bamboo artist Yufu Shohaku’s first solo exhibition outside of Japan. Also on view in New York are selected works from over 40 bamboo artists working in a broad range of styles and techniques.

Yufu Shohaku (b. 1941) turned eighty years old earlier this year. A second-generation bamboo artist from Beppu, Yufu began making baskets in elementary school and achieved mastery by middle school. Today, he is known for his robust and energetic rough-plaited baskets that incorporate bamboo branches and roots, half-split chunks of bamboo, and bamboo ropes.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the magnificent and unusual Meoto Iwa (The Wedded Rocks). Yufu recreates in bamboo these sacred rocks, tied together with a rope, representing the union between Izanagi and Izanami, the two central deities in Japan’s creation myth. The artist spent much of 2020 working on this sculptural homage to connection and new beginnings.