FUJITSUKA SHOSE ICOSMOS

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Celestial, 2014, 6 ×16.5 ×17inches (detail)

ONE OF THE F IRST THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT FUJI TSUKA SHOSE Iwas that he had installed a high-powered telescope on the roof of his house. In the back

of a taxicab in Oiso, on my way to meet him for the first time, I heard the story of how

TAI Gallery helped convince Fujitsuka to show in Santa Fe by extolling the clarity and

vastness of New Mexico’s skies. In his home studio, snugged comfortably next to a garden,

stores of susutake (aged, smoked bamboo) and bundles of bamboo in various states of

preparation share space with the artist’s photographs of the stellar landscape.

I was therefore not surprised when Fujitsuka said that the baskets and sculptures he

had been making for his upcoming exhibition at TAI Modern were all inspired by the

cosmos. I was astonished, though, and deeply impressed by how well he paired theme

and medium — a pairing that could so easily have felt awkward or unbalanced. Only

an artist of Fujitsuka’s technical mastery and nuanced creative vision could have married

the intangible allure of deep space to the sensual, terrestrial beauty of bamboo. Throughout

history, human beings have looked to the sky for answers to essential questions about

how and why we are here. The study of the stars, as mathematician and physicist Henri

Poincaré put it,“has given us a soul capable of comprehending nature.”

Many of the works in Cosmos utilize Fujitsuka’s original technique of cutting bamboo

strips into triangular shapes, dyeing each face a different color, and arranging them closely

in parallel. As the viewer orbits the resulting piece, colors transform and the moiré effect

generates a vibrating energy. Anyone familiar with the fugitive, shifting glow of the Northern

Lights will recognize the inspiration for Aurora’s cascade of angled green rays. In the open

plaiting of Comet and Cosmos, streaks of purple and orange spiral out from the hearts

of the vessels like the tails of comets against the night sky. Fujitsuka achieves the expressive

lines of sculptures like Galaxy and Stephan’s Quintet by heating hobichiku (smoked dwarf

bamboo) over an open flame and painstakingly bending the bamboo stalk into shapes

that reference distant galaxies.

Born in Hokkaido in 1949, Fujitsuka moved at the age of seven with his family to the

seaside town of Oiso, where he still lives today. After high school, he worked for a record

producer and a company that serviced optical equipment. Unhappy with the restrictive

corporate environment, the artist longed for a more fulfilling career. In 1972, he quit his

job to begin an apprenticeship with Baba Shodo, a pioneer of sculptural bamboo art.

For the next 21years, as he honed his craft, Fujitsuka supported himself and his family by

making bamboo lampshades.Winning the Superior Prize at the Traditional Craft Arts

Exhibition allowed him to devote himself fulltime to making art. Fujitsuka has been honored

with television appearances, prizes, and solo and group exhibitions in Asia, Europe, and

the United States. His work is in the collections of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco,

Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Japanese Agency of Cultural

Affairs and the Japan Foundation.

­­­­­­n Margo Thoma, TAI Modern

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Waves at Sunset, 2014,1×12.75 × 9 inches

Galaxy, 2014, 28 × 32 × 8 inches

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ARTIST STATEMENT

“Faintly - lit Cascading Milky Way,

Orion and Pleiades making rhythmical sounds…”

The above quote is my favorite section of a Japanese song written by Keizo Horiuchi

called Fuyuno Seiza (“Winter Astronomy”).

All of a sudden, one day, an oscillating long-tailed comet appears in the dark sky.

As if stars broke through the celestial curtain, the meteor shower pours down

creating a fantastic curtain of light, an Aurora.

The Milky Way and Nebula also express themselves by forming

multiple configurations and colors.

All of these constellations together create such amazing beauty

that it makes me speechless.

I am filled with a feeling of contentment when I spend my time observing

these beautiful stars scattered in the evening sky.

As I learn how space was created and has developed, I reflect upon human life and

how fragile our lives are.

Life has been forming on Earth for many centuries. I believe that all life originated in

the stars, and will go back to the stars in the end.

One day, I will also return to the Nebula.

This is my second exhibition in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I work with bamboo every

day, and through this medium, I express the celestial world which I consider to be

the foundation of my life.

I would like to convey to viewers, through the observation of this alluring material, how

precious life is, and to think about the beautiful stars and sublime cosmic space.

­­­­­­n Fujitsuka Shosei, June 2014

Orion Nebula, photographed by Fujitsuka Shosei

Celestial, 2014, 6 ×16.5 ×17inches

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Milky Way, 2009, 6.75 ×19 × 7 inches

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Above: Comet, 2014,11.25 ×14.5 × 14.5 inches

Right: Aurora, 2014,15.5 ×10 × 8.5 inches

0~∞, 2014,10.25 × 23 ×13.5 inches

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Clouds at Dusk, 1996, 3 × 9.5 ×12 inches

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Rosette Nebula, 2014,10 ×14 ×14 inches

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FUJITSUKA SHOSEI

1949 Born in Hokkaido, Japan

1972 Apprenticed to Baba Shodo (one of the pioneers in bamboo sculpture)

1973 Admitted to Kanagawa Prefecture Art Exhibition

1974 Moved to Oiso, Kanagawa and became independent

1978 Admitted to the Modern Craft Arts Exhibition

1984 Admitted to the Japan Traditional Craft Arts Exhibition, Eastern Division

1985 Admitted to the Japan Traditional Craft Arts Wood and Bamboo Exhibition

Appeared on the TVK Television show, Visiting Artists

1990 Appeared on the CNN Television show, Japan This Week

1991 Admitted to the Japan Traditional Craft Arts Exhibition

1992 Winner, The Encouragement Award,

Japan Traditional Craft Arts Exhibition, Eastern Division

Solo Exhibition, Hiratsuka Gallery, Hiratsuka, Japan

1993 Received the Superior Prize at the Japan Traditional Craft Arts Exhibition

Appeared on the NHK Television show, Sunday Art Gallery

Became a full member of the Japan Traditional Craft Arts Association

Solo Exhibition, Hiratsuka Gallery, Hiratsuka, Japan

1994 Received The Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Award

Solo Exhibition, Shishiza Gallery, Japan

1995 Received The Kanagawa Newspaper Award at the

Kanagawa Traditional Craft Arts Exhibition

Solo Exhibition, Hiratsuka Gallery, Hiratsuka, Japan

1996 Group Exhibition, Ginza Wako,Tokyo, Japan

The Contemporary Japanese Craft Arts Traveling Exhibition

Solo Exhibition, Umeya, Japan

1998 Group Exhibition, Ginza Wako,Tokyo, Japan

Group Exhibition, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi,Tokyo, Japan

Group Exhibition, Bamboo Craft Arts,

13th Asia Memorial Convention,Thailand

1999 Solo Exhibition, Ginza Wako,Tokyo, Japan

Group Exhibition,“100 Meilleures Objets d’Art Contemporains au Japon,”

Mitsukoshi Etoile, Paris, France

Group Exhibtion,Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi,Tokyo, Japan

2000 Group Exhibition,“Bamboo Fantasies,” TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Group Exhibition,“The Next Generation,” University of Arkansas, Little Rock

2003 Group Exhibition,“The Classic Japanese Basket,”

TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Group Exhibition, The Hand Workshop Art Center, Richmond,Virginia

2005 Two-person Exhibition,TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Group Exhibition, “Weavers of Wonder,” Naples Museum of Art, Florida

Invitational Show, “Tanabata Ten,” Hiratsuka City Museum, Kanagawa, Japan

2006 Group Exhibition, “Power & Delicacy,” TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Group Exhibition,“Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Bamboo Art,”

Grinnell College, Iowa

Group Exhibition,“Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Bamboo Art,”

Chicago Cultural Center, Illinois

Collaboration with Daniel Ost, “Nocturne,” Brussels, Belgium

Invitational Show,“T ake no Zo,” Nakatomi Museum

of Contemporary Craft, Fukui, Japan

2007 Group Exhibition,“Beyond Basketry: Japanese Bamboo Art,”

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

2008 Three-person Exhibition,“A Sensei and His Students,”

TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Group Exhibition, “New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters,”

The Japan Society, New York City

2009 Encouragement Award, the Japan Traditional Craft Arts Exhibition

Group Exhibition, “Many Shapes of Bamboo III,”

Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Japan

2011 Tokyo Governor’s Prize, 58th Japan Traditional Craft Arts Exhibition

2012 Awarded the “Purple Ribbon” by the Japanese Congress for lifetime

achievement in the arts, presented by the Emperor of Japan.

2013 Group Exhibition,“Fired Earth,Woven Bamboo,”

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

2014 Solo Exhibition,“Cosmos,” TAI Modern, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Museum Collections:

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

J apanese Agency for Cultural Affairs

Japan Foundation, New York City

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Back Cover: Stephan’s Quintet, 2014, 49.5 ×11.5 × 7.25 inches

1601Paseo de Peralta

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

505.984.1387

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