HONMA HIDEAKI
This exhibition of sculpture by Honma Hideaki presents a breathtakingly powerful and significant range of his sculptures from the early 1990s to the present. One of the greatest joys for me as an art dealer is watching and encouraging younger artists like Hideaki in their artistic development. Celebrating Honma Hideaki’s twentieth year in the world of bamboo art with his first United States solo show gives me great pleasure. Hideaki lives and works on the remote rugged island of Sado off the Japan seaside of Honshu. The island is dominated by two mountain ranges descending to a broad plain of rice fields. Sado is home to an abundance of sea and land bird life. Hundreds of ancient temples and gardens are hidden in the landscape, and a plethora of old style houses dot the landscape. Hideaki enthusiastically participates in Sado’s rich cultural life as a member of a dance and drumming group performing at local festivals. This exuberance for local life manifests itself in his art making. Hideaki’s bird series skillfully portrays in an abstractive manner, without being overly realistic, birds he views perched on trees and rocks along the seashore. His ability to reflect this part of the natural world through bamboo is unrivaled. Another series of sculptures draws their movement from the sea breezes blowing across the plains. These evolve further into powerful knot forms.
Graceful II 2001, 13 x 11 x 31 inches (left)
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In his sculptures, Hideaki draws upon techniques learned from his father Honma Kazuaki, an extraordinarily gifted and respected bamboo artist. All bamboo artists confront considerable obstacles in establishing their individual artistic expression, but the challenges are even more so with having such an accomplished father. The arduous process of learning how to form well-crafted bamboo baskets and sculpture always involves painstakingly learning the basic techniques over several years, and by making copies of the teacher’s work. Then, like an adolescent severing the secure family bonds, starting to break away, using their skills in new ways. Hideaki’s diligent pursuit of drawing as a starting point for creating his sculpture is a key element in his artistic maturation. He succeeds in establishing his independent voice through his passionate love of bamboo, his mastery of techniques, and a strong determination to communicate his life and world through the bamboo medium. Robert T. Coffland
Silence 2004, 15 x 9 1/2 x 30 inches (right) Page 6: Shore II 1995, 20 x 10 x 37 inches
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In chanoyu, the tea ceremony, we have the phrase ichigo ichie, meaning “meeting only once in a lifetime — treasure every encounter, for it will never recur”. I think this term describes where I am now, which goes back to the encounters with bamboo art, Robert Coffland, Mr. Cotsen, collectors and TAI Gallery staff. All gave me the energy for the creation of my work. My interactions with collectors have inspired and enabled me to continue working over the past 20 years. I recall the time I returned to Sado more than twenty years ago after my grandfather’s death to succeed my family’s tradition of bamboo art. My father, Kazuaki, and senior staff became my teachers inducting me into the creation of bamboo art. In the first few years I only learned to split and chip rather than weave bamboo. After the third year, I gradually created my own works, participated in local exhibitions, and often received awards. Later at the national level I challenged myself by applying to the Japan Fine Arts Exhibition and was accepted fifteen times. In the process of producing a work there are a lot of encounters: with a piece of bamboo, the creative idea, using the skill to make it, the completed work itself. I really feel thankful for all these encounters, almost like fate. In creating works, I consider many angles to get an idea, make rough drawings, and review them again and again before making a full-size drawing. For a single piece of work, I may make tens to hundreds of drawings. The fabrication process differs for each work — some require special workmanship in shaping, others in the weaving. There is no set formula to follow and complications can occur that challenges me before a work is completed. A nerve - fraying, painstaking process is required to create a sculpture — my child. Lastly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Robert Coffland and all the staff of TAI Gallery for offering me such a wonderful opportunity to have this 20 -year retrospective as my first solo show in the United States. Honma Hideaki
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Knot IV 2006, 29 x 10 x 18 1/2 inches Knot III 2006, 15 x 11 x 34 inches (right)
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Knot V 2006 26 x 15 x 18 1/2 inches
Uplifting 1993, 24 x 16 x 29 inches Dance of the Phoenix III 2003, 17 x 7 x 31 inches (right)
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Warm Spring 1999, 36 x 8 1/2 x 13 inches Color of Light 2006, 20 x 10 x 37 inches (right)
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Rolling Image
2007, 23 x 9 x 18 1/2 inches
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Knot II 2006, 26 x 14 x 19 inches
HONMA HIDEAKI 1959 1990
1991 1992
1993 1994 1996 2001 2002 2003
2004
2006
2007
Born in Hatano - cho, Sado-gun, Niigata Prefecture Admitted for first time to Niigata Prefecture Arts Exhibition (thereafter admitted 4 times ) Winner of Governors Award at Niigata Contemporary Craft Arts Exhibition (thereafter won 3 other awards: Niigata Newspaper Award, Niigata Mayor’s Award, and Niigata Chamber of Commerce Award ) Admitted for first time to Japan Contemporary Craft Arts Exhibition (thereafter admitted 10 times) Admitted for first time to Nitten, Japan Fine Arts Exhibition (thereafter admitted 6 times) Winner of Encouragement Award at Niigata Prefecture Arts Exhibition Winner of Encouragement Award at Niigata Prefecture Arts Exhibition Winner of Contemporary Art Award at Japan Contemporary Craft Arts Exhibition Winner of Niigata Prefecture Art Award at Niigata Prefecture Arts Exhibition Exhibited in “Bamboo Fantasies”, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe Exhibited in “The Next Generation”, University of Arkansas Special Demonstration and Exhibition at SOFA Chicago Special Demonstration and Exhibition at International Asian Art Fair, New York City Exhibited at the New York Asian Fair Exhibited in “Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Art” at the Richmond Visual Arts Center, Richmond, Virginia Exhibited in “Power & Delicacy: Master Works of Japanese Bamboo Art” at TAI Gallery Exhibited in “Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Art”, Grinnell College, Iowa Exhibited in “Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Art”, Chicago Cultural Center Exhibited at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts Exhibited in “The Next Generation” Exhibition at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Member of the Contemporary Craft Artists Association Head of the Niigata Contemporary Craft Artists Association
Graceful 1996, 18 x 14 x 29 inches (right) Back Cover: Sunlight Streaming Through Trees 1995, 18 x 8 x 26 1/2 inches Design by Michael Motley
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Photography by Gary Mankus
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Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
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