Monden Koyoku & Yuichi: Father & Son 107 Years of Bamboo Art

FAT HE R & S O N : 107 Y E A R S O F B A M B O O A R T M O ND E N KO GYOK U & Y UIC HI

FAT HER & S O N: 107 YE A RS OF BAMBOO A R T There are no words that could ever fully express my feelings of respect, gratitude, and affection for Monden Kogyoku, his son Yuichi and their respective wives. Visiting the Monden household is always one of the highlights of going to Japan. I have always told Mrs. Monden that if I had a Japanese mother, I would want it be her because she makes the best rice balls wrapped with nori I have ever eaten. Their openness to Western visitors and my visits coupled with their joy of the acceptance of their art work by Westerners fills my heart with happiness.

The career of Monden Kogyoku over the past seventy years is remarkable. It is reflective of the tumultuousness of the emergence of modern Japan. Monden’s willingness to sacrifice his artistic career in post - war Japan in order to provide a better future for his wife and children is indicative of the strength of his character. Thinking of the thousands and thousands of bamboo kitchen utensils he made instead of the great bamboo art work he created before and then after the restart of his artistic career makes my heart heavy with this loss to the art world. At the age of 90, Monden suffered a serious life threatening illness. He recovered but stopped making art for two years until, suddenly in late 2008, he went back into his studio and began to create spectacular new sculptures in innovative ways. At first sight the power and freshness of these sculptures appear to be the art work of a much younger artist, but are not. They are reflective of an artist who, working with bamboo for seven decades, engages with its unique properties in inventive ways. The other treat of this exhibition is a survey of earlier bamboo pieces that show Monden’s continuous incredible technical ability coupled with his artistic sensitivity.

Cover: Monden Kogyoku Flowering Wave (detail) 2005, 20 x 16 x 14 inches Left: Monden Kogyoku Revive 1946, 11 diameter x 12 1/2 inches

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Seeing the blossoming of Monden Yuichi’s career over the past decade gives me great delight. For the son of any great artist, it is too easy to be overwhelmed and quit, or as it is a right in Japanese artistic traditions, simply copy the father’s art work. His decision to move to Beppu and study at the bamboo school was courageous.

Then returning the following year for further instruction with Tanabe Kochikusai, (one of Shono Shounsai’s — the first bamboo art Living National Treasure — top students and his closest assistant) shows great determination and desire. His struggle to become an artist in his own right, while drawing upon the techniques inherited from his father, is truly a great achievement. There is in Yuichi’s sculptures a strong interplay of sweeps of bamboo strips that show the medium’s flexibility and resilience. His decision to work with very lightly dyed bamboo accentuates its lightness as a material. There is also a playfulness in the compositions reflective of Yuichi’s lively personality. This is an accomplished body of sculptures that augurs well for his long future as a bamboo artist. After all, Yuichi is now only 68.

Robert T. Coffland, July 2010

Monden Yuichi Surging Wave 2006, 18 1/2 x 14 x 20 inches

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INTERVIEW WITH MONDEN KOG Y OKU How did you get involved in bamboo art?

In January 1933, at the age of seventeen, I left my home and took a thirteen-hour night train ride to Beppu to begin my bamboo basket art training. My second cousin, Monden Niko,* lived and worked there as a basket maker. My parents thought it was a good idea for me to learn this craft art so my teacher accepted me as a live - in- student. He already had a few students and I wanted to catch up to my seniors as quickly as possible. We started at 6 am and worked until 10 pm seven days a week. After work, I took a bath in a nearby hot spring and then practiced every night on my own. Competing with them to the best of my abilities everyday along with the additional practice shortened my learning curve. The single hardest challenge was that I was very allergic to lacquer. My skin broke out in a rash and I got a high fever every time I had to work with it. There is no secret to overcoming such agony. I simply had to endure and get used to it, which took well over two years before my body no longer reacted. Despite this physical aliment, in 1936 after three years of training, I became my teacher’s assistant. In the fall of 1938 I began to work independently. .

What do you think is special about bamboo as a medium?

Bamboo is a plant that is like no other material in its flexibility and tension, even when finely split. For example, one variety, madake bamboo, has distinctly different characteristics in each part of the culm.

When I buy fresh green bamboo grown in Oita Prefecture, I knock each culm with the back of my knife to find out what qualities it has.

I understand the differences in each bamboo culm and use them accordingly. * This artist is commonly known as Kadota Niko.

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What do you like to express through your art?

I always want to make something new that has never been made by anyone else. There are many technicians and talented bamboo basket makers in Japan. But to be known as an artist, you have to make your work original. When I make a “flower basket,” I do not think of flowers. It is my job to create a basket which I believe has the unique beauty only bamboo can offer.

In your long career, what artwork is most special to you?

There are three pieces that are most memorable which I made for regional Oita art competitions early in my career. After three years of learning under Niko, I submitted a piece to a public competition in November 1935. It was a shallow vessel in which the inner part of the bamboo was revealed on the surface of the basket. My originality won the highest prize, the Oita Governor’s Award. I was the youngest person ever to win this honor. People said it was pure beginner’s luck.

That really motivated me to prove myself to them. For the next two years the only thing I thought about was what to make for the competition. I defended my title the following two years. No one told me I was “just lucky” anymore.

What were some of the ups and downs in your career?

My artistic career was not smooth for sure, there were many tough times. The first came after the war when people were no longer interested in buying expensive art baskets. I made a decision then to shift from making flower baskets to making kitchen utensils such as bamboo miso baskets for loosening a cake of miso into soup — something Japanese could not do without. I made them look pretty. People liked them and my other bamboo utensils so they sold very well. For a long time I was too busy making these kitchen baskets and had no time for making art work.

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The second challenging time was during the late 1960s and the early 1970s when inexpensive plastic kitchen utensils flooded the marketplace and replaced the more costly traditional bamboo utensils.

I seriously considered changing my career.

Then opportunity knocked. In February 1972 a man visited my house asking to see some of my art baskets. He told me he would introduce me to the Tenmanya Department Store Art Gallery. I took a couple of baskets to someone at the gallery who, to my surprise, offered me a sales show at which I did very well. Having a bamboo show at this art gallery caught the media’s attention and, as a result, I had several interviews. One of the newspaper reporters asked me what I was going to do next. I did not know how to answer. He then asked me if I would try to enter my baskets in the Nitten (the Japanese Fine Arts Association) exhibition. I said that I might do that some day. A big article appeared in the paper the next day under the headline, “Local Basket Man’s Challenge to Nitten.” To tell you the truth, I knew nothing of Nitten back then. I failed to be accepted into the exhibition that year, so I went to Tokyo to see what Nitten was all about. After learning what was expected, my first success there came the following year.

This started my professional artist career again. I began to experiment with sculptural forms that had absolutely no relationship to flower baskets. Later I changed my professional art affiliation from Nitten to the Japan Craft Traditional Art Association because I was not receiving the recognition I felt I deserved in the former organization. I began again to make flower baskets.

What do you see in the future of bamboo art?

I always advise others to create their own distinctive artwork. One should express one’s own individuality by making a basket or sculpture that is different from all other works. The necessary improvement of technique can come later. When I judge young aspiring artists, I try to see if he or she has something new to offer regardless of their skill level.

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My concern for the future of bamboo art is that people nowadays do not have the same seriousness and maybe toughness as our generation had. We had bad times but also many good times. There was a time when people were waiting for your baskets to be made. Now is a difficult time for bamboo artists in Japan. Previously the craftsmanship taught produced high- quality professionals. What is more important is what you do with the techniques and how you use this skill as a means for expressing your own creativity. I am very pleased Westerners appreciate my creative efforts and that of my fellow artists.

Monden Kogyoku Shore 1985, 16 diameter x 11 inches

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Chidori Plaited Flower Basket 2006, 15 diameter x 13 inches (left) Hokei Flower Basket 1985, 16 diameter x 11 inches (below)

Flowering Wave 2005, 20 x 16 x 14 inches (above) Calm 1981, 15 x 11 x 18 inches (right)

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Universe 2009, 32 x 20 x 20 inches

Moon Shape 2008, 11 x 9 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches (above) Rocky Shoreline 2009, 211/2 x 21 x 18 inches (right)

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Thunderhead 2010, 18 x 17 x 18 inches (below) Reminiscence 2010, 23 x 22 x 17 1/2 inches (right)

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MONDEN YUICHI: ART IST’S STAT E MEN T Being born into a bamboo basket - making family, I lived and played with bamboo throughout my youth. It was everywhere in my life. However, it was not until late one night in 1975, after my father was asleep, that I ventured alone into his studio and asked myself, “is it not a waste for me not to try expressing myself through bamboo?” That night I started to teach myself how to work with bamboo. Later that year, I made my first simple bamboo basket.

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Since the late 1970 s, I created and successfully submitted one artwork per year to the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Exhibitions, and even won some prizes and awards. My only training was by examining my father's work and experimenting with my own hands. Later, I felt a real need for more formal training to advance myself to a higher artistic level. After taking an early retirement from my engineering job in 1998, I went to study at the Bamboo Training Center in Beppu. When I was a child, our family lived in Beppu. Since my father knew many of the senior artists there, I was able to have access to, and very pleasant relationships with, these artists during my stay. After graduating from the Center, I studied at an advanced level under Tanabe Kochikusai, who was the senior assistant to Shono Shounsai, the first bamboo artist to become a Living National Treasure of Japan. All of the above helped me to begin realizing my dream of being an artist.

In 2002, I went on a study tour to New Mexico and was part of a group show at TAI Gallery with bamboo artists more established than I. That experience deepened my desire to be an even better artist.

I submitted my work to Nitten in 2004 for the first time and was rejected. Reflecting on this I thought of changing my art-making direction for the following year, but one of the judges advised me to stay the course. I followed his advice and worked to improve my artwork.

The result was fruitful. I won the Up and Coming Artist of the Year Prize at the Japan Modern Art Exhibition and my next piece was accepted at the Fall Nitten exhibition.

The straight form of bamboo is deeply appealing to me as an art medium. When I cut into a culm of bamboo and it splits exactly in half, my heart is in each part. The preparation of the material really dictates the outcome of the artwork. Though I still feel I am a beginner, it is my goal to someday create a piece that will contribute, in its own small way, to advancing this art form.

Monden Yuichi Source 2010, 20 x 12 x 12 inches

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Bundling 2007, 17 diameter x 10 inches (above) Circular Dance 2005, 23 x 13 x 20 inches (right)

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Wave’s Spirit 2009, 26 x 20 x 21 inches (below) Whirling 2008, 21 x 14 x 20 inches (right)

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MONDEN KOGYOKU 1916

Born in Hiroshima

1933

Apprenticed to Kadota Niko

1935

Winner of The Governor’s Award at Oita Prefecture Art Exhibition

1936

Winner of The Governor’s Award at Oita Prefecture Art Exhibition

1937

Winner of The Governor’s Award at Oita Prefecture Art Exhibition Admitted to National Craft Exhibition

1974

Winner of Governor of Okayama Award at Japan Modern Craft Arts Exhibition, Chugoku Division

1976

Winner of Governor of Hiroshima Award and Association Chief’s Award at Prefectural Exhibition of Modern Craft Artists Association

1977

Winner of H Award at Hiroshima Kofukai Exhibition

1979

Winner of Japan New Craft Award at 1st Japan New Craft Exhibition

1984

Winner of T Award at Hiroshima Kofukai 70th Anniversary Exhibition

1985

Admitted to Kofukai Exhibition Admitted to Japan New Craft Art Exhibition

1986

Judge at Fukuyama City Art Exhibition Judge at Hiroshima Prefecture Art Exhibition

1987

Admitted to Japan Traditional Craft Arts Exhibition (13 times)

1991

Became full member of Traditional Craft Arts Association

1996

Winner of Sanyo Newspaper Award

1997

Winner of Cultural Award from Hiroshima Television

1999

Winner of Hiroshima Culture Award “Bamboo Masterworks,” Asia Society, New York City

2000

“Bamboo Masterworks,” Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

2001

“Bamboo Masterworks,” Honolulu Academy of Art “Bamboo Fantasies,” TA I Gallery, Santa Fe “Bamboo Masterworks,”Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena

2002

“Bamboo Masterworks,” Aspen Museum of Art

2003

“The Classic Japanese Basket,” TA I Gallery, Santa Fe

2004

The Hand Workshop Art Center, Richmond, Virginia

2005

“Weavers of Wonder,” Naples Museum, Florida

2006

“Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Art,” Grinnell College, Iowa “Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Art,” Chicago Cultural Center Group Exhibition, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts “Masters of Bamboo,” Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Museum Collections: Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Denver Art Museum, Colorado Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, North Carolina Fukuyama Museum of Art, Japan; Hiroshima Prefecture Art Museum, Japan

MONDEN YUICHI 1942

Born in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, first son of Monden Kogyoku, well-known bamboo master

1980

Admitted to Hiroshima Prefecture Arts Exhibition (thereafter admitted 12 times)

1983

Winner of Encouragement Award at Hiroshima Prefecture Arts Exhibition

1990

Winner of Encouragement Award at Hiroshima Prefecture Arts Exhibition

1992

Winner of Best of Show Award at Hiroshima Prefecture Arts Exhibition

1998

Retired from job as an applied scientist to pursue career as a bamboo artist

1999

Studied bamboo art under Tanabe Nobuyuki and Sugawara Hiromi for 2 years

2001

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

2002

Admitted for first time to Japan Modern Craft Arts Exhibition International Art & Design Fair, New York City Arts of Pacific Asia, San Francisco “The Next Generation,” TA I Gallery, Santa Fe

2003

Admitted to Japan Modern Craft Arts Exhibition SOFA New York Antiques Chicago

2004

SOFA Chicago SOFA New York

2005

San Francisco International Art Exhibition Winner of Up and Coming Artist of the Year Prize Admitted for first time to Nitten ( Japan Fine Arts Exhibition)

2006

“Power & Delicacy: Master Works of Japanese Bamboo Art,” TA I Gallery, Santa Fe “Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Art,” Grinnell College, Iowa “Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Art,” Chicago Cultural Center Admitted to Japan Modern Craft Arts Exhibition

2007

Palm Beach!, Florida Admitted to Japan Modern Craft Arts Exhibition

2008

SOFA New York Admitted to Japan Modern Craft Arts Exhibition

2009

SOFA New York SOFA West, Santa Fe Admitted to Japan Modern Craft Arts Exhibition Admitted to Nitten

2010

Admitted to Japan Modern Craft Arts Exhibition Collections Museum of Art and Design, New York City

Back Cover: Monden Yuichi Wave’s Voice 2007, 25 x 9 x 24 inches

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