Nagakura Kenichi: A Retrospective

NAGAKURA KENICHI

NAGAKURA KENICHI

1952 – 2018

NAGAKURA KENICHI FOR MYSELF

When I talk about Nagakura Kenichi, I am at a loss as to whether I should talk about his work or his personality. Before his death, he said that you could tell a lot about a person by looking at his or her artwork. It goes without saying that Nagakura’s works are multifaceted, but they are who he was. His curiosity and versatility cannot be easily explained.

For me, Nagakura was my partner, my brother, even my child. But the relationship between the artist with a profound view of the world and the fan never changed. Nagakura had a craftsman’s spirit and an avant- garde mentality. He cherished his originality and creativity throughout his life, but that life was a thorny path of frustrated ambitions and a tough journey as a rebel. I like the powerful forms of Nagakura’s clay works very much, but by applying a simple and rough clay mixture to bamboo, which came from an established craft - art tradition, a combination unknown in Japan, he was exposed to both approval and censure.

When he held a solo exhibition in Japan shortly after winning the Cotsen Bamboo Prize, a well-known ikebana artist came and said, “He is not well received in Japan, but what he is doing is not wrong” — as if he were congratulating him by saying that. However, works from Nagakura’s many distinctive styles have been recognized as art by collectors and overseas critics.

Nagakura had a sense of humor, which made its way into many of his works. It was sometimes surprising to see him relaxed and joking while discussing a work of art only to suddenly interject a sharp point of view. He loved to talk about art and the nature of things over drinks. Nature, travel, music, sports, and a wide variety of hobbies and interests all led him back to art. I fondly remember him taking his sketchbook with him on his travels and drawing the landscapes.

At this retrospective, I hope that viewers will enjoy seeing Nagakura’s range and expansive vision in the paintings and “pop” artworks that will be exhibited alongside his better - known sculptural work.

My husband’s ongoing wish was that “many people will see and enjoy my works.” I hope this retrospective show will make this wish come true.

n Nagakura Kayoko

Human Being , 2018, 14.75 × 11.5 × 6.75 inches

Untitled , 11.5 × 33.5 × 9.75 inches

It is hard for me to imagine Japanese bamboo art, and TAI Modern, without thinking of Nagakura Kenichi. He was the artist most embraced by American collectors. Showing with TAI since the very start of the gallery’s focus on Japanese bamboo art in the late 1990s, Nagakura’s art has found a place in the homes of hundreds of collectors across the United States, Canada and Europe. His work can be seen in many of America’s great art museums. Though respected by other artists and those who knew his work, recognition and professional success eluded him in Japan. Perhaps this is because Nagakura never affiliated himself with either of the two prominent arts organizations in Japan, instead choosing to remain independent for over 30 years.

Nagakura began his career dyeing fabric for kimonos but quickly realized he was meant to be an artist. He spent three years splitting bamboo for his grandfather, a bamboo craftsman who made functional items for wholesalers. Though Nagakura saw himself as an artist, not a traditional flower basket maker, the influence of his early training lingered, and he continued to incorporate space for an otoshi (a container for flowers) into many of his works.

Nagakura lived a life of furious creativity and experimentation, incorporating unconventional materials like earth, clay, washi paper, and driftwood collected from local shores on daily walks. He invented new techniques that evoked the patina and texture of aged bamboo, bronze, rock, wood, and cloth, as well as natural phenomena like nests, webs, and cocoons. Bamboo artists strive to weave baskets without breaking a strip of bamboo, but Nagakura would break bamboo for the expressive possibilities of a form. More traditional bamboo artists admired this freedom of his.

Nagakura pushed bamboo art’s boundaries of scale, anthropomorphic imagery, and expressive freedom. Emotion and instinct guided his creative process. Nagakura often likened it to being drawn down an unpredictable path. Although he did not work with preconceived ideas of what the final form would be, certain visual motifs reappear throughout his body of work — finely - woven, abstracted human figures that grow out of a single bamboo node; rounded shapes inspired by Henry Moore; airy and curling fallen leaves; craggy and heavyseeming reliefs and sculptures like a scholar’s stone; delicate wall-mounted baskets surrounded by a calligraphic scribble of bamboo branches. Whatever the inspiration, one can always tell a Nagakura piece by its organic form, sensitivity to nature, and emotive force.

Nagakura’s work jumped out as imaginatively free with a powerful voice and presence. So did the artist himself. Nagakura was a maverick with an indomitable spirit, and his death left an empty space that has lingered in the lives of those who knew him. Six years after his passing, I am surprised by how often I still think of him.

n Margo Thoma

Star Dust , 20 03, 17.5 × 19 × 10 inches

Sunset , before1993, 65 × 16.5 × 5 inches

Drifting in the Air , 2011, 26 × 23 × 13 inches

Untitled , 2005, 40.5 × 17.75 × 4.5 inches >

Since my youth, I have found myself strongly attracted to the original, prehistoric forms of art. Japanese Jomonera pottery, African wood carvings, and other indigenous art forms created by human hands in ancient civilizations are filled with a strong life force. It is probably for this same reason that Western artists such as Picasso, Giacometti, Brancusi, and Henry Moore were drawn to those ancient art forms. Perhaps because of this shared appreciation, I also admire the works of these artists.

Untitled , 37.75 × 9 inches

Untitled , 40.5 × 28.75 inches >

Twilling , 2010, 11 × 14 × 7 inches

Untitled , 15.25 × 12.5 × 8.75 inches >

Woman , 2018, 32 × 7.5 × 6 inches n Sitting , 2007, 13.5 × 24 × 4.5 inches

While working on my artwork, there is a moment when the intricacies of the creative process take over. Beyond my intention and control, a minor detail often becomes the major idea and supporting ideas begin to outshine the main inspiration. I am often perplexed by these turns of events, nevertheless I follow this path into an infinite field of creation.

41.75 × 40 × 11 inches

Shining Mountains , 2012

Whirling Dance , 2017

24 × 12 × 8 inches

Whirling Dance II , 2018

28 × 20.5 × 9.75 inches >

Supple , 2005, 10.5 × 17 × 13 inches

Balance , 2013, 20 × 21 × 8 inches >

Untitled , after 2016, 17 × 13.5 × 11 inches

>

> Untitled , 18 × 21inches Untitled , 13.25 × 9.5 inches

In a gentle wind, the bamboo moves freely.

It flexes and twists and draws an arc across the sky.

The sense of life is entwined like spider silk.

A fine branch extends as if to receive heavenly revelation.

The bamboo tries to capture the form it seeks.

Intersecting Lights , 2011, 50 × 32 × 6.5 inches

Untitled , after 2004, 9 × 17.25 × 8.5 inches

Woman , 20 01, 24.75 × 10 × 8.5 inches >

Undulating Lace , 2013

21 × 8 × 4 inches

Bow , 2011

22.5 × 15.5 × 8 inch es >

Ray of Bamboo Light , 20 03

18.5 × 12.5 × 2.25 inches

Sky Being, 2007

15 × 15 × 8.5 inches >

Encircling Clouds , 2013

17 × 9 × 4 inches

Balance, 2009

15.5 × 16 × 6.5 inches >

Vista , 2013,14 × 29.5 × 10 inches

Untitled, 2015 – 2018, 37 × 11 × 1.75 inches >

Sun Mask, 1997, 11.25 × 11 × 7.25 inches

Cascade , 20 09, 36 × 10 × 4.5 inches

Encircling, 20 09, 36 × 13 × 3 inches

Human Being, 20 04, 10.75 × 7.25 × 7.25 inches

Untitled , 20 04 – 20 05, 36 × 21.25 × 13 25 inches >

Light Reflecting on Running Water , 2011, 16.25 × 29.5 × 18.5 inches

Ray of Bamboo Light , 20 03, 25.5 × 9 × 3 inches >

Ritual Dancer , 20 08, 14 × 15 × 8 inches n Sky Being, 2007, 11 × 7 × 16 inches

The most common and traditional process for making bamboo vessels is to start with the base plaiting in the foot, continue up the walls to shape the body and finish at the rim. To me this is just one of the many possible methods for creating three dimensional objects out of bamboo. Instead, I prefer the unconventional process of creating one section and allowing it to guide the creation of the rest of the artwork. As the piece develops itself, I get a strong sense of rhythm and flow, which suits my creativity better.

Ring of Water , 2016, 33 × 35 × 14 inches

Untitled , 5.75 × 6.5 inches

Untitled , 8.25 × 8.5 inches

Untitled , 6.5 × 6.25 inches > > > >

Untitled , before 1993, 10.25 × 11.25 × 8.5 inches

>

Wings , after 1993, 12.5 × 13.25 × 3 inches

Untitled, after 1993, 21.5 × 7.5 × 2.75 inches

Untitled, after 1993, 22.5 × 4.25 × 2.25 inches

Woman , after 1993,13 × 6.5 × 2.25 inches

N A G A K U R A K E N I C H I

19 52 – 2018

Born Shizuoka, Japan

1975 Studied under his grandfather

1982 Solo exhibition, Galler y Takei, Numazu

1985 Solo exhibition, Shin- Gifu Department Store

1988 Solo exhibition, Sapoa People, Tokyo and MOA Gallery, Nagoya

1990 Solo exhibition, Galler y Kouki, Paris

1991 Solo exhibition, La Richipel Surle, Bourgogne, France

1992 Solo exhibition, Galler y Space Ten, Tokyo

1994 Solo exhibition, Matsuya Depar tment Store, Tokyo

1996 Two - person exhibition, Ishigami - no - Oka Open Air Museum, Iwate

1997 Exhibited at German Culture Center, Tokyo

1999 Solo exhibition, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2000 Bamboo Masterworks, Asia Society, New York, NY; traveled to Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA and Honolulu Academy of Art, HI

2001 Winner, first Cotsen Bamboo Prize

Solo exhibition, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2002 The Next Generation, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR

Group exhibition, Tigerman Himmel Gallery, Chicago, IL

2003 Three Views of Bamboo: Fujinuma, Nagakura, Shono, Kansas City Jewish Museum, KS

Solo exhibition, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2004 Group exhibition, Hand Workshop Art Center, Richmond, VA

2005 Solo exhibition, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2006 Hin: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Art, Grinnell College, IA; traveled to Chicago Cultural Center, IL

Group exhibition, Museum of Fine Ar ts, Boston, MA

Collaboration with Daniel Ost, Nocturne, Brussels

Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection, Arizona State Universit y Art Museum, Tempe, AZ; traveled to New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM and Museum of Ar t and Design, New York, NY

Listening to Bamboo: Japanese Baskets from the Collection of Ritalou & Robert Harris, Herber t F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

2008 New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters, Japan Society, New York, NY

2009 Solo exhibition, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Form Follows Function or Does It? , University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AR

2010 Solo exhibition, Intertwined Bamboo and Stem, Japanese American Cultural and Communit y Center, Los Angeles, CA

2011 Solo exhibition, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2012 Solo exhibition, Nagakura Kenichi: Fluid Duality, Denver Botanic Gardens, CO

2013 Birds in the Art of Japan, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Solo exhibition, TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2015 Japanese Bamboo at the World Expo: A Century of Discovery, Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego, CA

2016 Solo exhibition, TAI Modern, Santa Fe, NM

Discovering Japanese Bamboo Art: The Rusty & Ann Harrison Collection, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN

2017 Japanese Bamboo Art: The Diane and Arthur Abbey Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Ar t, New York, NY

2018 Hanakago: The Art of Bamboo & Flowers, Portland Japanese Gardens, OR Fendre L’Air: Art of Bamboo in Japan, Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris

2019 Japanese Bamboo Art From New York: The Abbey Collection, Oita Prefectural Art Museum; traveled to National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka

2023 Woven Histories:Textiles and Modern Abstraction , Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; will travel to National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

2024 Nagakura Kenichi: A Retrospective, TAI Modern, Santa Fe, NM

M U S E U M C O L L E C T I O N S

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC

Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA

de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Baltimore Museum of Art, MD

Columbia Museum of Art, SC

Benton Museum of Art, Pomona College, CA

Opposite: Upon the Wind , 2016, 9.5 × 35.5 × 5 inches

Published on the occasion of the exhibition NAGAKURA KENICHI: A RETROSPECTIVE

June 28 – July 20, 2024

TAI MODERN

1601 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501

505.984.1387 n taimodern.com

Above: Mask , 1997, 14 × 7.5 × 5.75 inches. Publication © TAI Modern 2024