Contemporary Bamboo: Masters From Japan

 

Morigami Jin - Musuo (Peerless), 2015

 

 

"Bamboo is beautiful. I listen to it. It says many things to me. I enjoy my conversations with it. " - Yamaguchi Ryuun, Bamboo Master.

 

 

An exquisitely presented exhibition of functional bamboo vessels and sculpture by Japanese makers this, presented under the guise of craft, but quite rightly being recognised in the title of the exhibition (and a wider audience in the art market), as masterly examples of art. Although enchanted and distracted by the amazing examples of naturally created Gogottes in the downstairs galleries of Eskenazi Ltd in my last post, it was being guided to ascend the stairs by the knowledgeable and personable Eskenazi staff to the upper galleries that I was able to access these incredible deliberately ceated contemporary examples of bamboo craft by eight Japanese artists. The forms presented ranged from completely abstract, art-sculptural creations, to modern functional interpretations of ikebana flower baskets for tea ceremonies. Japanese bamboo weaving was traditionally viewed as a purely practical medium to produce tools and utensils for domestic use. Bamboo as the source material is harvested, processed, spliced and dyed before being woven into elaborate shapes. It is a craft steeped in centuries of tradition that requires decades of devotion, being passed down between generations within families who have honed their techniques to become masters. As the complexity and craftsmanship of these woven objects has become recognised in the West, bamboo weaving is losing its purely utilitarian role and modern practitioners have branched out and are using the medium to express their creativity and versatility in new ways, turning to abstraction to create new forms and techniques that produce pieces more akin to sculpture. The Eskenazi Gallery was previously unknown to me, but I recognised in some of these pieces similar highly sculptural/mathematical models used to create the fantastic forms on display here as being very similar to the mathematical models in the Science Museum which informed the early midcentury sculptures of Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo, the basis of of my Aeolus series. Each piece on display was highly covetable for different reasons, and created with a particular aesthetic intelligence and sensitivity to materials. Not surprisingly most exhibits here had sold before the exhibition had even opened. It was a real privilege to observe the delicacy and skill of the creation of these exhibited items before they disappear into private collections. The skill and execution of these objects gave me pause to think about my own practice as a creator, and actually made me question and want to raise my game in terms of technique. This exhibition and that of my previous post made me realise that you should always continue to look outside of your own practice (given the time and inclination), to the work of other makers/creators and their disciplines for continued inspiration to create your best work.

 

 

Honda Shōryū - Infinity (Ren), 2015

 

Honda Shōryū - Infinity (Ren), 2015

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Cocoon, 2017 and Yufu Shōhaku - Flower Basket

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Cocoon, 2017 (detail)

Yufu Shōhaku - Flower Basket, (detail)

 

Morigami Jin - Musuo (Peerless), 2015

 

Morigami Jin - Musuo (Peerless), 2015 (detail)

 

Tanabe Chikuunsai IV - Disappear II (Utakata), 2020

 

Tanabe Chikuunsai IV - Disappear VIII (Utakata), 2017

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Red Fossil (Akai-kaseki), 2020

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Old Well (Furuido), 2021

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Old Well (Furuido), 2021

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Old Well (Furuido), 2021 (detail)

 

Honma Kazuaki - Rising Cumulonimbus Cloud, Yu-un), 2010 

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Bamboo Hanging Wall Vases (Orikaeshi-hanaire) 2019

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Red Fissure (Akai-kiretsu), 2021

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Red Fissure (Akai-kiretsu), 2021

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Ladybug (red) (Tentou-mushi), 2021

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Bagworm (Minomushi), 2020

 

Yonezawa Jirō - Tree (Ki), 2018

 

Honda Shōryū - In The Air (Sora), 2018

 

Mimura Chikuhō - Wind Pattern (Fumon), 2017

 

Ueno Masao - Inside Out, 2014

 

Ueno Masao - Inside Out, 2014 (detail)

 

Morigami Jin - Twin Dragon II (Souryu II, 2006 (detail)

 

Morigami Jin - Twin Dragon II (Souryu II), 2006 

 

 Morigami Jin - Crimson no. 2 (Kurenai), 2020

 

Contemporary Bamboo: Masters From Japan

until 8th July

Eskenazi Gallery

10 Clifford Street

London

W1S

Gogottes: Unfolding Time

 

 

            “Mother Nature is the greatest artist and water is one of her favorite brushes.” 

            - Rico Besserdich.

 

 

 

It's so wonderful when you discover something completely new in the art/design world that is so far off your normal radar that it utterly amazes you. And so it was for me on visiting Eskenazi Ltd to see a different exhibition, but discovering a prime example of what I now know to be a Gogotte in their front window. I initially thought the Gogotte to be a piece of modernist sculpture, but had my mind blown when I was told of its age, and the fact that these 'sculptures' were created by no less an artist than Mother Nature herself. Gogottes are rare and found exclusively in the Fontainbleau region of France. Gogottes were discovered accidentally in the 17th century by construction workers in the extensive, rare sand veins near Fontainbleau.Their strange shapes are called concretions, and they are thought to have formed between 8000 and 5000 years ago. They are said to be formed from quartz crystals and calcium carbonate and produced when super heated water extruded through crevices into a basin of extremely fine silicate sand. The water was saturated with calcium carbonate (limestone). The swirls and eddies of water were captured in the gradually concreting stone forming the fantastic sculptures. They are like some surreal, mad, hybrid mash-up of elements of Baroque sculptural cloud depictions, Bibendum (Michelin Man), gloopy marshmallows, and those disturbing Hans Belmer dolls. I am completely fascinated by the circles that ring their surfaces and how delicately and precisely nature has carved them. Read on to learn more about these extraordinary marvels of nature, and delight in the pictures below illustrating the ultimate beauty and weirdness of their creation.

 

 

 

"Gogottes are beautiful and beguiling mineral formations. Once thought to have been composed from chalk, they are actually the rare and entirely natural result of calcium carbonate binding with extremely fine quartz grains. Each sculptural layer is a unique composition from the mineral-rich waters of Fontainebleau, northern France, with the shapes evoking clouds and tangible representations of dreamlike imagery. The mineralization process takes place over the course of approximately 30 million years, with every formation a uniquely shaped wonder. As a prime example of the blend between nature and art, gogottes can be appreciated as sandstone variants of the Gongshi (scholar’s rocks) tradition. These sandstone concretions boast an international popularity and an acclaimed reputation spanning centuries. As early as the late seventeenth century for example, gogottes were lauded for their aesthetic by the highest echelons of French nobility. Louis XIV “the Sun King” of France (r. 1643-1715) was so enamored by these formations that he ordered extensive excavations around Fontainebleau, in order to decorate his palace gardens. Gogottes still adorn L’Encelade, Les Trois Fontaines, and La Salle de Bal at Versailles, and continue to enchant and delight visitors as they have for over 300 years.
It is perhaps unsurprising that gogottes served as inspiration for artists well into the 20th century. As dynamic snapshots of elemental metamorphosis, they were particularly well received by impressionist and surrealist sculptors. In particular, the recumbent figures by Henry Moore, and white marble compositions by Jean Arp (S’accroupissant, 1960-1962) and Louise Bourgeois (Cumul I, 1969) all evoke the arresting and unpredictable formations of gogottes. More recently, a large specimen was gifted to London’s Natural History Museum, in honour of naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough’s 90th birthday. Large intact sandstone concretions are uncommon, and rarer still are examples with fine, unblemished and milky-white surface."

 

Gogottes: Unfolding Time

until 8th July

Eskenazi Gallery

10 Clifford Street

London

W1S