NEW YORK, NY.- TAI Modern is returning to this year’s Asia Week New York to exhibit From Timber to Tiger: The Many Bamboos of Japanese Bamboo Art. This exhibition, held at Colnaghi New York, showcases important historic and contemporary works with a particular emphasis on unusual materials, ranging from rare bamboo species to lotus root to Bakelite.
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Highlighted in this show are pieces from master Yamamoto Chikuryusai II, a member of one of the most important bamboo lineages in Osaka. “Flower Container” (1938) blends the traditional shapes of sencha tea ceremony ikebana baskets and rattan knotting technique with what was new plastics technology at the time: Bakelite, a thermosetting resin that could be molded into any shape.
TAI Modern is also highlighting pieces from modern master Tanabe Chikuunsai IV. “Enso” (2020) uses tiger bamboo, a particularly hardy bamboo spotted with green and brown marks that grows only on a single mountain in Kochi. Conversely, “Stand” (2024) employs a new technique pioneered by Tanabe, wherein he collects bamboo felled from previous seasons. While pliable, it is also incredibly fragile, and it’s that unpredictability that grounds the tangle of hobi and black bamboo.
As the world’s premier gallery for Japanese bamboo art, TAI Modern welcomes this opportunity to provide education and guidance to established collectors and first-time viewers alike.
For over twenty years, TAI Modern’s mission has been to support and promote Japanese bamboo art as a living art form. Works from TAI Modern artists have been placed in some of the country’s most prestigious institutions, including the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; and the Art Institute of Chicago.
The exhibition will be on view from March 13 – 21 at Colnaghi, 23 East 67th Street, fourth floor.
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