SUMMER EXHIBITIONS
Nagakura Kenichi: A Retrospective
June 28 – July 20, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, June 28, 5-7pm
Nagakura visited Santa Fe every other year for nearly two decades, meeting art lovers and collectors at the openings for his nine solo shows at TAI Modern. He and his wife Kayoko made many friends in the process. His tenth solo show would have opened in the summer of 2018 if not for his untimely death that year. Since then, we have looked forward to mounting a retrospective exhibition to honor Nagakura’s creative genius, and to also, in a sense, bring him back to his friends in Santa Fe. This June, we can finally give him his tenth solo exhibition.
Nagakura lived a life of profound experimentation, incorporating unconventional materials like bamboo roots, washi paper, and driftwood collected from local shores on daily walks, as well as inventing new techniques that evoked the patina and texture of centuries-old bamboo, bronze, rock, wood, cloth and natural phenomena like nests, webs, and cocoons. First and foremost, he was an artist, and it was through his connection to bamboo that he could express that creative drive.
Showing with the gallery since the very start of our focus on Japanese bamboo in 1997, Nagakura was the first recipient of the Cotsen Bamboo Prize in 2000 and exhibited internationally throughout his career in numerous solo and group shows in Japan, France, Belgium, and the United States. He is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among many others. This retrospective also marks the first time that Nagakura’s paintings will be exhibited to the public.
To view our online exhibition catalog, click here.
To learn more about the exhibit, click here.
Tradition and Innovation: Tanabe Chikuunsai IV and Apprentices
July 26 – August 31, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, July 26, 5-7pm
Gallery walk-through with the artists on Saturday, July 27 at 2PM
More details to follow.
RECENTLY CLOSED EXHIBITION: ASIA WEEK NEW YORK 2024
A Pause in Time, An Emptiness in Space: Ma in Japanese Bamboo Art
March 14 – 22, 2024
Asia Week Hours: Mar 14-22, 11 am-6 pm (otherwise by appointment)
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 14, 5-9 pm
Colnaghi, 23 East 67th Street, Fourth Floor
We are pleased to return to Asia Week New York this spring with A Pause in Time, An Emptiness in Space: Ma in Japanese Bamboo Art, a special exhibition of extraordinary works by some of bamboo art’s most esteemed artists, both historic and contemporary. Ma encompasses various meanings, including space, pause, rest, time, or opening, all of which contribute to shaping the distinct aesthetics of bamboo art. The Heart Sutra, one of the most famous texts in Buddhism, states that “form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” This apparent paradox represents a fundamental philosophy in Japanese design and culture, where the significance of absence is equal to that of presence.
On display are over forty masterworks, including the dramatic traditional Peony Basket by Kajiwara Koho, featuring a huge arching handle that creates an empty stage for flower arrangement. Hisatomi Muan presents a contemporary version of a circular-handled peony basket in his work aptly titled Space. Sculptural forms abound in our selection, such as the exuberant Setting Sun by Shono Tokuzo, an astoundingly delicate and airy woven sculpture titled Loop by Tanioka Shigeo, and Plume, a large sculpture by the up-and-coming young artist Hasegawa Kei. Hasegawa’s work was recently added to the collection of a prominent public art museum in America. Notably, Japanese Living National Treasure Fujitsuka Shosei’s The Sound of Waves will make its first appearance since the artist received this prestigious title.
We eagerly embrace this opportunity to offer education and guidance, catering to both seasoned collectors and those exploring the art world for the first time. We look forward to welcoming you at Colnaghi, 23 East 67th Street, Fourth Floor.
To learn more and preview the exhibit, click here.
ABOUT THE GALLERY
TAI Gallery was created by Robert T. Coffland, a leading expert in Japanese bamboo arts in the West, who began sourcing works from contemporary masters in Japan. The gallery moved from the founder’s home to a gallery space on Canyon Road, then to its current location in the Santa Fe Railyard in 2006.
Margo Thoma purchased the gallery in 2014 and merged it with her contemporary American art gallery, Eight Modern. Rebranded as TAI Modern, Thoma and renowned bamboo expert, Koichiro Okada, continue Coffland’s mission of building museum-quality collections.
Thoma supports and promotes bamboo art in the West by serving as an advisor to Western collectors and institutions, facilitating public demonstrations, and curating bamboo art exhibitions. She is a tireless collaborator and ally with and for senior artists across Japan, and sponsors aspiring bamboo artists to participate in national competitions. She has written essays for exhibition catalogs both in the U.S. and Japan and is a frequent public speaker on bamboo art.
Works by TAI Modern artists have been placed in some of the country’s most prestigious institutions, including the Art Institute of Chicago; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Mint Museum of North Carolina; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Denver Art Museum; Museum of Art and Design; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco.