NEWLY OPENED EXHIBITION
Kobako: The Art of Enclosure
November 21, 2025 – January 3, 2026
Artist Opening Reception; Friday, November 21 from 5-7pm
We welcome in the 2025 holiday season with a curatorial vignette: Kobako: The Art of Enclosure, featuring artist boxes by Jacqui Ghosin, shown alongside Japanese bamboo works from the gallery’s collection.
Jacqui Ghosin’s background is in graphic design. She earned her graduate degree from the Allgemeine Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland and then worked in Munich, Germany, for two years. She then returned to the States and worked for Addison Design Consultants and Landor Associates in San Francisco before opening her own firm, Design One, with two other partners. In 2016, after twenty-five successful years, she and her team retired.
Ghosin’s interest in creating boxes was sparked after seeing another artist’s works. That fascination further blossomed with the introduction to the world of Japanese silk-screened papers; a natural progression that her years of professional graphic design work was well-suited for. She says, “From there, I became intrigued with creating a ‘box’ that might not house anything inside but would, instead, yield surprising relationships. Either something unexpected would be revealed upon opening the piece, or the construction itself would be intriguing, or the inclusion of seemingly incongruous materials that were, upon reflection, quite harmonious.”
This play between incongruity and harmony is amplified with the inclusion of pieces by TAI Modern artists including Kawano Shoko (b. 1957) and Sugiura Noriyoshi (b. 1964). Prolific artists in their own rights, Kawano grew up near the ocean and always knew he would be a sculptor while Sugiura dreamt of becoming a computer engineer as a young man. Taking from the theme of enclosure, TAI Modern will focus on more traditional basket forms for this vignette. Kawano says, “What can I add to something that is already beautiful? I can express myself through this medium and continue asking the same questions, as long as someone tells me that they see beauty in my work.” We look forward to the conversations that happen between our guest artist’s work and our stable of Japanese bamboo pieces.
Jacqui Ghosin will attend the opening at 1601 Paseo de Peralta in Santa Fe on Friday, November 21, from 5-7PM, and the show will be on view until Saturday, January 3, 2026.
To learn more, click here.
REENT ASIA WEEK NEW YORK AUTUMN 2025 EXHIBITION
SUEMURA SHOBUN
August 29 – October 4, 2025
Opening reception: Friday, August 29 from 5-7pm
We conclude our summer season and head into fall with a retrospective on the work of Suemura Shobun (1917-2000). A true son of Osaka, this exhibition brings together the finest collection of pieces from the artist’s prolific career.
Suemura Shobun was born in 1917 as Suemura Bunzo in Osaka. After graduating from Imamiya Junior High School, he was apprenticed for five years to Yamamoto Shoen (also known as Chikuryusai I), a respected bamboo artist well known for his karamono-style flower baskets. Suemura became independent in 1941, taking the artist’s name “Shobun”: “Sho” meaning flute, as an homage to Yamamoto Shoen, and “Bun” from his given name. However, he had been independent for less than a year when he was drafted and assigned to work in a factory for the war effort. Suemura would not return to working with bamboo until almost a decade later.
In 1951, Suemura had his work accepted into Nitten, the annual exhibition mounted by Japan’s most prestigious fine arts organization, for the first time and would go on to be shown thirty-six more times. He won several awards at the Kansai Exhibition and the Osaka Craft Arts Association Exhibition. In 1962, he was admitted to the Japan Modern Craft Arts Exhibition and later became a full member after winning ten times consecutively. He later exhibited his work as part of a modern craft arts exhibition, sponsored by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which traveled to major cities in the U.S., Europe, the South Pacific, South Africa, and Australia. The City of Osaka gave him an award of appreciation in 1973. He then became a trustee, judge, and honorary member of the Japan New Craft Arts Association. He has held over forty-five private exhibitions of his art. Suemura passed away at the age of eighty-six in 2000.
The works that Suemura became best known for are made from whole culms of black bamboo. According to the artist, “I like working with black bamboo from Kyushu, which has traditionally been used for making fishing poles. When I use this bamboo, the nodes express distinct patterns and rhythm – I find that visual effect so beautiful.” Suemura used this bamboo to create dynamic compositions that swoop, roll, curve, and coil. Haze, a major exhibition piece from 1962, is a stunning example of Suemura’s original style and creative prowess. However, you will see pieces made from susutake, madake, and hobichiku bamboo in a range of styles as well.
We proudly offer this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view pieces from Suemura’s entire career, ranging from 1941 to 1996, shown together in the gallery for the first time.
To learn more and view our online catalog, 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.