Nagakura Kenichi

July 10 through July 18, 2009
Reception from 5 to 7p.m. on Friday, July 10

Online catalog available here.

Nagakura Kenichi's artwork is imbued with a primal energy and balance executed with a keen understanding of composition. Each piece combines classic Japanese bamboo basketry techniques with a contemporary artist's sensibility. Nagakura's sixth solo show at TAI Gallery will feature new art created over the past year.

Unlike many Japanese bamboo artists, Nagakura uses not only the bamboo culm, but the twisted and textured roots of the plant, as well as found pieces of driftwood. The usage of bamboo parts from both above and below the ground, Nagakura says, reveals the hidden side of things, reminding us that the unseen is behind or beneath, nourishing the beauty that is.  His work gives glimpses of this concealed world, with moments of loose transparent construction that reveal the texture and interior of the form.

In a series of artwork made for this show, Nagakura says he was inspired by the rhythm found in the seven and five meter of Japanese Haiku. In these works, he created delicate concise forms that have the harmony of the poetry. He is passionate about jazz, classical and rock music, and also strives to elicit rhythm and harmony out of bamboo.

Nagakura began his career splitting bamboo for three years for his grandfather, a bamboo artisan. Once he learned the basics, he began creatively exploring and developing his own unique visual vocabulary with bamboo. Several years later he brought his work to a contemporary gallery and was given his first solo show. Nagakura's work is in the collections of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum and the Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture.