勅使河原蒼風展
Sofu Teshigahara

この度アート・遊では、いけばな草月流の創始者であり、また、彫刻や書画、舞台美術など多岐にわたる創作活動で戦後の一時代を築いた表現者、勅使河原蒼風の個展を開催致します。
1900 年大阪に生まれた蒼風は、幼時から父のもとでいけばなの修行を始め、26 歳にして草月流を創始。既存の華道の型から解き放たれた近代いけばなの礎を築きました。戦後には活動の場を海外に広げ、欧米各地でいけばなの展覧会やデモンストレーションを精力的に行います。1955 年パリでの個展で発表された前衛的ないけばなは大きな反響を呼び、タイム誌にて蒼風は「花のピカソ」と称されます。また、1957 年に来日したフランスの美術評論家ミシェル・タピエは、彫刻家としての蒼風の仕事を高く評価し、その作品は、同じく彼に見出された具体美術協会のメンバーの作品と共に、以後多くの国際展にて紹介されることになります。
勅使河原蒼風の創作活動は、いけばなのみに留まらず、早い時期より絵画や書、彫刻の制作にも深い情熱が注がれました。特に「古事記」等から着想を得て、木と金属や石等の異素材を組み合わせて作られたダイナミックな抽象彫刻作品には蒼風の造形感覚が良く表されており、「いけばなは絵だという、音楽でも、彫刻でもある」と語った蒼風の、総合芸術家としての美意識が色濃く反映されている様に思えます。
この度の展覧会は、勅使河原蒼風の膨大な創作活動のほんの一端を紹介するものですが、彫刻、絵画、書による作品十余点を展示致します。

Art U is delighted to present a solo exhibition of works by Sofu Teshigahara (1900-1979), the founder of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana and one of the artists who defined an era of art in the postwar period through endeavors spanning fields as diverse as sculpture, painting, calligraphy, stage design and other media.
Born in Osaka in 1900, Sofu learned flower arrangement from his father, beginning when he was a young child, and eventually started the Sogetsu School of Ikebana when he was twenty-six. He established the foundations of a form of modern flower arrangement that broke free from the existing conventions of flower arrangement. After World War II, he expanded his activities outside of Japan, enthusiastically holding flower arrangement exhibitions and demonstrations in Europe and the United States. His avant-garde flower arrangements at a solo exhibition in Paris in 1955 received a resounding response, with Time magazine declaring him the “Picasso of Flowers.” Michel Tapié, a French art critic who visited Japan in 1957 praised Sofu’s sculpture, which was subsequently exhibited at many international exhibitions in the same way as works by members of the Gutai Art Association, which was also brought to Western attention by Tapié.
From an early stage, Sofu focused tremendous passion into other artistic areas besides flower arrangement, including drawing, calligraphy, and sculpture. Sofu’s sculptural sensibilities are expressed very well in his dynamic, abstract sculpture inspired particularly by sources such as the 8th century Kojiki (“Record of Ancient Matters”), and made by combining different materials, such as wood, metal, and stone. These sculptures clearly reflect the aesthetic sense of the all-around artist Sofu, who stated that “Ikebana may be comparable to painting, music or sculpture.”
This exhibition presents over ten works of sculpture, drawing, and calligraphy selected from among the enormous number of artworks created by Sofu Teshigahara.