Tanabe Chikuunsai IV 四代田边竹云斎 (b.1973)
Tanabe Chikuunsai IV is the fourth generation of an illustrious family of bamboo masters from Sakai, Osaka prefecture. Following a degree in sculpture at the Tokyo University of the Arts, he began an apprenticeship under his father, the renowned bamboo master, Tanabe Chikuunsai III (1940-2014) and he himself assumed the title of Tanabe Chikuunsai IV in 2017. Tanabe Chikuunsai IV has exhibited widely in Japan and abroad, in both individual and group shows. In 2012, he was selected by the National Policy Unit in Japan as part of the ‘Global Messengers of Japan Project.’ Recent participations include the travelling exhibition, Japanese Bamboo Art: The Abbey Collection which started at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 2017, where his large bamboo installation graced the entrance and Fendre l’Air, L’art du bamboo au Japan, at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris in 2018. Recently, in 2021, he won the first Mingei Bamboo Prize. His works are in the collections of institutions including the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Musée Guimet, Paris; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and The Imperial Household Agency, Japan.
Biography
1973 Born in Sakai, Osaka, the second son of Tanabe Chikuunsai III
1999 Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, Department of Sculpture
2008 Led lectures and workshops in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, Japan Foundation Arts and Cultural Exchange Program
2012 Named a ‘Global Messenger of Japan’ by the Government of Japan
2017 Succeeded to the name of Tanabe Chikuunsai IV
Selected Solo Exhibitions and Installations
2014 ZEN, Pierre Marie Giraud, Brussels
2015 Tanabe Shouchiku III, Galerie Mingei, Paris
2016 GODAI, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris
2017 Celebration of becoming Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, Takashimaya Art Gallery, Osaka and Tokyo
GODAI, Pierre Marie Giraud, Brussels
GATE, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
2018 Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, Galerie Mingei Japanese Arts, Paris
CONNECTION-ORIGIN-, Le Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire
Connection– From the Past to the Present and the Future, Musée Tomo, Tokyo
2019 Tanabe Chikuunsai IV, TAI Modern, Santa Fe
2019 CONNECTION, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
CONNECTION -GODAI-, Odunpazari Modern Art Museum, Eskişehir
CONNECTION in Tea ceremony house, G20 OSAKA SUMMIT 2019 for First Lady
GATE, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka
2020 Connection, Art KYOTO, Kyoto
Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto
2021 The Possibilities of Bamboo Craft, MAYU Gallery, Tokyo
Connection Cycles, YUMEKOUBOU Kyoto
Selected Group Exhibitions
2008 New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters, Japan Society, New York
The Tanabe Lineage: Four Generations, TAI Gallery Santa Fe
2010 Modern Masters, Handwerkskammer for Munich und Oberbayern, Munich 2012 Demonstration, Japan Next, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York
Design Basel, Basel, Switzerland (2012-2016)
2013 Contemporary Kogei Styles in Japan, Morikami Museum, Delray Beach
2014 Generations of Tanabe Chikuunsai, Takashimaya Art Gallery, Osaka
Beauty of KOGEI: Art Crafts in Japan, Japan Creative Centre, Embassy of Japan, Singapore
Beyond Boundaries: A Tomorrow of Decorative Arts, Wako Hall, Tokyo
2015 Modern Twist: Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Art, Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts at the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne
2016 Paris Biennale des Antiquaires, Paris, France
Craft Arts: Innovation of ‘Tradition and Avant-Garde’, and the Present Day, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Beyond Boundaries: A Tomorrow of Decorative Arts, Takashimaya Art Gallery, Osaka
2017 Bamboo – Fiber Built Japan, Japan House, Sao Paulo
Japanese Bamboo Art: The Abbey Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Treasures of the Heisei Era: 83 Selections, Yakushiji Temple, Nara
2018-2019 Fendre L'air: Art du bambou au Japon, Musée du quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris
2019 Japanese Bamboo Art from New York: The Abbey Collection – Gift to The Metropolitan Museum, Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka
Selected Prizes
2007 Lloyd Cotsen Bamboo Prize, San Francisco
2010 The Bavarian States Prize, International Trade Fair
2014 Enku prize, Enku Exhibition The Museum Fine Arts, Gifu
Kudzuamibako, Purveyors to the Imperial Household Agency, Japan
2015 Traditional Japanese Crafts Kinki Prize, 44th Japan Traditional Crafts Kinki Exhibition, Japan
The 26th Takashimaya Art Award, The Takashimaya Culture Foundation, Japan
2016 Japan Crafts Association Encouragement Prize, 63rd Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition, Japan
2018 DSA Design Award Silver Prize
Nihombashi Takashimaya S.C., Japan
2019 Creative Tradition Prize, 11th Creative Tradition Prize, Japan
2021 First Mingei Bamboo Prize, Paris
Public and Institutional Collections
Abikokannon Temple, Osaka
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
British Museum, London
Centro Cultural Peruano Japonés, Lima
Imperial Household Agency Japan
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis
Morikami Museum, Florida
Musée du quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris
Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris
Museo Nacional de Arte, La Paz
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Yakushiji Temple, Nara