Yonezawa Jirō米泽 二郎 (b. 1956)
A native of Saiki, Ōita prefecture, Yonezawa Jirō’s early interests included self-sufficient agriculture and a period on a farm in Ōita, where he first encountered bamboo working. He studied at both the well-known bamboo training school and the research institute at Ōita. Yonezawa is unique amongst current Japanese bamboo artists in having spent a large part of his career in the States, primarily in Portland, Oregon: he lived and worked there from 1989, only returning to Saiki in 2007. He has received numerous awards, including the Cotsen ‘Celebration of the Next Generation’ prize in 2006 and several prizes at the Kyūshū New Craft Exhibition, in 2011 (Ōita Governor’s Award), 2016 and 2017. In 2021 he was the ‘Public Choice’ at the Mingei Bamboo Prize. He has exhibited widely in Japan, notably five times at the Nitten exhibitions. His numerous group exhibitions in the West include the recent Fendre l’Air, L’art du bamboo au Japan, at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris in 2018. His sculptures are notable for their inclusion of unusual materials such as steel wire and plastic and are in various institutions including the Musée Guimet, Paris; Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris; the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Hanford, California; Portland Art Museum, Portland; Microsoft Corporation, Seattle; the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and the Beppu City Traditional Crafts Centre, Beppu.
Biography
1956 Born in Saiki, Oita
1981-1982 Graduated from the Oita Prefectural Beppu Industrial Arts Research Institute, Beppu
1980-1981 Completed Ono Masakatsu Apprenticeship
1980-1981 Graduated from Beppu Vocational Arts Training Center, Bamboo Craft
1989 Moved to the United States
2007 Returned from Portland, Oregon to his hometown in Saiki
Selected Solo and Small Group Exhibitions
1995 Pro-Art Gallery- Breaking the Rules, St. Louis
1996 Butters Gallery, Portland
1997 Art in the Governor’s Office, Salem
1998 Butters Gallery, Portland
2001 Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago
2001 Butters Gallery, Portland
2005 Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe
2005 Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
2006 Jane Sauer Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe
2007 William Traver Gallery, Seattle
2008 Portland Japanese Garden, Portland
2009 Butters Gallery, Portland
2010 William Traver Gallery, Tacoma, Washington
2012 Portland Japanese Garden, Portland
2014 Butters Gallery, Portland
2016 Chikuei, Yakumo-charyo, Tokyo
2016 CANS Tea House, Taipei
2017 Gallery Omichi, Oita
2018 William Traver Gallery, Seattle
2020 Saiki City Kanko-Kyokai, Saiki, Oita
Selected Group Exhibitions
1991 Celebration of the Arts, A Capitol Invitation, Arts in Oregon Council, Salem
1992 Convergence ‘92 - A Capitol Convergence, Washington D. C.
Varying Inspirations: Basketry in the 1990’s, Craft Alliance, St. Louis
1993 Fiber about Fiber-Selections from the Alex and Camille Cook Collection, Textile Arts Centre, Chicago
1994 Ceramic and Fiber: A New Generation Artist, Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wisconsin
Fiber ‘94: New Critical Attitudes, Textile Arts Centre, Chicago
1995 Craft America ’95, Silvermine Crafts Center, New Canaan, Connecticut
1999 Contemporary International Basketmaking, Crafts Council, London
2000 Eccentric Forms and Structures, Microsoft, Redmond, Washington
2001 Japan: Under the Influence, browngrotta arts, Wilton, Connecticut
2002 Small Works in Fiber, LongHouse Reserve, New York, SOFA Chicago; MDS Gallery, Tokyo
2002 Contemporary American Baskets, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, Ohio
2003 Flechten, Galerie Handwerk, Munich
2004 Jack Lenor Larsen Creator and Collector Museum of Arts & Design, New York
2004 Drawing Out the Collection: John McQueen Responds to RAM Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin
2005 Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from Sara and David Lieberman Collection ASU Art Museum, Arizona
2005 Jack Lenor Larsen Creator and Collector, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Toronto
2006 Basket Revolution, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts
2007 East Weaves West Basketry from Japan & Britain, Collins Gallery, Glasgow
2007 Cotsen Prize Celebration of the Next Generation, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
2008 New Bamboo, Japan Society, New York
2009 Nitten: Japan National Fine Art Exhibition, National Art Center, Tokyo
2009 Take no Sekai, Oita Prefectural Art Musuem, Oita
2009 Oita Prefectural Art Exhibition, Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita
2009 Take no Katachi, Kobote Museum, Fukuoka
2009-2017 Nihon Shin-Kougei-ten, Japan New Craft Exhibition Japan National Art Center, Tokyo
2009-2017 Kyushu Shin-Kougei-ten, Kyushu New Craft Exhibition Saga Art Museum, Saga
2010 Nitten: Japan National Fine Art Exhibition, National Art Center, Tokyo
2012 Modern Twist, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, Washington
2014 Formes Simples, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Paris
2014-2018 Kurashi no naka-Take Kogei, Dento Kogei Sangyo Kaikan, Beppu
2016 Nitten: Japan National Fine Art Exhibition, National Art Center, Tokyo
2016 Contemporary Art Influenced by Korea and Japan, Greenwich Arts Council, Connecticut
2016 Nature in Three Parts: Beyond Baskets, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Wisconsin
2016 Bamboo Tradition in Contemporary Form, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
2016 Artboom: Celebrating Artists Mid-Century, Mid-Career, browngrotta arts, Wilton, Connecticut
2016 Green from the Get Go: International Contemporary Basketmakers, Morris Museum, New Jersey
2017-2018 Nitten: Japan National Fine Art Exhibition, National Art Center, Tokyo
2018 PAD Paris Art & Design, Galerie Mingei, Paris
2018-2019 Fendre L'air: Art du bambou au Japon, Musée du quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris
2019 Tobi Art Fair Ooguchi Bijutsuten Hanabako, Tokyo
Japanese Bamboo Art from the Oita Area, Galerie Mingei, Paris, France
Tokyo Art Fair Nobiya Kago Hanabako Gallery, Tokyo
Art Kyoto, Yumekoubou, Kyoto
Design Miami/Basel, Pierre Marie Giraud, Switzerland
Hong Kong International Antiques Fair, Yumekoubou (Kyoto), Hong Kong
Leaping Objects curated by Mirabilia Arts, Patrick Parrish Gallery, New York
Kyoto Antiques Fair, Yumekoubou, Kyoto
Salone del Mobile Milan Design Week, Loewe Commission, Milan
Japanese Bamboo Design, Salone de Mobile, Milano, Italy
Bamboowork 2019 by 26 Artists, Tokyo Bamboo Art Festival, Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo
2020 Transforming Tradition: Japanese & Korean Traditional Craft, browngrotta arts, Connecticut
TEFAF Maastricht Pierre Marie Giraud, Netherlands
2021 Japandî, browngrotta arts, Wilton, Connecticut
Mingei Bamboo Prize Exhibition, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris
Selected Prizes
1993 Award, Ninth Celebration of the Arts, Arts in Oregon Council, Salem
2002 RACC Grant, Project Grant – Bamboo Artistry, Japan Summerfest, Regional Art & Culture Council, Portland
2006 Cotsen Prize, Celebration of the Next Generation
2006 Artist Fellowship, Oregon Arts Commission
2009 Award, Oita Prefectural Art Exhibition, Oita
2011Oita Governor’s Award, Kyushu Shin-Kougei-ten, Kyushu New Craft Exhibition
2014 Special Award, Kurashi no Naka no Takekogei, Bamboo Craft Exhibition, Beppu
2015 Special Award, Kurashi no Naka no Takekogei, Bamboo Craft Exhibition, Beppu
2016 NHK Saga Award, Kyushu Shin-Kougei-ten, Kyushu New Craft Exhibition
2017 Yomiuri Award, Kyushu Shin-Kougei-ten, Kyushu New Craft Exhibition
2018 Beppu City Award Kurashi no Naka no Takekogei, Bamboo Craft Exhibition, Beppu
2021 Public Choice, Mingei Bamboo Prize, National Museum of Asian Arts Guimet, Paris
2015 Grand Prize, 37th Nihon Shin-Kougei-ten, Japan New Craft Exhibition
2016 Grand Prize, 38th Nihon Shin-Kougei-ten, Japan New Craft Exhibition
Public and Institutional Collections
Beppu City Traditional Crafts Center, Beppu
City of Portland, Portland
Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Hanford
Knauf Collection, Iphofen
Lloyd Cotsen Collection, Los Angeles
LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, New York
Microsoft Corporation, Seattle
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte
Musée du quai Branly Jacques Chirac, Paris
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
National Museum of Asian Arts Guimet, Paris
Portland Art Museum, Portland
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu
Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine