Tanabe Chikuunsai IV

Tanabe Chikuunsai IV (born 1973) is a Japanese bamboo artist. His sculptural works and functional objects are hand made from tiger bamboo (torachiku).^[1] He is a fourth generation bamboo master. His family name, Chikuunsai means "master of the bamboo clouds".^[2][3]

Tanabe Chikuunsai IV
Tanabe Shouchiku Chikuunsai IV in 2016
Born	Tanabe Shouchiku Chikuunsai IV 1973 (age 51–52) Kansai, Japan
Known for	bamboo sculptures, installations and functional objects
Father	Tanabe Chikuunsai III

Early life and education

Chikuunsai IV was born in the Sakai area of Osaka, Japan. He was educated in sculpture at the Tokyo University of the Arts. He then went to Beppu, to study traditional Japanese basket weaving with his father, the bamboo master, Tanabe Chikuunsai III.^[4]

Work

Chikuunsai IV is a fourth generation bamboo artist who has shown his objects and installations internationally.^[4] Chikuunsai IV often works on large scale bamboo installations in twisting woven forms.^[5] The art critic Roberta Smith described his work as forms that “have an animated-cartoon energy and snap; they cavort almost wickedly.”^[3]

Exhibitions

Chikuunsai IV's work has been the subject of one-person shows at the Asian Art Museum,^[5] Tai Modern, Santa Fe,^[3] Japan House Los Angeles,^[4] and other venues.

In 2022, Chikuunsai IV was invited to create a site-specific installation, Yügo (Fusion), in Casa Lowe, in Barcelona, Spain. The installation was created from 6,000 individual pieces of tiger bamboo and meandered through several rooms of the interior space. The installation used no fasteners nor glue; instead it relied on the principle of tensegrity, tension-and-compression, to support the large installation.^[6]

Collections

His work can be found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,^[7] and the Museum of the Minneapolis Institute of Art,^[1] the Seattle Museum of Art,^[2] the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco,^[8] among others.

Personal life

Chikuunsai IV comes from a line of several generations of bamboo masters, starting with his great grandfather Chikuunsai (1877–1937). His grandfather was Chikuunsai II (1910–2000), and his father Chikuunsai III.^[9]