Denver is looking at bamboo in a whole new way. Grass Scripts: Bamboo Art from the Abbey Collection, now on view on Level 5 of the Martin Building at the Denver Art Museum and included with general admission, presents woven bamboo not as humble craft, but as fine art full of movement, poetry and personality.
The exhibition explores how pioneers of modern bamboo in early 1900s Japan set out to win recognition for a tradition thousands of years old. Through bold innovations of form and technique, lyrical titles and their own signatures, these master artists quite literally wrote themselves into their work.
Highlights include a graceful flower basket in split smoked bamboo by Buseki Suishin, made around 1920-40; the swirling Whirlpool by Iizuka Rokansai, from about 1953-55; a radiant Sunflower by Hatakeyama Seido from 2003; and Tanabe Yota’s playful Layered Mochi from 1980. The show was made possible by the generous gift of bamboo art from Arthur and Diane Abbey.
It is a calm, surprising and joyful stop in the heart of Denver – proof that a simple grass can hold centuries of creativity.
Photo: Kagedo Japanese Art, courtesy Denver Art Museum
