Tohru Matsuzaki
Boxes, cases, and cases by Toru Matsuzaki
October 4th - October 13th, 2024
Professor Tohru Matsuzaki is one of the leading lacquer artists in Japan.
Using our unique technology, we only use natural lacquer, which is the highest quality lacquer produced in the Nakagawa area of the Kanto region and is extremely durable.
The teacher makes all his pieces by hand. The whole process is very time-consuming, as it is done by hand. The wood is selected, cut, lacquered in 13 separate steps, and finished.
It is a bold, yet elegant and luxurious piece.
Please be sure to check it out.
Exhibition
Exhibition view
Lacquer is known as "Japan" around the world and is one of the crafts that Japan can be proud of.
I love wood and have been on this path for over 50 years without a teacher, and this year I turn 80 years old.
I believe that I am who I am today because I learned the philosophy of “Daido Mumon” from my father, a Japanese painter, and from three spiritual mentors: Obara Kuniyoshi, Ushijima Noriyuki, and Shimaoka Tatsuzo.
Last year, they built another lumber warehouse because they could no longer store all the fine trees they had collected over the years.
What should I make next? This job is finally starting to become fun.
Tohru Matsuzaki
Congratulations on turning 80. It has been 38 years since I first met Professor Tohru Matsuzaki.
The first time I saw it, it had a vermilion lacquer frame and I was strongly attracted to it.
A few years before that, I heard that dye artist Serizawa Keisuke fell in love with the frames of an unknown young man called Matsuzaki Toru, and created a huge sensation by incorporating stencil dyeing and glass painting into his works.
Matsuzaki's woodwork has a nostalgic feel, as if it has come from the depths of a storehouse, and is reminiscent of the Joseon or Negoro periods, and seems to be imbued with the history of antiques, but it also has an originality that only he can create.
This summer has been humid and hot, which is perfect weather for lacquer art, so he has continued working.
These new works, along with masterpieces centered around the theme of boxes, will be on display at the Ippodo Matsuzaki Toru exhibition.
We hope you will come and see this exhibition celebrating his 80th birthday.
Tohru Matsuzaki
Tohru Matsuzaki
Biography
Born in Umegaoka, Tokyo in 1944
1967 Graduated from Tamagawa University, Faculty of Letters
1974: Received instruction from ceramic artist Tatsuzo Shimaoka
1982: First time selected for the Kokugakai exhibition
1983: Won the Kokugakai Newcomer Award and held his first solo exhibition at Seibu Department Store Ikebukuro Main Branch.
1984: Became a member of the Kokugakai and held a solo exhibition at the Nagoya Meitetsu Department Store.
1987: Received the Kokugakai Fellow Works Award
1988: Recommended as a member of the Kokugakai. Moved his workplace to Mogi-machi, Tochigi Prefecture.
1992 Solo exhibition at Hankyu Department Store Umeda branch. Since then, held annually as a brother exhibition at Hankyu Department Store Yurakucho.
1995 Exhibited at the "Contemporary Japanese Craft & Jewelry Exhibition" (Los Angeles)
2001: Designed Daniel Ost's flower vases at the Daniel Ost Flower Festival in Tokyo
2002 Participated in the Shigeru Uchida Exhibition at the Milan Salone 2002 (Italy)
2003: Exhibited at the "Oribe" Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
2008 CHANO-YU Shigeru Uchida & 7artists (Ippodo New York)
2009 Solo exhibition at Ippodo New York (2012, 2016)
In addition, he holds solo exhibitions and sibling exhibitions in various locations every year.
Collection
Philadelphia Museum of Art (USA)
University of Michigan Museum of Art (USA)
Detroit Institute of Arts (USA)
Schleswig Museum (Germany)
Chestnut Tree Museum (Nagano)