Feeling Calligraphy
Feeling Calligraphy
Finally, this section presents large character calligraphy and avant-garde calligraphy. Large character calligraphy is also known as "few character calligraphy," given that most works in this style are made up of only one to four kanji characters. Teshima Yukei and others sought ways to make calligraphy more interesting, and discovered that when they limited the number of characters in a work, it then shifted from being a work you read to a work you feel.
Avant-garde calligraphy is an artistic movement that sought new potential. This development took as its starting point Hidai Nankoku's Work No. 1 - Den no Variation, and included such artists as Teshima Yukei, Osawa Gakyu, Ueda Sokyu and Morita Shiryu. Stimulated by abstract art and action paintings of the period, these artists sought forms released from the standard rules about character shape, and went beyond simple brush, ink, inkstone and paper as materials, choosing instead to work with broad brushes, cloth, lacquer, enamel and canvas as they broadened their means of calligraphy expression. Both avant-garde calligraphy and large character calligrapher were developed as exhibition display artworks, and thus were created as calligraphies that would evoke some sensibility as artworks in the minds of their viewers.
Kikuyama Tsuyoshi is an artist active in contemporary calligraphy. The works displayed here are from his major series Rain and his small number of characters calligraphy works. Kikuyama's works are underscored by firm calligraphy techniques and can also be enjoyed for their painterly-like qualities. The soft, freely dancing lines give a sense of floating and space.
Chiba Sogen's 3.11 Requiem and Revival work transcribes newspaper reports of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Chiba created a new work in this series for the current exhibition Given we are now seven years on from 3/11 our memories of the event are fading. Chiba seeks to record the memories of unimaginable disaster, and considers how we can move beyond them. Chiba himself is from the disaster-hit Ishinomaki district, and has used his indominable spirit to move beyond misfortune and challenge himself to create works and imagery that can only be expressed in calligraphy.
Suzuki Kyosen is an artist solely involved in large character calligraphy, characterized by diverse line forms in pale ink. While Suzuki's works fascinated with the rich array of ink tones, we also notice that the entire composition, the balance between line and negative space, highlights the white beauty of the paper itself. Ink is said to contain the entire color spectrum in its tones, and the subtle gradations in Suzuki's pale ink combine with the white of the paper to create a sense of tension where white and black touch.