TENTACLE by Bikky Sunazawa| Japan-UK Event Calendar: Embassy of Japan London

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is pleased to present Bikky Sunazawa’s first solo exhibition in the UK.

I wish to leave a mark since I am alive and that just happens to be in the form of drawings and sculptures for me. A proof that I am alive so to speak. By Bikky Sunazawa, 1970

Bikky Sunazawa was one of Japan’s most prominent post-War sculptors. Born in Asahikawa on the island of Hokkaido, he was self-taught, developing a practice that was concerned essentially with self-expression through capturing the spirit of human and animal subjects. He is most renowned for his woodcarving, sometimes for public sculptures, but also made abstract paintings and drawings, accessories and furniture.

Bikky emphasised tactile sensation, as he considered touch to be the most undervalued of the five senses. He created sculptures that could be handled and moved, rather than merely seen, allowing people to engage directly with the object world which he referred to as ‘the labyrinth’. Some of his sculptures involve moving parts.

This exhibition, entitled TENTACLE, showcases a number of Bikky’s sculptures, wooden masks, paintings and drawings, made during his mature period, 1975 – 1986, when he was living in Otoineppu village, Hokkaido. He spent much of his time in nearby forests, immersing himself in nature in order to distance himself from the distractions of a rapidly changing modern society. The proposition of his work is as relevant today as it was then. Perhaps even more so.

This exhibition has been made possible by the generous support of Ryoko Sunazawa, Satomi Igarashi and the Great Britain Sasakwa Foundation.

About the contributors

Bikky Sunazawa

Bikky Sunazawa (1931-1989) was born in Asahikawa to parents of Ainu heritage, Bikky was a unique and self-taught sculptor who used woodcarving and paintings as his method of self-expression. He left Hokkaido in his early 20s, moving in 1954 to Kamakura, where he interacted with intellectuals such as Tatsuhiko Shibusawa and was influenced by surrealism. Inspired by the work of Ossip Zadkine, which he saw in Tokyo in 1954, he became interested in abstract sculpture. From 1955, Bikky began exhibiting wood sculptures at exhibitions such as that of the Modern Art Association. In 1978, he moved to Otoineppu, Hokkaido, and used an abandoned primary school building as his live-in studio, where he expanded the depth of his work by surrounding himself with the massive trees of Hokkaido’s vast wilderness. In 1983, he visited British Columbia in Canada for three months, where he made friends with the Haida artist Bill Reid. The two of them worked together at Reid’s studio and experimented with abstract expression using local wood. Bikky exhibited his dynamic out-door sculpture “Four Winds” at the Sapporo Art Park in 1986, followed by other monumental works, but he suddenly died in 1989 at the age of 57. Bikky’s work are highly regarded and were exhibited at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC in 1999. Recent solo exhibitions include the Museum of Modern Art Kamakura & Hayama in 2017, Sapporo Art Park in 2019, and the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in 2022-23.

Admission free

PRIVATE VIEW
Thursday 15 June 5pm-7.30pm

Gallery Tour with Ryoko Sunazawa: TENTACLE by Bikky Sunazawa
Monday 19 June 12.00pm-1.00pm

THursday 20 July 12.oopm-1.00pm

Late openings (until 8pm):
Thursday 15 June
Friday 16 June
Wednesday 5 July
Monday 24 July