EXHIBITIONS
Akane Teshigahara｜Sogetsu Ikebana Exhibition in Celebration of the Iemoto’s 20th Anniversary
Dates: Nov 24 – 27, 2021
Location: Taka Ishii Gallery Viewing Room (TERRADA ART COMPLEX II)
Opening reception: Friday, Nov 19 + Saturday, Nov 20, 12:00 – 18:00
Taka Ishii Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition with Akane Teshigahara from November 24 to 27, 2021, in celebration of her 20th anniversary as the Iemoto of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. The gallery’s new viewing room that opened in October this year becomes a vessel in presenting a series of ikebana works, along with a large scale bamboo installation seemingly depictive of water currents that enrich the earth or the early summer breeze. The Sogetsu School of Ikebana, founded by her grandfather Sofu Teshigahara in 1927, challenged formalistic traditions and conventional practices of ikebana, eventually becoming an important presence in leading the postwar “avant-garde ikebana movement.” The works of Akane Teshigahara, who introduces the sheer torrent of energy emitted by plants into the white cube space, serves to reflect the true spirit of the Sogetsu School that has been inherited through generations of Iemoto.
“Flowers become human in ikebana.”
This quote by our first Iemoto Sofu Teshigahara is the starting point of Sogetsu Ikebana.
The heart of a person who arranges ikebana is reflected directly in that work, and ikebana becomes that person.
That’s why ikebana is infinitely wide and profound, liberated, and fun.
From the moment you want to express something with a piece of flower in your hand, a world of your own creation begins.
Always new, always beautiful ──
While facing the rapidly, ever-changing times, I sincerely hope that we can share the joy of creation with plants in our hands with as many people as possible all around the world.
Iemoto Akane Teshigahara
Akane Teshigahara was born in Tokyo, where she currently continues to lives and work. Since her early childhood she learned ikebana from her aunt Kasumi Teshigahara, the second Iemoto of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. She became the fourth Iemoto of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana in 2001, and has continued to pursue the possibilities of new ikebana suitable for an ever-diversified modern space as the leader of Sogetsu, which respects free and liberated creation. Her main exhibitions include, “RELEASE” ~Akane Teshigahara Solo Exhibition for 20th Anniversary, Sogetsu Kaikan annex Atelier, Tokyo (2021); “CONNECT” ~Akane Teshigahara Solo Exhibition for 20th Anniversary, Sogetsu WEST, Kyoto (2021); “Blooms & Bamboo: Chrysanthemum and Ikebana Sogetsu Artistry,” Longwood Gardens, Philadelphia, USA (2019); Sogetsu 90th Anniversary Akane Teshigahara Solo Exhibition “HANA SO,” Sogetsu Kaikan, Tokyo (2017); “Heartlines” Spiral Garden, Tokyo (2011); and “Teshigahara Akane Exhibition: Ikebana Through My Eyes,” Nihombashi Takashimaya Department Store, Tokyo (2007) among others. Teshigahara arranged the stage flowers for the Commemorative Ceremony for the 20th Anniversary of the Enthronement of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Tokyo (2009).
