SELECTED CURATINGS

Katsura FUNAKOSHI
14 November, 2025 - Febuary 15, 2026
Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan

​舟越桂
14 November, 2025 - Febuary 15, 2026
關渡美術館，台北，台灣

Katsura Funakoshi (1951–2024) was one of the most prominent sculptors in contemporary Japan. Born into an artistic family in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, his father, Yasutake Funakoshi, was a key sculptor of the Shōwa period known for his realistic portraits infused with Catholic spirituality. After earning his MFA from Tokyo University of the Arts, Funakoshi began developing his signature camphor wood sculptures in the early 1980s. Focused on the human figure, his works blend realistic modeling, spiritual introspection, and surrealist symbolism, significantly shaping the trajectory of modern Japanese sculpture.

Since representing Japan at the 43rd Venice Biennale in 1988, Funakoshi’s works have been featured in major international exhibitions including the 1989 São Paulo Biennial, Documenta IX in 1992, and the inaugural Shanghai Biennale in 2000. His sculptures are in the collections of major institutions such as the British Museum, Museum Ludwig, Centre Pompidou, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2011, he was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon, one of Japan’s highest honors in the arts. Funakoshi passed away in 2024 and was awarded with the Order of the Rising Sun.

Human Realms  — The Realist Portrait and Its Gaze

In the early 1980s, Katsura Funakoshi emerged with a series of highly realistic wooden busts. At a time when Japan was experiencing rapid economic growth and widespread pursuit of material success, his work stood apart—silent, introspective, and spiritually attuned, offering an alternative way of relating to the world.

Influenced from a young age by Auguste Rodin through his sculptor father, Funakoshi deepened his understanding of Western portraiture during his stay in Europe in 1986. While his formal language engages in dialogue with Western sculpture, his emphasis on spiritual presence and the innate qualities of wood resonates deeply with the Buddhist statuary traditions of Japan’s Kei School, particularly the 12th–13th century sculptor Unkei.

Many of his early sculptures are half-length figures, meticulously detailed in face and clothing, modeled after friends, family, or anonymous subjects. Their distant gazes seem suspended in time, fixed within a meditative realm. At times, Funakoshi observed passengers on trains, capturing fleeting glances and transmuting them into timeless expressions through sculpture.

He preserved traces of the carving process, allowing the grain of the camphor wood and rhythm of his chisel marks to remain visible. Subtle coloration and pencil lines on the surface lend the works painterly nuances and a soft luminosity. The figures' eyes, inlaid with marble that mimics the striation of real irises, intensify the mysterious emotional depth of their gaze.

In Between — The Spiritual Portrait on Paper

Since the mid-1980s, Funakoshi also produced a large number of works on paper—prints, drawings, and watercolors. Although often echoing the figures in his sculptures, these works are not preparatory sketches but fully realized artworks that have been frequently exhibited. They extend his ongoing inquiry into stillness, symbolism, and the act of gazing, while allowing more imaginative and surrealistic elements to emerge.

Technically, Funakoshi experimented with various printmaking methods, including mezzotint, aquatint, and woodblock printing. These techniques enhanced the tonal depth and delicate textures of his compositions, rendering his figures with a sculptural presence on paper. His line work and color palette parallel the textures and soft hues of his wooden sculptures, establishing a dialogue between the two mediums and forging a unique crossover between the pictorial and the sculptural.

His drawings and prints have resonated far beyond the visual arts. The quiet solitude and spiritual gravity of his figures have made them icons within Japanese literature and popular culture. His works have been chosen as cover art for several renowned novels, including The Light of the Strait by Hitonari Tsuji and The Mourner and Eternal Child by Arata Tendo—attesting to their status as universal symbols of introspection and the human spirit.

Illusory Realms — Hybrid Beings and Surreal Visions

From the 1990s onward, Funakoshi's sculptures became increasingly surreal and symbolic. Hybrid figures bearing creature characteristics began to appear. This shift coincided with a period of cultural anxiety in Japan—marked by the collapse of the economic bubble, the Great Hanshin Earthquake, and the Tokyo subway sarin attack—which spurred a broader interest in spirituality, hybridity, and the otherworldly in art and literature.

The mythic presence and creature-human fusion in Funakoshi's work reflect this cultural milieu. These hybrid figures suggest not only symbolic or religious associations but also a critique of anthropocentrism. Influenced by Surrealism, he embraced a language of inner transformation and transcendence. Around 2010, his Sphinx series emerged as a landmark body of work, epitomizing his surrealist phase and becoming among his most recognized creations.

Throughout his career, Funakoshi remained apart from trends such as Superflat or the resurgence of Pop art. His sculptures consistently conveyed a profound sense of time and a quiet gaze, engaging with the inner states and spiritual dimensions of human existence. His impact can be seen across the field of contemporary sculpture, both in Japan and internationally. Many Japanese artists cite his unwavering commitment to spiritual depth as a guiding inspiration.

In 2024, Katsura Funakoshi passed away in his hometown of Morioka. Yet his sculptures continue to gaze quietly at the bustling world, offering steadfast spiritual presence amidst the transience of life.

舟越桂（Katsura Funakoshi，1951–2024）是當代日本最具代表性的雕刻家之一。他於1951年出生於岩手縣盛岡市的藝術世家，其父舟越保武（Yasutake Funakoshi）為昭和時期的重要雕刻家，擅長創造具天主教精神性的寫實人像。在東京藝術大學獲得碩士學位後，舟越桂於1980年代初開始發展以樟木為主材料的木雕作品，以人像為創作核心，融合寫實造形、精神性凝視與超現實象徵，深刻影響了當代日本雕塑的發展脈絡。

自1988年以日本館代表身份參加第43屆威尼斯雙年展（Venice Biennale）以來，舟越桂的作品陸續受邀參與1989年聖保羅雙年展（São Paulo Biennial）、1992年第9屆卡塞爾文件展（Documenta IX）與2000年第一屆上海雙年展（Shanghai Biennale）等多項國際重要展覽，作品獲大英博物館（The British Museum）、紐約大都會藝術博物館（The Metropolitan Museum of Art）、龐畢度中心（Centre Pompidou）、路德維希博物館（Museum Ludwig）等機構典藏，更於2011年獲頒日本藝文界最高榮譽紫綬褒章。2024年，舟越桂逝世於盛岡市，獲頒旭日章。

人間 —— 凝視遠方的寫實人像

在1980年代初期，舟越桂以具高度寫實性的木雕肖像崛起。當時正值日本進入泡沫經濟高速發展的時期，社會普遍追求消費、表象的繁華與投機的成功，精神層面的探討日漸稀薄。然而，舟越桂的創作與時代主流脫鉤，以靜謐、內省與超然的姿態，提供了另一種面對世界的方式。

因父親亦為雕刻家的關係，幼時即受奧古斯特・羅丹（Auguste Rodin）影響的他，在1986年旅居歐洲期間更得以近距離觀察與研究西方人像雕塑。雖然其雕刻語彙明顯與西方對話，但他對精神凝視與木材氣質的重視，與12至13世紀慶派（Kei School）雕刻家運慶（Unkei）的傳統佛像產生深層呼應。

舟越桂早期人物作品常呈半身形式，臉部與衣著極為寫實細膩，形象來自身邊的親友或陌生人，它們的眼神凝視遠方，彷彿被時間凍結在靜謐的精神場域之中。有時，他也會在電車上觀察乘客的眼神，將他們短暫的過客視線凝結在作品之中。

在木雕上，他保留了雕刻過程的痕跡，使樟木的纖維紋理與手工的刻鑿節奏成為作品的重要細節，表面的淡彩與鉛筆線條也使作品擁有近似繪畫的層次與柔光感。人物的雙眼則以大理石鑲嵌，其與真實眼球相仿的石紋，強化了凝視的神祕與情感深度。

之間 —— 紙上的精神肖像

自1980年代中期起，舟越桂持續創作大量紙上作品，包括版畫、素描與水彩等。這些作品中的人物形象與雕塑相似，但並非作為雕塑草圖而存在，而是獨立且完成度極高的藝術創作，曾多次於展覽中正式發表。紙上作品延續他對凝視、靜謐與象徵意涵的探問，同時也出現更自由、更具想像力的超現實圖像，與其雕塑中靈性與象徵的探索相互呼應。

技法上，舟越桂於版畫創作中嘗試多種技術，包括美柔汀（mezzotint）、水印（aquatint）與木版畫等。這些技法強化了畫面的陰影層次與細膩質感，使紙上人像呈現出一種近似雕塑的立體光感。作品中的線條與色彩呼應其雕刻中樟木的自然紋理與淡彩處理，使兩種媒材語言彼此對照，形成一種跨越平面與立體的肖像實驗。

​他的雕塑與紙上作品不僅在美術領域被重視，也在日本文學與大眾文化中獲得廣泛共鳴。舟越桂所描繪的靜謐、孤獨與精神性形象，多次被知名作家選為書籍封面，如辻仁成的《海峡の光》、天龍荒太的《永遠の仔》、《悼む人》等作品，成為一種普世的精神象徵。

幻間 —— 人神相融的超現實幻境

1990年代之後，舟越桂的雕塑開始更加強調超現實與象徵性，作品出現了如生物特徵的異變形象。這一變化與當時的社會氛圍密切相關——日本在泡沫經濟破裂、阪神大地震與奧姆真理教事件等衝擊下，社會陷入了深度焦慮，大量探討「靈性」、「混種性」與「異界」的藝術與文學也隨之興起。

舟越桂作品中的混種造形與神話感凝視，正呼應了這股文化潮流。人與生物的融合，不僅具備神話象徵與宗教暗示，也可視為對「人類中心主義（Anthropocentrism）」的鬆動與反思。同時，他也受到超現實主義（Surrealism）啟發。2010年左右，舟越桂的《Sphinx（人面獸身）》系列規模成型，是他在超現實階段中最具代表性也最為人所知的雕塑系列。

​舟越桂的作品並未曾隨著「超扁平（Superflat）」風潮與普普藝術（Pop art）的回歸而改變，他的作品依舊保持著深沉的時間感與靜默的凝視，以雕塑探索人類內在的存在狀態與精神象徵。在日本乃至世界的當代雕塑中，我們都能看到舟越桂所造成的影響，尤其諸多日本當代藝術家將他對精神性的執著視為標竿，可見其對日本藝術發展的重要性與深遠啟發。

2024年，舟越桂於家鄉盛岡市逝世，而他的雕塑仍靜靜地凝視著喧鬧的世界，在飄蕩的環境中堅定著不可取代的精神價值。