KEIUN TSUJII MUSEUM OF SHO ART
SHO is...
"SHO" is a traditional Japanese art form with a history of over 1000 years. It has particularly evolved as contemporary art since the late 19th century. This explains the art of "Sho."
"Sho" as an Artwork
"Sho" is a form of writing that uses traditional specialized tools such as ink, brushes, and inkstones. It is not only used in daily practical purposes but also integrated into various aspects of life, such as expressions for logos of stores and companies, and as a subject in school education. Within this realm, there is a field known as "Sho" as an art form. Keiun Tsujii has dedicated his life to this art. The mixture of practicality, education, culture, and art in this context is similar to the world of "music."
The pursuit of "artistic expression within Sho" is not widely known even in Japan . Globally, it is commonly referred to as Japanese calligraphy and is recognized as a form of calligraphy by a limited people of researchers, a few designers, and collectors.
The Art of Drawing Lines
The Mindfulness Activity
"SHO" is an art of lines, and a large part of the artwork is composed of lines. However, the expression of those lines is diverse, with various elements such as thickness, size, speed, color intensity, and amount of ink. The artist places the brush on the paper and draws the line in a single stroke. At that moment, the artist's passion, emotions, and sensibilities are visualized on the paper for each moment, making their spirituality an essential element. The artist's breath, physical movement, and flowing time dance on the paper in three dimensions and are captured. This art can be described as the ultimate mindfulness activity, similar to Zen meditation or yoga.
Artworks of Kindai-shibunsho
Calligraphy of Modern Poetry
It's a field of contemporary calligraphy that emerged as a way to write what one wants to write in their preferred style, including the words of famous poets and novelists, their own words, and songs. It allows for free expression using various characters such as kanji, hiragana, katakana, and the alphabet.
Artworks of Kanji
Kanji is a logographic writing system consisting of characters that represent meanings. It is one of the few writing systems that have evolved from pictographs and is still used today. Each kanji character can have multiple meanings and multiple readings. Kanji not only conveys "meaning" but also carries an "impression." When Japanese people see kanji characters, they generally have a shared impression for each character (e.g., bright, dark, happy, heavy, etc.).
