➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI_Words Like Snow_Painted camphor wood, marble, glass and wire_104 x 46 x 35 cm _2016
舟越桂（1951–2024）個展｜重返日本當代雕塑巨擘的藝術世界 2025 年 11 月 關渡美術館
當代日本雕塑傳奇，四十五年創作精華首度全面回顧
A legend of contemporary Japanese sculpture — forty-five years of creation in review.
舟越桂被公認為當代日本最具代表性的雕刻家之一。自 1980 年代初，他以樟木雕塑為主要創作媒材，將人像作為核心題材，作品融合寫實、精神性的凝視與超現實型態，深刻影響日本當代藝術的發展脈絡。藝術家於 2024 年辭世後，藝術界即籌劃其回顧展，並將於 2025 年 11 月在關渡美術館展出，呈現雕塑、繪畫與版畫等代表作，全面梳理其四十餘年的創作軌跡。
Katsura Funakoshi is regarded as one of Japan’s most significant contemporary sculptors. Since the early 1980s, he has worked primarily with camphor wood, focusing on the human figure as his central motif. His sculptures merge realism, introspection, and surreal form, leaving a lasting influence on Japan’s contemporary art scene. Following his passing in 2024, this retrospective brings together key works spanning over four decades. Opening in November 2025 at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibition features sculptures, paintings, and prints that trace the evolution of his artistic vision.
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI_Solitary as a Forest_ Painted camphor wood and marble _112 x 50 x 30 cm_ 2015
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI_The Another Sphinx_ Painted camphor wood, marble and leather _100 x 54 x 34 cm_2010
國際舞台的重要歷程
Milestones on the International Stage
舟越桂自 1988 年以日本館代表身份參加第 43 屆威尼斯雙年展起，作品便活躍於國際舞台，先後參與 1989 年聖保羅雙年展、1992 年第9屆卡塞爾文件展及 2000 年第一屆上海雙年展等重要國際展覽。他的雕塑作品被大英博物館、紐約大都會藝術博物館等世界級機構典藏，並於 2011 年榮獲日本藝文界最高榮譽紫綬褒章。本次回顧展將分為以下三個子題全面呈現舟越桂對人類形象的持續探索，細膩訴說他對存在的哲思，以及寫實與超越形體的生命衝力。
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. Divided into three thematic sections, the exhibition explores Funakoshi’s enduring fascination with the human body and his reflections on life itself.
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI_DR1402_Pencil on paper_Image_94.9 x 88.5 cm_Frame_101 x 94.5 cm_2014
人間 —— 凝視你我的寫實人像
Human Realms — The Realist Portrait and Its Gaze
在 1980 年代初期，舟越桂以具高度寫實性的木雕肖像崛起。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，也與 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。
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.
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI_ To Forgive the Sea_Painted camphor wood, marble and miscellaneous tree_187.5 x 102 x 82 cm_2016
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI_Curious Forest_ Painted camphor wood and marble_203 x 59 x 90 cm_ 2014
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。
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.
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI_A Green Lake Within Myself_ Painted camphor wood and marble_103.5 x 54 x 28.3 cm_ 2008
之間 —— 紙上的精神肖像
In Between — The Spiritual Portrait on Paper
舟越桂自 1980 年代中期起長期創作紙上作品，包括版畫、素描與水彩等。他筆下的人物與雕塑相似，但並非僅作為草圖，而是獨立存在、完成度極高的藝術作品，曾在許多展覽中正式發表。這些紙上作品延續其寫實作品中對凝視、靜謐與象徵的運用的同時，也出現了更自由的超現實圖像，在內容與氣質上與他的超現實雕塑相互呼應。在每一次的版畫的製作中，舟越桂也嘗試著不同技法，如美柔汀（mezzotint）、水印（aquatint）、木版畫等，與他在雕塑中的複合媒材與內容實驗產生共鳴。在另一種紙上，舟越桂雕塑所展現的靜謐、孤獨與精神性受到日本文學界的廣泛青睞，曾多次被作為小說書籍封面圖像使用，如知名作家和音樂家辻仁成（Jinsei Tsuji）的《海峡の光》與以描述家庭關係知名的天龍荒太（Arata Tenryu）的《永遠の仔》、《悼む人》等書，在日本大眾文化中成為一種普世的精神象徵。
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.
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI_DR0606_Charcoal, Colored pencil, oil on paper_Image 103.5 x 90 cm_Frame 109.5 x 96 cm_2006
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI_DR0716_ Pencil and charcoal on paper _Image 98 x 85 cm_Frame_104 x 90.5 cm_ 2007
幻間 —— 人獸相融的超現實幻境
Illusory Realms — Hybrid Beings and Surreal Visions
1990 年代之後，舟越桂的雕塑開始更加強調超現實與象徵性，作品出現了如動物特徵的異變形象。他既受到超現實主義（Surrealism）啟發，也回應著 20 世紀末日本文化中的「混種性」、「異界」、「靈性」等命題。然而，這些超現實人像依舊維持著沉靜、安詳且深遠的凝視神態，彷彿其存在本身即是自然，也具有近乎神話般的神秘氣質。2010 年左右，舟越桂的《Sphinx》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。
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
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI _The Sphinx within Myself_Direct gravure_ Image 59.5 x 44cm_Frame_99 x 82 cm_2008_AP.3-10
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI _The Sphinx in the Desert_Direct gravure,engraving,drypoint on paper_Image 75.5 x 57cm_Frame 80.5 x 62.5 cm_2005_ed.1-20
➤ Katsura FUNAKOSHI _Uncertain Mirror_Lithography_Image 64 x 91 cm_Frame 68.5 x 95.5 cm_1994_AP.4-6
舟越桂的雕刻形式並未曾隨著普普藝術的回歸而改變，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某種標竿，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。
