Yushi Ikeda

Yushi Ikeda was born in Teshiro-mura, Fukayasu-gun, Hiroshima prefecture in 1909. In 1927 he went to Tokyo where he studied under Satō Tōtarō Kazushige, a miyabori-shi (a carver specializing in works for Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines), to learn the Gotō School of carving. In 1931 he left for Osaka where he worked as a miyabori-shi producing patterned works using his studio name of Hōsei. From 1934 he learned purely artistic carving and changed his studio name to Hōkyoku. He entered into various exhibitions and started winning prizes. In 1947 he established a research and practice studio in the attic of the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art. At the same time he changed his studio name to Yūshi (meaning ‘a playing child’). He also became a chairperson of the Kansai Sculptor association. Ikeda had a solo exhibition at the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, setting himself up against Picasso, his assertion ‘If Picasso is an artist than I am an artist too’ became a legendary statement. He produced a number of ambitious avant-garde works in this period. In 1965 he built and opened a foundation named Plastic Arts Centre in Yamanoue, Hiraka Ciry where became a chairperson whilst contiouing to produce works vigorously. The Plastic Arts Centre was renamed Tenmon Museum (Tenmon means ‘Heavens Gate’) in 1975 where he exhibited his works, both sculpture, painting as well as calligraphy. He also developed social educational activities at the Tenmon. In 2006 Ikeda passed away. His posthumous Buddhist name was Shōkaku-in-hōmi-sen’yū-koji (Buddhist layman from the temple of true enlightenment, who had the tasteful doctrines and played like an Taoist immortal’). Several solo exhibitions of his work took place in between 2007 and 2011.