MORITA-SHIRYU | Sousai Inada Official Website

Calligrapher

Morita Shiryū (1912 – December 1,1998)

Born in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture as Kiyoshi.

Studied with Ueda Sōkyū and participated in editing the magazine Shodō geijutsu (Calligraphic Art), which was central to the prewar calligraphic art movement.

Paving the way to artistic innovations after the Pacific War, Morita formed the group Bokujinkai (People of the Ink Society) and oversaw the publication of the art journal Bokubi (The Beauty of Ink). From this foundation, he led an artistic movement internationally and organized the exhibition Calligraphy in Contemporary Japanese Art, which traveled throughout Europe in 1955.

For Morita, sho is more than the East Asian art and practice of calligraphy but the movement of life itself that leaps out and becomes form. His works represent his questions to the world.

Our physical movement is connected to the most profound place in our inner depths, and from there, the movement of life naturally emerges; this is the path to our primordial and fundamental expression. It is significant that sho comes into existence from this unknown. Expression outside this path cannot possibly compare in depth, strength, and spontaneity to the expression of sho. When I think about sho, I first make sure to understand this point as the cornerstone.（Morita Shiryū）

1912	Born in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture
1937	Studied with Ueda Sōkyū
1938	Exhibited at the second Dainippon shodōin (Great Japan Calligraphy Association) exhibition. Awarded first prize for copying Kūkai’s Kanjōki (Record of Esoteric Buddhist Initiation), which Hidai Tenrai designated as an exemplary reference for the Calligraphy Association. Received the Ministry of Education award at the Japan, Manchuria, and China Calligraphy exhibition.
1948	Published the first issue of Sho no bi (The Beauty of Calligraphic Art).
1951	Published the first issue of Bokubi (Beauty of Ink).
1952	Formation of the group Bokujinkai (People of the Ink Society)
1954	Starts to exhibit in the Bokujinkai exhibitions (springs in Tokyo, autumns in Kyoto)
1954	Exhibited in Japanese Calligraphy, the first exhibition of abstract Japanese calligraphy, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
1955	Curated and exhibited in Contemporary Japanese Calligraphy: Art in Sumi, which was organized by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and showed at various museums in Europe the first of many overseas exhibitions.
1956	Published the first issue of the journal Sho kyōiku (The Education of Calligraphy).
1959	Exhibited at the 5th Sao Paulo Biennial.
1960	Exhibited at the 6th Sao Paulo Biennial.
1963	Participated and exhibited in exhibition Schrift und Bild at the museum Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden in Germany. Held solo exhibition at Mi Chou Gallery in New York, the first of many in the U.S. and Europe.
1967	Exhibited at the International Art Exhibition in Montreal Expo.
1968	Appeared in calligraphy segment of the NHK broadcast program for women Fujin hyakka for a year. Published Sho: A Form of Life.
1970	Exhibited at Osaka Expo art exhibition.
1971	Published Jisensakuhin Shiryū (Self-selected Works by Shiryū).
1975	Published issue Sho to Bokushō (Calligraphic Art and Ink Images) in art journal series Kindai no Bijutsu (Modern Art), vol. 28.
1978	Recognized as Distinguished Artist of Fine and Decorative Arts by Kyoto Prefecture.
1980	Awarded Person of Cultural Merit by Kyoto City.
1981	Published In / Chiffres: Roger Caillois and Morita Shiryū. Final publication of Bokubi (issue 301). First publication of Ryūmon (Dragon Gate).
1984	Final publication of Ryūmon (issue 26). Sōryūsha established.
1986	Featured in Today’s Artist: Morita Shiryū exhibition, organized by the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art.
1991	Received Hyogo Prefecture Cultural Award
1992	Featured in Morita Shiryū and Bokubi exhibition at the Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art.
1996	Exhibited in the first Sōryū exhibition at the Museum of Kyoto.
1998	Morita Shiryū passes away.

Morita Shiryū (1912 – December 1,1998)

CHRONOLOGY