ここ数年の間にわたしは、湯川隆がコロンビア、韓国、フロリダ、キューバなどの海外に飛んで現地制作・発表し、合間に東京といわきで幾度も個展を開催するという尋常ならざる過密な活動を、彼から何十歩も遅れた地点から驚異の目で眺め、そのうち数回については極めて私的なエッセイを草してきた。土から生命を生み出す最も古くて単純なテラコッタの技法の選択について、物質性と精神性の合一に向かっているように思われる近年のかたちの表出について、そして彼の彫刻を貫く彼固有のものであると同時に人類普遍のものでもあるテーマについてなどである。わたしはもう十分に語り尽くしたはずであり、彼がさらに数百歩先に進むまで当分の間、書くべきこともないであろうと思い込んでいた。けれどごく最近になって新作の幾つかを、とりわけ男性像の大作を見ているうちに、わたしは彼についてまだ書き残しているものがあることに、すなわち本来的に彼の中にあって徐々に顕在化してきた木の文化について書かなければならないことに気がついた――
もともと文化cultureという言葉は、ヨーロッパ文明の礎となった古代ローマのラテン語culturaを語源とする。本来「よく耕された」という意味であり、ローマの成熟後に「洗練された」状態をも指すようになり、そこから転じて概念的に表す名詞 ― すなわち「文化」として用いられるようになった。古代ローマにおける文化とはあくまで自らの優位性を基準とする評価に基づいて語られたものであったが、近代以降のわれわれは多くの調査や発見と衝突や略奪の時代を経て、少なくとも文化に優劣はない（クロード・レヴィ＝ストロース）ことと、ある文化の尺度で異なる文化を判断すべきではない（ルース・ベネディクト）ことを、さらに動物の生態と進化におけると同様、文化それ自体もまた風土環境などに対する適応と個別化の歴史を内包するものであることを学んできた。適応 ― 例えばメソポタミアでは石がなく樹木が乏しい代わりに豊富な堆積土と太陽熱を用いてレンガがつくられ、建物が建てられ、改良工夫によってアーチ構造などが発明された。古代ギリシアでは、ＢＣ．５世紀のパルテノン神殿と彫刻群など各地に残る遺構によって明らかなように、豊富に産出する石灰岩や大理石や漆喰などが主たる建築材となった。これを「石の文化」と呼ぶならば前者は「レンガ（泥）の文化」であり、そうした視点でとらえるならば日本は「木の文化」である。寺社の壮大かつ精密な木組み、シンプルで理にかなった木造家屋、木の器や箸、自然を模した庭園、盆栽、寄木造りの仏像、イグネ、木簡・・・ミケランジェロは石の中にかたちがあると言い、江戸時代の円空は木の中に仏さんがいると言っていた。われわれ日本人の文化は確かに木とともにあった。
以前、湯川は家業の関係で、日常的にさまざまな木材に触れて成長したと聞いた記憶がある。一定以上のより直接的なかたちで、木の文化は湯川の中に浸透していたに違いない。彼がテラコッタに木を組み合わせるようになった直接的な理由として、かつてわたしは、それらがともに自然的な素材であってなじみやすく、何よりも彼のテーマと目指す方向に最も適しているからと思われるというようなことを書いた。今回それにもうひとつ付け加えるならば（というよりも、より重要なポイントは）、初期の西洋的なものへの憧憬と模倣の時期を経て、近年、それらが換骨奪胎されていくときにおのずと立ちあらわれてきたのが、彼の中にあった極めて日本的な部分だったと言えるかもしれない。
木材の扱いは難しい。乾燥すると割れるし、芯の部位に比べていわゆるシラタと呼ばれる外周の部位は柔らかく脆い。通常は何年も寝かせてから、シラタをそぎ落として材にする。湯川は敢えてシラタを落とさずに、樹脂で止めてそのままかたちとなしている。ある目的のためには阻害要因は排除しなければならない、とわれわれは思う。対して、おそらく彼は、シラタも割れもあってこその木としての存在であり、そこからつくりつくられたかたちであると考えているのだろう。素材と格闘しながらも、あくまで彼の素材に対する態度は優しい。わたしはそこに、木と長く対話してきた文化的な素養とともに、彼の表現を貫いてきた最も重要なテーマとの連関性を見る。
かつてコンスタブルは「わたしは醜いものを見たことがない」といい、ルノワールはリュウマチに苦しみながらも、絵を描くのも人生も楽しく美しいと言った。湯川の作品にも、精神性と静謐感ただようなかで、おのずと彼らに共通する明るく肯定的な態度があらわれているようにわたしは感じる。そしてそうした芸術と人生に対する態度こそが、まるでヘルメースのサンダルを履いているかのように世界中を忙しく飛び回る彼を支えているのではないだろうか。
いわき市立美術館 副館長 佐々木吉晴 2009年4月
Wood Culture – Another Distinct Element in Yukawa’s Sculptures
Over the last several years I’ve seen Yukawa juggling numerous tasks in his incredibly tight schedule. One moment he was sculpting and exhibiting his works in various places like Columbia, Korea, Florida in the US, and Cuba. And next moment he was back in Japan putting on another exhibit in Tokyo or Iwaki. I often wonder how he can manage such a busy life. On several occasions I was asked to draw up an essay on his works and each time I sought to share his developments underway. I referred to his choice of terra cotta technique, which technique is well-known as the oldest and simplest to inspire some spiritual life from soil. Some other time I noted his then-developing feature; a revelation of his desire to conflate two conflicting aspects of the corporeal and the spiritual. Further more, I wrote about his theme running through his works; not only his but also the very universal theme through the history of humans. I thought I had watched him more closely than any one else, and said to myself, “I’m fully aware of his developments as I’ve followed all the steps he has gone through. Maybe I won’t have to write about him for a while, at least for some time until he has moved a few hundred steps forward.” However, having a chance to see his recent works, specifically his massive statues of men, I just realized that I had something left out, something that has been within his works all the time, but is getting more and more evident; wood culture.
The word ‘culture’, is originally from an ancient Latin, cultura. It initially meant ‘well-cultivated’, and then after the peak period of the Roman Empire, another meaning of ‘sophisticated’ was added to it. This new addition led to the current meaning ‘civilization’. Culture in the Ancient Roman period was solely based on its superiority, but now we’ve come to hold a different notion of the culture after going through many explores, discoveries, conflicts or even plunder in our history. Many learned experts in modern times have contributed to form this notion; Claude Levi-Strauss suggested that it was not possible to say that any given culture was superior to the other. Ruth Benedict stressed that we should not judge other cultures with our won standards. Nowadays it is commonly recognized that cultures, as well as other living creatures, adjust themselves to the environment and evolve into a next level
maintaining their distinctiveness from each other. It is so easy to find evidence for this. For instance, in the Ancient Mesopotamia where stone or wood materials were scarce, they commonly used brick, a material made from sedimentary soil and baked taking advantage of abundant heat from the sun. Brick was used for buildings, and it made a decided improvement on their architecture style with arches. On the other hand, in the Ancient Greek period, they skillfully utilized common materials such as limestone, marble and plaster. The Parthenon, built in the fifth century B.C., was typical of the culture in those days, along with many other statues still existing. The latter can be called stone culture and the former brick culture. In this regard, Japanese culture should be called wood culture. Take a look around and we will find countless proofs; magnificent and yet precise wooden framework seen in many old temples and shrines, simple and functional wooden houses, daily necessities like wooden bowls and chopsticks, gardens and bonsai representing miniature copies of nature, statues of the Buddha made of joined blocks, trees planted as a fence to protect houses, wooden plates used to keep records on and so forth. While Michelangelo pointed out that stone held a form in itself, Enku, a monk in the Edo period, said that wood held a Buddha in itself. It is obvious that Japanese culture has been coexisting with wood.
I remember Yukawa telling me that he grew up surrounded by various wood materials in his daily life due to his family business. I assume that his living environment nurtured and directed him to combine terra cotta and wood in an attempt to create his own style as a sculptor. Both terra cotta and wood are natural materials and blend easily with each other. Obviously that is the reason why he chose these two elements. And besides, they were all the better for their qualities as the materials that will support his theme and orientation. Now I’d like to add one other point, or rather a more important point, to my previous observations. There was a time when he admired the Western forms of sculpturing and was greatly influenced by them in his early years. Since then he has been pursuing his own style. In the process, some intriguing quality has emerged; what has been in him all the time, what is quite Japanese, that is a quality of Japanese wood culture.
Wood is a difficult material to deal with. When dried, it is easy to split. Shirata, a wooden part closer to the bark, is too soft and too fragile. This shirata part is usually craved off when it is used after many years of drying. However, Yukawa chooses not to crave it off, leaving it as it is and putting it together with resin. It is in our common nature to try to get rid of any type of impediments. On the contrary, Yukawa seems to accept cracks, splits, and shirata, all of these in whole as part of the natural wood materials. The way he approaches his raw materials is so gentle even though he sometimes struggles. This reminds me of two things: one is his cultural involvement with wood throughout his life, and the other is what is associated with most important theme underlying his artistic expression.
Once John Constable noted to the effect that he had never seen anything ugly. Pierre Augeste Renoir claimed that he truly enjoyed his life and painting even when rheumatoid arthritis severely limited his movement. Yukawa’s sculptures reflect the same kind of positive attitude while giving off his unique spirituality and gentle sentiment. It is his highly positive attitude toward art and life that keep him moving. Now I can see him flying energetically all over the world as if he were wearing Hermes’ winged sandals.
Yoshiharu Sasaki
Curator in Iwaki City Art Museum. April, 2009