Kosen Ohtsubo

Christian Kōun Alborz Oldham presents the work of his ikebana master Kosen Ohtsubo at Ulrik.

The exhibition includes twelve prints of Kosen Ohtsubo’s work from the 1970s to the present day, as well as Corner Vase (2022) for botanical matter, provided by Yugoexport and designed by Irena Haiduk.

Prints are available for purchase at the price of $350 each, in an unlimited edition. Fulfillment of prints will begin in December. The profits from sales will be split between Kosen Ohtsubo, Christian Kōun Alborz Oldham, and Ulrik. Kosen Ohtsubo will receive the majority share. A portion of the proceeds will provide funding for the founding of Flower Planet, an institution dedicated to the study of flowers, their production, propagation, and arrangement, founded by Christian Kōun Alborz Oldham. Yugoexport's corner vase is flexibly priced and dependent on the reader's income level.

Binders featuring career-spanning press materials in English and Japanese, Christian’s recollections of time working with Kosen, and works by the two artists will be readily available for viewing.

The first iteration of this series was staged with a set of twelve different prints at Paid, in Seattle, Washington, between July 23 and August 6, 2022.

Kosen Ohtsubo is one of the most significant living practitioners of the art form of ikebana. Colloquially nicknamed “The Legend of Ikebana”, Ohtsubo rose to prominence in the 1960s due to his use of readily available materials such as vegetables and refuse. While formally trained in electrical engineering at Tokyo Denki University, for decades he served as the Headmaster’s Advisory Instructor of the Ryusei Ikebana School, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and has exhibited his mastery of the ikebana medium in both avant-garde and classical styles of arranging. His work and demonstrations have been presented in India, Hong Kong, Spain, Holland, England, Korea, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the United States. Documentation of Ohtsubo’s practice has been chronicled in two major publications in 1981 and 1995.

Christian Kōun Alborz Oldham is an artist, writer, researcher, and educator who, under the tutelage of Kosen Ohtsubo, became a 3rd level master of Ryusei-ha freestyle ikebana in 2016.