Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Kuya Preaching

Kosho; Kuya Preaching

Kuya was a monk during the Kamakura period who praised buddha practice pure land buddha art. Kosho was an artist during the Kamakura time period who respected and commended Kuya and to pay his respects he created a scuplture from pure land practices. Believers would immediately be able to recognize that this is Kuya because of  the skill used in the scuplture. Kosho was able to depict Kuya with great accuracy and by equipping him with all of the accessories he carried. This piece does something that was very unrare during this period, it shows the emotions of Kuya as he spreads his beliefs of Buddha. There is nothing stronger then a mans faith in his religion and this is portrayed in this scuplture. Kuya expresses everything he has and this is shown by the intensity upon his face. Kosho carved six small buddhas emerging from the sculptures mouth, one for each of the six syllables of Na-mu-a-mi-da-butsu. The small buddhist figures are shown to portrayed the pure land chant. The precision of this scuplture is of nothing that had been done by this time period, and with the emotion shown by Kuya it portrays how important and influential the buddhism religion can be to its followers.

6 comments:

  1. I really like the details of this sculpture. I would have thought of just putting music notes coming out of the guy's mouth but I would have never thought of putting Buddhas coming out of there. I think everyone should be this enthusiastic about their religion. We should have more people like Kuya.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So how do you feel about the piece? Do you think the sculptor accomplished his task well? Why?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I absolutely love this piece, because it just seems as though it's FULL of life. The figure seems tough, yet willing to be gentle. Enthusiastic; when I first saw this piece in the book, I loved it because of the way speaking is portrayed, with the little Buddas! :) Great topic Scott!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think he did accomplish his task. He was able to create something that was recognized and admired not only for its skill but because of the emotions of the religion and how strong the faith is to them. I think its something that hadnt been seen before. I mean most pieces just represent something and tell a story, this makes you feel like you knew Kuya and everything he stood for.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for posting this wonderful information- I learned a lot in my art history class- I live in Tallahassee Florida

    ReplyDelete