John Brandi: From a Distant Road

The San Francisco History Center and Book Arts & Special Collections present an exhibition of haiga by noted northern New Mexico poet and painter John Brandi. Please come to the 6th floor to see the exhibit on display through March 9th.

Around the bell,blue sky, ringing, 2008

Originally organized by New Mexico’s Palace of the Governors and the New Mexico History Museum, From a Distant Road contains Brandi’s haiga, or “haiku paintings.” The art of haiga is traditionally a spare, ink-brushed image combined with a calligraphed haiku. The form originated in seventeenth-century Japan and was popularized by Matsuo Basho, Japan’s great haiku master. Like haiku, the world’s shortest poems, which depend on seventeen syllables or less to create a picture, haiga rely on minimal brush strokes to invigorate the viewer’s imagination. John Brandi’s haiga are inspired by Japan’s wandering poet-painters and, like theirs, are influenced by journeys on distant roads.

Evening star, the widow takes a seat,facing the empty rocker

2010

Brandi’s haiga are mounted to specially marbled papers created by Tom Leech, curator and director of the Press at the Palace of the Governors. Leech used an 11th century Japanese technique called suminagashi, or “black ink floating.” Inherent in the art form, which is comprised of delicate, swirling patterns, is the implication of meandering water or wind-blown clouds and tumultuous topography.

Hand-tinted Albumen Photograph, Anonymous, ND

Coupled with the haiga and suminagashi are photographs from the Palace of the Governors photo archives. They were taken two centuries after Matsuo Basho set off on his pilgrimages, yet they reveal many details of the landscape and people that inspired him. Walking thousands of miles on five different journeys, Basho recorded his impressions in the haibun form, a mix of poetic prose punctuated by haiku.

Excerpts accompanying the photographs are from Matsuo Basho’s haibun, written between 1684 and 1690, and translated by David Landis Barnhill. Basho (1644-1694) stands alone in Japanese culture, much as Shakespeare does in our own. He has been universally acclaimed as the greatest master of haiku, having revitalized the already existing form and saving it from the often frivolous party games of the elite.  Basho injected haiku with a richness of spirit, a depth of observation, and the flavor of Zen. Of Basho’s haiku, his most remembered and most quoted is:

old pond—
a frog jumps in
the sound of water.

Delve deeper into the background of this exhibit by perusing related materials from the San Francisco Public Library’s collections. Selected titles are listed below. For more search our online catalog.

Seeding the Cosmos: New & Selected Haiku
Brandi, John

Hymm for a Night Feast: Poems, 1979-1986
Brandi, John

Poem Afternoon in a Square of Guadalajara
Brandi, John

Basho: The Complete Haiku
Matsuo, Basho

Basho's Narrow Road: Spring & Autumn Passages: Two Works
Basho, Matsuo