An Exhibition of 6 Modern Japanese Ceramic Artists

Our December exhibition features 6 modern ceramic artists from Japan who, while differing in age, artistic style and experience as a potter, pursue the concept of “Japanese Modern” as their mutual creative theme.

The organizer of the exhibition, “Craft Gallery Shu” is a gallery/craft shop that regularly features over 100 craft artists. “The purpose of the exhibition,” explains Mr. Katsumi Uchida, the owner of the gallery, which is located near Kyoto Imperial Palace, “is to convey the artists’ vision and creative earnestness. While many everyday items today are designed to accommodate the users’ taste and needs, I see the value in focusing on the aesthetic viewpoints of the “maker.”

ARTISTS’ PROFILE
Akiko Honda −
Striving to create pottery as beautiful and unforgettable as lilies, Ms. Honda, one of the young “Japanese Modern” ceramic artists, produces vases and bowls with unique designs − using flowers and sho (Japanese calligraphy) as motifs − by scratching clay off the surface.

Sugao Oshima −
Ms. Oshima, a graduate of Kyoto Art Junior College where she studied visual design, became a ceramic artist after encountering pottery while traveling in Okinawa. Her works, each coated with 15~20 layers of colored lacquer, are products of bold imagination and creative use of various natural materials.

Tatsuo Sagane −
Mr. Sagane enjoys self-sustaining life, living in a mountain village in northern Kyoto where he grows tea, wheat and soba (buckwheat). During summer, Mr. Sagane even dyes his own clothes. At his 10,000-sq. ft. lodge/studio, Mr. Sagane owns a specially-built wood-fired kiln, which he uses to produce all his work.

Taro Sugimoto −
Since graduating from Kyoto Seika University (Dept. of Art, Maj. in ceramics), Mr. Sugimoto has held a series of solo exhibitions, receiving many awards and prizes in Japan. He is one of the most talented and highly-regarded young ceramics artists in today’s Kyoto.

Emi Yoshida − 
Just out of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music where she received M.F.A. in ceramics, Ms. Yoshida is the youngest of the exhibition participants. She showed her extraordinary talent while still in school as her works were donated to universities and museums around the world including Turkey, Korea and Mexico.

Rentaro Hinatsu −
After studying Economics at Tokyo University, receiving M.A. in International Management from Aoyama Gakuin University and B.A. in Business from Waseda University, Mr. Hinatsu worked many years in the field of business & finance before becoming a fulltime artist. Mr. Himatsu’s work is characterized by its dynamic style, perhaps influenced by Eitaro Hinatsu, his grandfather and a pioneer film director. 

I’d like to invite you to come join us and meet six artists whose works represent the Japanese Modern in ceramics at its best.

Please remember that the exhibition closes on 12/16/2006 at 3:00pm.

NYCoo Gallery