In April, NY Coo Gallery will present a Two-Person Exhibition of Japanese Artists, Tatsuo Sagane and Yukiharu Nihei, organized by NY Coo Gallery & Magnolia NY.

Tatsuo Sagane
Sagane lives in Maizuru located in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture in a beautiful mountain village where he makes pottery. His ceramic making begins with extracting clay from the soil found there. He lives a self-sustaining lifestyle by growing wheat, buckwheat soba and tea in the same soil and gathering bamboo shoots and wild mountain vegetables. Through his touch, he breathes new life into the soil, trees and all the plants.
Sagane’s beginning as a ceramist was as a pottery instructor at a center for persons with disabilities in 1983. He has been presented with the Maizuru City Mayor’s Award and he when he lived in Los Angeles he taught pottery while pursuing his own expression.

His style is bold yet delicate. His hands while kneading clay and spirit in coming to face with nature consistently remain pure and humble, consequently robust. In his pottery, his stance to gently yet rigorously watch over the phenomena of nature is revealed. He insistently fires his pottery in his traditional anagama kiln he built, which creates striking natural surfaces from the natural ash glaze. In his single-chamber anagama kiln, Sagane’s spirit fuses with all the elements of nature, clay, fire, wood, and air, to become his expression.

In Sagane’s 2008 and 2010 exhibitions in New York, incorporating Sagane’s works into everyday life gave pleasure and contentment to many.

Please take this opportunity to enjoy Sagane’s pottery and come in contact with his expression.

Sagane’s anagama kiln
*Anagama literally means cave kiln in Japanese. As the name implies, the kiln is built in a cave-like shape consisting of the firing chamber at one end and the flame path on the other end. After the clay pieces are dried, they are placed in the anagama kiln without being glazed. Sagene brings his kiln to 1150°C (2102°F) during a 24 hour period then continues to bring the temperature to 1250°C (2282°F) which takes another 32 hours. The firing takes 3 days and requires 4 tons of firewood from nearby. Sagane uses mostly oak. The distinctive surface of the pottery depends on the amount of firewood and the use of charcoal, and the result of the manipulation inside the anagama.

Yukiharu Nihei
Nihei is a Japanese artist and textile designer for kimonos living and working in Tokyo.
Over his 20-year career, Nihei has tirelessly persisted in expressing the beauty of the materials, which in turn triggers his own creativity. His painting is simple and minimalist utilizing traditional Japanese dying techniques (itome yuzen and roketsu zome - batik), and recognized for its uniquely inventive style and color palette that brings out the beauty of the materials. The delicacy of the lines and selection of motifs convey Nihei’s deep respect for Japanese culture and sensibilities.

While Nihei’s two previous 2012 and 2013 exhibitions in New York focused on works on paper, this exhibition features works both on silk and paper.

In his works on silk, he depicts the narrative of a humorous tale that unfolds in a moonlit night utilizing deep heart-warming colors through his skillful dyeing techniques. The works on paper are abstract spiritual expressions inspired by Chinese brush paintings and traditional Japanese calligraphy.

According to Yukiharu Nihei, “I want to create something which brings genuine insight to appreciate the beauty of nature -- the color of the sky, the ripple in the water, leaves on the trees, the fragrance in the breeze − and life more fully to the viewer of my art work and that is the power of creation, I believe.”

This exhibition will offer a rare opportunity to see the resonance between pottery and painting demonstrating a rich cultural heritage. We look forward to seeing you at the exhibition.

Nihei’s dyeing techniques
*Itome yuzen is a Japanese traditional paste-resist dyeing technique used for making silk kimonos. Paste called itome-nori prevents the dye from penetrating the fabric during a dye process.

“Itome”(means threadlike line in Japanese) is the white outline left in the design after the dyeing process is completed.

*Roketsu-zome is a traditional wax-resist dyeing technique in Japan, akin to Indonesian batik.

● Necklaces by TOPPI (突飛) NYC’s Hitoshi Nakazato Series. ●

Hitoshi Nakazato, my beloved late husband, was a contemporary artist who is known for his conceptual non-representational geometric paintings and prints. A recent session of an on-going effort to photograph his works allowed me to immerse myself in his color pallet and painterly application of acrylic on canvas and panels.

In my Hitoshi Nakazato Series, I’ve attempted to interpret some of Hitoshi’s signature icons in my necklaces: asymmetry; juxtaposition of different visual elements on the right and left sides; cutting up space into 1/4 s; paying tribute to Sengai late 18th century Japanese Zen monk and artist who painted primary shapes before the European avant-garde; persistent use of black carbon sand. I hope find the results provocative and Toppi. Sumi Nakazato