Miwa Ryosaku 三輪龍作 b. 1940

Tea drinking and its cultural practices have long been a universal expression of art and community. In the tea-drinking space, everything is connected: the tea drinker with their artfully crafted tea bowl, the ink painting adorning the wall, the host, and more. Tea offers a profound sense of gathering and shared experience through art.

This exhibition spotlights exquisite tea objects by master ceramic artists from Japan: tea bowls, water jars, tea caddies, as well as paintings by master potters who also practiced the art of calligraphy.

In the landscape of mid-20th century Japan, two significant sculptural ceramic movements, Sodeisha and Shikokai, emerged concurrently during the post-war period. Dai Ichi Arts is thrilled to present a landmark exhibition this March that illuminates the richness of these historical movements, offering a distinctive lens through which to explore "Post-war" ceramics from Japan.

This exhibition unveils a curated collection of masterpieces by renowned artists integral to the Shikokai and Sodeisha canon in Japanese ceramic art history. Among the luminaries featured are Hayashi Yasuo, Suzuki Osamu, Kumakura Junkichi, Yagi Kazuo, Yamada Hikaru, Fujimoto Yoshimichi, and other influential figures that defined this pivotal period in Japanese ceramic art. Exhibition catalog features new essays by Kazuko Todate (Art Critic/Member of the International Academy of Ceramics & former a chief curator of Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Japan) & Daniel McOwan (Scholar and Curator of Japanese Art).

On the occasion of the spring iteration of Asia Week New York 2022, Dai Ichi Arts is proud to present an exhibition, “Future Forms: Avant-Garde Sculpture in Japanese Ceramics”, showcasing a group of post-war, avant-garde sculptures that exemplify the idea of the "Kiln-Fired Object". Rather, this group of works epitomizes the ideologies of three central figures that pioneered the admission of the sculptural format into the world of Japanese ceramics. Yagi Kazuo 八木 一夫(1918-79), Yamada Hikaru 山田光 (1924-2001), and Suzuki Osamu 鈴木治 (1926-2001)’s philosophies sought to solidfy the role of the non-functional ceramic object in the world of Japanese pottery. As such, this exhibit will showcase the instrumental work of Yamada Hikaru, Suzuki Osamu, Hayashi Yasuo, Yanagihara Mutsuo, and the more contemporary sculptures of Miwa Ryosaku. This group of artworks will also spotlight the work of several distinguished contemporary women sculptors who are part of a vanguard generation of highly influential post-war artists in Japan. For example, the radical works of Tashima Etsuko 田嶋悦子 (b. 1959), Kishi Eiko 岸 映子 (b. 1948), and Sakurai Yasuko 櫻井靖子 (b. 1969), who investigate the use of light and color in their clay. On the other hand, the works of Ayumi Shigematsu 重松あゆみ (b. 1958) and Suhama Tomoko 須浜智子 (b. 1965) explore form and surface as influenced by Suzuki Osamu and West Coast Minimalism. Meanwhile, Matsuda Yuriko 松田百合子 (b. 1943) , Shingu Sayaka 新宮さやか (b. 1979), Kato Mami 加藤真美 (b. 1963) & more elaborate upon decorative motifs, creating surfacescapes on ceramic exteriors. The exhibition brings to light on how female voices have understood the sculptural visual vocabulary & modernisms of the radical Sodeisha Movement. Get in touch today for a copy of our catalogue (digital or in-print), or to arrange a viewing of the full exhibition in an online viewing room, or in-person!