Posts by Beatrice Lei Chang

[NEW] Journals from Japan: read director Beatrice Chang's reflections on the recent solo exhibition of celebrated artist Miwa Ryukishō (formerly Miwa Ryosaku, and Kyusetsu) in Japan.

We've been translating Wada Morihiro's excerpts and writings about his artistic process and techniques. Today, we are delighted to share his notes on his beautiful San-Mon series. Read more. here.

It is with delight that we announce that Kishi Eiko (b. 1948) has been awarded the 36th Kyoto Art Culture Award. On this occasion, we reflect on the innovations of her ceramic art.

On the occasion of the opening of "Murata Gen: The Heart's Eye", read the Foreword to our online exhibition catalog for our Murata Gen debut solo exhibition in North America. Browse the artist's works on our website.

Revisit a tea bowl by the contemporary ceramicist Ishiyama Tetsuya with us, with a platinum sheen and gold inside. "Dimple bowl" is a playful take on the often sombre and traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

Many pieces from our gallery were featured in this dynamic exhibition which spans Japanese modern & contemporary ceramics beginning in the post-war years to today. Click to read more!

We are celebrating Hayashi Yasuo's recent feature in an important book featuring an extensive retrospective of Hayashi's artistic practice.

We’re delighted to announce that the important collector of Japanese ceramics, and our friend Mr. Jeffrey Montgomery will be exhibiting his collection of over 250 Japanese folk crafts in ceramic, wood, fabric, and lacquer mediums. Coming up this October, it will be the first major and extensive exhibitions of Japanese folk craft, including Mingei wares from Mashiko, outside of Japan in the last 50 years. It showcases the importance of the Montgomerey collection. The upcoming exhibition in the Museo Delle Culture in Lugano will showcase pieces that have passed through Dai Ichi Arts in recent years. 

How can we tell the difference between Japanese and Korean ceramics? What is it in Korean ceramics that is absent from Japanese wares? Aloofness, sternness, a certain folk quality...it would take more space than we have there to get to the bottom of it, but pay close attention to the beautiful Korean Moon jars next time you visit the Victoria and Albert Museum, take a second look at the robust collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or browse contemporary pieces at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, and you might begin to get a feel for the distinctions between these two great ceramic cultures. 

Contemporary artist Kino Satoshi (b. 1987) is a young sculptor with a big vision who, like many Japanese ceramic artists, finds inspiration in nature and its powerful forces. His recent celadon series is titled Oroshi, which refers to a cold wind coming down from the mountains. This exemplary 2015 sculpture places the viewer in front of a perfectly balanced spiral form made by a cool mountain wind.

If the Song Dynasty's five kilns (Guan ware kiln 官窯, Ge ware kiln 哥窯, Ru ware kiln 汝窯, Ting ware kiln 定窯, and Jun ware kiln 鈞窯) represent the height of Chinese classic porcelain making, contemporary Japanese ceramics enjoy the same national status today within Japan and around the world. The work of Yoshikawa Masamichi (b. 1946) makes us ask whether contemporary Japanese ceramics might be more expressive and diverse than the Song Dynasty ceramics that inspire today’s artists. 

I think that among many professions and callings, the artist is a noble one. Throughout their live, these visionaries create arts to inspire, delight, and connect; when they are gone, their art and artistic legacy continue to teach, provoke and strengthen our bonds with each other. Wada Morihiro was a star that fell too soon. In 2009, a year after Wada left us, Dai Ichi Arts presented the exhibition Celebration of a Life, seen in the attached brochure with several of Wada's works that were exhibited for sale. Wada's ceramics still intrigue us over a decade after his passing, and we grow to understand him more.

Hayashi Yasuo 林康夫 (b. 1928) embodies the maxim "clay prolongs life," as he has been a practicing ceramic artist for over six decades. Today he even drives from Kyoto to Tokyo to attend his exhibitions! Age has never deterred this significant artist, who was one of founder of Shiko-kai 四耕会(1947), a precursor of the influential Japanese avant-garde ceramics group Sodei-sha 走泥社(1948), when he was only 19 years old. The art critic Kimura Shigenobu 木村重信(1925-2017) has identified Hayashi Yasuo's "Cloud" sculpture as the first totally non-functional ceramic work, which according to Kimura made Hayashi "the real forerunner in the field." This departure from traditional ceramic techniques freed future generations of Japanese ceramic artists.