Glazed stoneware
7 1/4 x 9 x 7 5/8 in.
Inv# 7829
POR
Artist Bio
1933 Born in Kishiwata, Osaka
1952 Entered the Crafts Department at the Kyoto Municipal University of Art as a ceramics major; studied under Tomimoto Kenkichi
1955 Graduated from the Kyoto Municipal University of Art;
Worked as an engineer at Hitachi’s commercial kiln, Ôgame Tôen
(until 1958)
1958 Began apprenticeship at the Tsukamoto Ceramics Center, Mashiko
1959 Rented a kiln in Mashiko and became independent
1961 Built his own climbing kiln in Mashiko
1967 Declined to submit work to the Japan Traditional Arts& Crafts Exh.
Became entirely independent in order to commit to his own style
Traveled to Tôhoku (northern Japan) in search of a new kiln site
1968 Became unaffiliated with the Japan Crafts Association
1969 Moved to his new kiln and home near Tôno, Iwate
1973 Traveled to England, France, Italy, Rumania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Denmark on a trip led by Mikami Tsuguo, a leading archaeologist in Asian culture and ceramic art historian
1975 Traveled to Korea with Yasuda Takeshi to look at ceramics
1983 Passed away
Long considered by many experts to be the greatest Japanese ceramic artist of the 20th century, Kamoda Shôji (1933-1983) was able to accomplish in half of a life-time what other artists struggle to partially attain in double the time. In an unrivalled period of productivity from 1966-78, Kamoda transformed the aesthetic appreciation of modern ceramics. Always nominally functional, his stoneware “vessels” are ever imaginative in form, line, balance, glazing and decorative adornment. Today, after his premature death at age forty-nine, artists continue to copy and reinterpret his numerous inventive forms and designs.
Continue
Awards:
1956 Graduation piece won a prize and became part of the Kyoto Municipal University of Art collection
1952 First entry to the Shinshôkai Exhibition (thereafter in 1956, 1960, 1962); won the Excellence Award
1957 Won entry to the Contemporary Japanese Ceramics Exhibition
1960 Effort Prize, Shinshôkai Exhibition
1961 First entry to the Japan Traditional Arts and Crafts Exhibition
(thereafter annually until 1967)
1962 Nominated as an official member of the Shinshôkai
1964 Nominated as a member for the Japan Crafts Association
Won the Japan Ceramics Society Award
1967 Won the Takamura Kôtarô Prize (first and last winner in ceramics)
1974 Won the Newcomer Award presented by the Minister of Education (first ceramist winner)
Solo exhibitions:
1963 First solo show at the Hitachi Hall, Hitachi City.
1966 First show a Takashimaya Department Store Gallery, Nihonbashi, Tokyo (also in '68, '70, '71, '73, '74, '76, '77, '79, '80)
1965 Kamoda Shôji Ceramics Exhibition, Tokyo New Center Gallery, Yûrakuchô, Tokyo
1968 Kamoda Shôji Ceramic Exhibition, Gallery Te, Kôtsû Kaikan, Tokyo (also in '69, '71)
1972 Green Gallery, Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo (thereafter annually till '80)
1977 Kamoda Shôji Ceramics Exhibition, Takashimaya, Okayama
Kamoda Shôji Ceramics Exhibition, Takashimaya, Yokohama
2001 Kamoda Shôji Exhibition, Tôgei Messe Mashiko, Tochigi
Group exhibitions:
1960 First duo show, Kamoda Shôji, Hosoya Masako Ceramic Exhibition with his wife at Hitachi Hall, Hitachi City (also in '61)
1964 The 7th New Generation of Ceramics Exhibition, Gotô Museum, Tokyo (invitational)
International Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, Tokyo National Museum
Modern Japanese Ceramics Exhibition, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto Division, Kyoto
Two-man show with painter, Nagasaki Bakuto, Gotô Museum, Tokyo
1966 The 1st Japan Art Festival, New York (invitational) (also in '67 and '68)
Japan Traditional Crafts Excellent Work Exhibition, organized by the Japan Crafts Association
1968 New Generation in Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
1969 Three-man show with Ezaki Issei and Mori Tôgaku, Gallery Te, Kôtsû Kaikan, Tokyo (invitational; also in '70 and '71)
1970 Modern Ceramics: Europe and Japan, Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
1971 Invitational exhibit in the 1st Japan Ceramic Arts Exhibition (thereafter in '73, '77, '79; declined entry in '81)
Modern Ceramics: America, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art & Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art
1972 Selected Works of Modern Ceramic Art, organized by the Japan Ceramics Society, Mitsukoshi Department Store Gallery, Nihonbashi, Tokyo (also in '75 and '79)
1973 Central Modern Ceramics Exhibition, Tokyo Central Salon, Ginza, Tokyo
1974 Masters of Japanese Ceramics, organized by Tôgyô Jihô-sha, Imperial Hotel, Tokyo
1975 Ceramic Plate Exhibition, Kuroda Tôen, Tokyo (invitational; also '76, '77)
Modern Japanese Crafts Exhibition, Shiseidô Gallery, Tokyo (thereafter annually till 1980)
1977 The Current State of Tochigi Art, Tochigi Prefectural Museum, Tochigi
Tokkuri (sake bottle) and Guinomi (sake cup) Exhibition, Gallery Akahige, Mashiko
1978 Ceramic Plates by Three Masters, Kuroda Tôen, Ginza, Tokyo
One Hundred Japanese Jars, Suntory Museum, Tokyo
Kamoda Shôji Ceramics Exhibition, Mune Kôgei, Ginza, Tokyo
1979 Ceramic Plates by Four Artists, Gallery Akahige, Mashiko
Built a new electric kiln in Higashikurume, Tokyo
Left Tôno to live in Higashikurume
Tableware Exhibition (organized by the Tokyo Art Club Young Men’s Association), Tokyo Art Club, Tokyo (invitational)
One Hundred Tea Bowl Masterpieces (organized by the Kyoto Newspaper), Daimaru, Kyoto.
1980 One Hundred Masterpieces of Contemporary Ceramics, Tôkyû Honten, Tokyo and Umeda Hankyû, Osaka
Ceramic Plates by Five Artists ’80, Gallery Akahige, Mashiko
Kamoda Shôji Ceramics Exhibition (retrospective organized by the Nippon Keizai Shimbun), Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo
1981 Four-man Show, Takashimaya, Okayama
Contemporary Ceramists in China and Japan, National Historical Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Ceramic Plate Exhibition, Kuroda Tôen, Ginza, Tokyo.
1982 Contemporary Ceramics -- Tradition and the Avant-garde, Suntory Museum, Tokyo
One Hundred Contemporary Tea Ceremony Ware (organized by the Yomiuri Shimbun)
1983 Died in Utsunomiya, Tochigi
2009 Three-person exhibition, Kamoda Shôji, Ezaki Issei and Mori Tôgaku, Shibuya Kuroda Tôen, Tokyo
Posthumous Exhibitions:
Ten Contemporary Ceramists, Atsui Museum, Niigata (1983)
Kamoda Shôji Memorial Exhibition, Mune Kôgei, Ginza, Tokyo (1983)
Kamoda Shôji Posthumous Works, Yayoi Gallery, Ginza, Tokyo (1984)
Kamoda Shôji Exhibition, Tochigi Prefectural Museum, Tochigi (1986)
The Beauty of Contemporary Ceramics -- Kamoda Shôji Exhibition, Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (1987)
Modern Japanese Ceramics, Fukushima Prefectural Museum, Fukushima (1988)
Ceramists That Built Mashiko Exhibition, Tochigi Prefectural Museum, Tochigi
and Tôbu Museum of Art, Tokyo (1989)
The Discovery of Clay -- Modern Ceramics and Ancient Earthenware, Shiga Prefectural Tôgei no Mori Ceramic Museum, Shiga (1990)
Kamoda Shôji Exhibition, Ogawa Museum (1990)
Contemporary Ceramics -- Kamoda Shôji Exhibition, Sadô Shiryôkan,
Kyoto (1991)
Kamoda Shôji Exhibition, Tanabe Museum, Matsue (1992)
The Flower in Industrial Art, Tottori Prefectural Museum, Tottori (1993)
Kamoda Shôji and Mori Tôgaku Exhibition, Atsui Museum, Niigata (1994)
Kamoda Shoji, The Togei Messe Mashiko Gallery, Mashiko (Three part solo exhibition in1999 and again in 2001; third part in 2003)
KAMODA Shoji— a Restrospective, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
(traveling to Hagi Uragami Museum, Tokyo Station Gallery, Iwate Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu) (2005-6)
Selected Public Collections:
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of art
Iwate Museum of Art
Mashiko Togei Messe
Ogawa Museum, Tokyo
Shigaraki Ceramic Art Center
Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art
Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Massachusetts
The Victoria and Albert Museum, England
Download Artist Biography (PDF 70 K)
Gallery Exhibitions
Ceramic Artists of Eastern Japan
Opening Reception: November 11, 2009 6 - 8 pm Viewing Hours Monday - Friday 11 am - 5 pm and by appointment
Joan B Mirviss LTD
39 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075
Viewing hours: Monday through Friday, 11 AM to 6 PM
For more information: Tel 212-799-4021