The Eight Winds: Chinese Influence on Japanese Ceramics

For this autumn’s Asia Week New York, JOAN B. MIRVISS LTD will present our new exhibition showcasing the many imprints of Chinese ceramics on Japanese clay art. Ranging from the delicate beauty of pale celadon to striking deep-brown iron glazes, The Eight Winds represents the flow from China to Japan of ceramic traditions that occur in both vessel construction and applied glazes. The Eight Winds highlights contemporary Japanese artists whose works breathe new spirit into eight age-old processes: blue-and-white, celadon, iron, polychrome, oil-spot and white glazing, as well as marbled clay and slip inlay. All have proven to be vital sources of inspiration that have been integrated within the Japanese ceramic vocabulary and are evident in the more than fifty selected contemporary works included in the exhibition.

ITŌ Hidehito’s (b. 1971) thinly walled porcelain vessels reflect the restrained simplicity of form and balanced proportions exemplified by the ceramics of the Song dynasty (960-1279). Through the introduction of wave-like patterns in his subtle neriage, a Tang dynasty (618-907) technique requiring the marbling of two or more colored clays, Itō is able to create functional works that read equally well as sculpture. KAMADA Kōji (b. 1948) wraps his simple, stoneware forms in applications of iridescent oil-spot and rabbit’s hair tenmoku glazes, Song dynasty innovations that utilize variations in the cooling process and the running of the iron-oxide glaze during firing to create variant colors and surface patterning. Kamada’s use of these ancient glazes is consummately executed and the outcome is a refreshingly irregular, stippled pattern that is accented by bare stoneware.

TAKEGOSHI Jun (b. 1948) offers a strikingly graphic take on Ming dynasty (1368-1644) under- and over-glaze enamel porcelains. A stark white background provides the base for bold images executed in his unique polychrome, jewel-like palette, derived from the local kutani tradition that was in turn influenced by Chinese glazes. Reflecting his early training as a painter, Takegoshi’s ability with the brush is also readily apparent in his colorful and animated depictions of birds. KAWASE Shinobu’s (b. 1950) delicate and exquisitely thrown works stand apart from their Chinese predecessors. Kawase is also known for his impeccable application of a range of blue-green celadon glazes on his refined vision of Song dynasty-inspired vessels. His mastery of this revered, ancient art form is evidenced by the presence of his works in museums throughout the world.

Chinese inventions have provided a wellspring of inspiration for many other Japanese ceramists who have re-interpreted these centuries-old techniques in their own unique ways, including FUKUMOTO Fuku, KONDO Takahiro and Yutaka, OGATA Kamio, ONO Hakuko, YAGI Akira, and MATSUI Kōsei and NAKAJIMA Hiroshi, both Living National Treasures, who all will be featured in this exhibition. Maintaining a constant eye on the past but always looking forward, these artists produce ceramics of powerful vitality.