Pure Form: Japanese Sculptural Ceramics is on view at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
May 21 – November 6, 2022
Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics uncovers the story of a daring ceramics movement that emerged in mid-20th century Japan following the Second World War. Through a kaleidoscopic array of more than 100 objects made from earthenware, stoneware and porcelain, Pure Form reveals a ‘revolution in clay’ which redefined ceramics for a new age, favoured form over function, and fostered the emergence of female makers as a creative force.
In postwar Japan, young ceramicists formed art collectives in Kansai’s urban centres (Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe). Their ground-breaking abstract sculptural forms drew inspiration from the history of Asian ceramics as well as European modernism, challenging existing hierarchies of taste and functionality. Pure Form showcases these pioneers and explores their ongoing influence through works by contemporary artists such as Tanaka Yū, whose large-scale illusionistic clay objects are informed by the Japanese cloth wrapping practice of furoshiki.
Art Gallery of South Australia Director, Rhana Devenport ONZM says, ‘Pure Form brings together generous loans from private and public collections within Australia and Japan, accompanied by works in AGSA’s collection, to reveal the world-leading shift in ceramic expression that took place in mid-century Japan. Pure Form also highlights the work of Japan’s female ceramic artists who, unfettered by the weight of history, injected a vital new energy and perspective into their sculptural, biomorphic forms.’
Largely unrecognised prior to the war, Japan’s female ceramic artists began to assert their agency, empowered by the birth of a homegrown feminist movement. Pure Form showcases works by Japan’s first generation of female makers including Tsuboi Asuka and Kishi Eiko, and their successors who continue to test the limits of clay.
Pure Form curator Russell Kelty, Curator of Asian Art, AGSA, says, ‘Japan is home to one of the most dynamic ceramics cultures in the world, with artists who display a limitless pursuit of technical innovation and perfection. Pure Form includes works by members of the pivotal avant-garde group Shikōkai (Society of the four harvests) and Sōdeisha (Crawling through Mud Association) like Hayashi Yasuo and Yagi Kazuo, the late master of meditative ceramics Miyashita Zenji as well as monumental sculptures by leading ceramicists Akiyama Yō and Jun Kaneko.’
Rhana Devenport says, ‘With Pure Form on display concurrently with Yayoi Kusama’s recently installed THE SPIRIT OF THE PUMPKINS DESCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS and Chiharu Shiota’s popular Absence Embodied, there’s a wealth of modern and contemporary Japanese art to be discovered at AGSA.’
Pure Form is accompanied by a major 208-page publication, fully illustrated, and featuring essays by Russell Kelty, Raphy Star, Daicho Tomohiro, Lesley J. Kehoe, Daniel McGowan and Aoyama Wahei, available from the AGSA Store for $49.95.
Artists
Akio Takamori, Akiyama Yō, Fujikasa Satoko, Fujioka Shūhei, Fukami Sueharu, Futamura Yoshimi, Hayashi Hideyuki, Hayashi Yasuo, Higashida Shigemasa, Hitomi Masatsugu, Hoshino Satoru, Ichino Masahiko, Izumita Yukiya, Kako Katsumi, Kakurezaki Ryūichi, Kanegae Kazutaka, Jun Kaneko, Kaneshige Kosuke, Kato Takahiko, Katsumata Chieko, Katsuno Hirokuni, Kawakami Rikizō, Kawakami Tomoko, Kawase Shinobu, Kishi Eiko, Kitamura Tsuruyo, Kohyama Yasuhisa, Ryōji Koie, Koike Shōko, Kondō Takahiro, Kondō Yutaka, Kumakura Junkichi, Matsuda Yuriko, Matsui Kōsei, Matsutani Fumio, Ken Mihara, Misaki Mitsukuni, Mishima Kimiyo, Miyanaga Rikichi (Miyanaga Tozan III), Miyashita Zenji, Mori Seishi, Morino Hiroaki Taimei, Kanjiro Moriyama, Nagae Shigekazu, Harumi Nakashima, Ohira Kazumasa, Sakiyama Takayuki, Shingu Sayaka, Sugitani Keizo, Suizu Kazuyuki, Suzuki Osamu, Takauchi Shūgō, Takegoshi Jun, Tanaka Yū, Tanoue Shinya, Tsuboi Asuka, Tsujimura Kai, Tsujimura Shirō, Tsumori Hidenori, Uetake Satoshi, Uranishi Kenji, Wada Morihiro, Wakimoto Hiroyuki, Yagi Kazuo, Yamada Hikaru, Yamada Kazu, Yasuhara (Yoshiaki) Kimei, Yoshikawa Masamichi
Contact
info@artgallery.sa.gov.au
Art Gallery of South Australia
North Terrace
Adelaide SA 5000
Australia
Photo captions
- Installation view 1: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.
- Installation view 2: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed
- Installation view 3: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.
- Installation view 4: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.
- Installation view 5: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, featuring Gate of sound by Hitomi Masatsugu and Walk by Hayashi Hideyuki, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.
- Installation view 6: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, featuring Moving forms by Nagae Shigekazu and To the sky (Sora Ni) by Fukami Sueharu, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.
- Installation view 7: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, featuring Time and space, All things in nature and Tidal flow (Chōryu) by Kondō Takahiro, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.
- Installation view 8: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, featuring Kai (Turn) VIII by Moriyama Kanjiro, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.
- Installation view 9: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, featuring Wa-ring by Kako Katsumi, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.
- Installation view 10: Pure Form: Japanese sculptural ceramics, featuring Untitled by Futamura Yoshimi, Yellow sculpture in the shape of a furoshiki by Tanaka Yū and Spring and fall in Kyoto by Tsuboi Asuka, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed
- Tanaka Yū, born Ehime prefecture 1989, Yellow sculpture in the shape of a furoshiki, c.2018, Kyoto, stoneware, matte glaze, 46.0 x 54.0 x 38.5 cm; Collection of Raphy Star, © Tanaka Yū, photo: Hazuki Kani
- Miyashita Zenji, Breeze of a shady nook (Ryokuin no kaze), 2000, Kyoto, coloured clay banded stoneware, overglaze, 53.0 x 54.0 x 21.5 cm, © Miyashita Zenji
- Matsutani Fumio, born Ehime prefecture 1975, Yellow (Ou), 2021, Ehime prefecture, stoneware, 43.2 x 52.3 x 28.2 cm; Collection of Raphy Star, © Matsutani Fumio, photo: Grant Hancock
- Suzuki Osamu, born Kyoto 1926, died Kyoto 2001, Square vase on pedestal foot (Koku yū hōko), c.1950-60, Kyoto, stoneware with overglaze, 23.3 x 13.0 cm; Gift of Norman Sparnon 1988,Art Gallery of New South Wales, © Suzuki Osamu, photo:Felicity Jenkins
- Matsutani Fumio, born Ehime prefecture 1975, Untitled, 2019, Ehime prefecture, stoneware, 43.0 x 52.3 x 28.4 cm; Collection of Raphy Star, © Matsutani Fumio, photo: Grant Hancock
- Hayashi Yasuo, born Kyoto 1928, Untitled, c.1979, stoneware, ash glaze, 17.5 x 20.0 x 8.5 cm; Collection of Raphy Star, © Hayashi Yasuo, photo: Grant Hancock
- Morino Hiroaki Taimei, born Kyoto 1934, Sudden rain (shuu), c.2003, Kyoto, stoneware, 32.0 x 26.0 x 22.0 cm; Collection of Raphy Star, © Morino Taimei, photo: Grant Hancock
- Nagae Shigekazu, born Seto, Aichi prefecture 1953, Moving forms, c.2012, Seto, Aichi prefecture, slip-cast porcelain, glaze;Collection of Raphy Star, © Nagae Shigekazu, photo: Grant Hancock
- Yamada Hikaru, born Tokyo 1924, died Kyoto 2001, Silver screen (Kindei sukuniin), c.1993, Kyoto, stoneware, slip glaze,56.5 x 40.5 x 7.5 cm; Collection of Raphy Star, © Yamada Hikaru, photo: Grant Hancock
- Mihara Ken, born Izumo city, Shimane prefecture 1958,Genesis (Kigen) no. 1, 2013, Matsue, stoneware, glaze, 44.0 x 74.5 x 20.5 cm; Purchased 2014, National Gallery of Australia,© Mihara Ken
- Suzuki Osamu, born Kyoto 1926, died Kyoto 2001, Animals of the Chinese zodiac, c.1980, Kyoto, dimensions variable;Collection of Raphy Star, © Suzuki Osamu, photo: Grant Hancock
- Kishi Eiko, born Nara prefecture, Japan 1948, Water vessel (mizuzashi) saiseki zōgan, 2005, Kyoto, Shigaraki stoneware with colored clay, chamotte, 23.0 x 20.0 x 20.0 cm; Collection of Lesley Kehoe, © Kishi Eiko, photo: David Parallax
