Spreading from Mino, Japan—The Present Situation of Ceramic Art at Tajimi City Cultural Atelier gallery VOICE
Akihiro Maeta 
Akihiro Maeta 
Hiroshi Sakai 
Bai Ming 
Bai Ming 
Bai Ming 
Harumi Nakashima 
Harumi Nakashima 
Masato Komai 
Masato Komai 
Masato Komai 
Tomonari Kato 
Tomonari Kato 
Toshimi Imura
Harumi Nakashima 
Hiroshi Sakai 
Tomonari Kato 
Toshimi Imura
Spreading from Mino, Japan—The Present Situation of Ceramic Art at Tajimi City Cultural Atelier gallery VOICE
October 1 – December 5, 2021
Tajimi City Cultural Atelier gallery VOICE is pleased to present ‘Spreading from Mino, Japan—The Present Situation of Ceramic Art.’
The triennial International Ceramics Festival MINO Japan is one of the world’s largest contemporary ceramic events. Coinciding with the festival, the gallery VOICE exhibition features the work of seven artists. Akihiro Maeta and Bai Ming (judges of the 12th International Ceramics Competition Mino) exhibit alongside five Mino-based, internationally renowned ceramic artists honored with the Grand Prix, Gold Award or Silver Award in past competitions: Toshimi Imura, Tomonari Kato, Masato Komai, Hiroshi Sakai and Harumi Nakashima.
National Living Treasure Akihiro MAETA aspires to make the best use of the properties of porcelain as a material to create beautiful and harmonious white porcelain works. He describes elements of light and shadow and the texture of glaze as essential to his approach. Maeta hopes that his forms offer variations in light and shadow and will continue inspiring the viewer’s imagination.
Bai Ming considers lines and color blocks, the main body of decorative language, as long related to the memory, experience and emotion of civilization. However, visual communication fails to convey these concepts accurately, under the constraints of philosophy or language. Accordingly, Ming describes that it transfers a ‘real form,’ similar to that held in our imagination, along with a vague but accurate feeling that has a refractive effect on emotion.
Toshimi IMURA experiences the flow of particles through the material of clay when making his works, and ponders the transience in the changing of states among solids, liquids and gases. Understanding that nothing has an absolute form Imura approaches his work as process, observing that “the act of creating a shape” holds significance over “the shape” itself.
Tomonari KATO describes connecting to his inner self while making his works, and tries to produce work to manifest a copy of himself.
Masato KOMAI is exhibiting his new tea set series. This series extends Komai’s research in the kyusu form, the most fundamental form in his practice. Focusing on functionality and form, he seeks to highlight the charm of ceramics in his pieces.
Hiroshi SAKAI’s shino works contemporize the long tradition representative of Mino ware. Without being bound by the concepts and values of the tradition, Sakai strives to improve his skills and knowledge to express the charm of shino that he discovered in his practice.
Harumi NAKASHIMA’s famous opulent blue dots porcelain work series is exhibited, including two recent pieces. Titled Unsettled Forms, Nakashima describes feeling perturbed by trivial matters as feeding into his work.
Exhibitors: Akihiro Maeta, Bai Ming, Harumi Nakashima, Hiroshi Sakai, Masato Komai, Toshimi Imura, Tomonari Kato
This exhibition is kindly supported by International Ceramics Festival MINO ‘21 Japan.
Contact
g-voice@ob2.aitai.ne.jp
Tajimi City Cultural Atelier gallery VOICE
3rd Floor, TOUTO-SOZOKAN
5-9-1, Hon-machi, Tajimi City, Gifu
507-0033, JAPAN
Photos by Yosinori Tanaka
