Future Forms: Asia Week New York: Avant-Garde Sculpture in Modern Japanese Ceramics

On the occasion of Asia Week New York 2022, Dai Ichi Arts is proud to present the exhibition, “Future Forms: Avant-Garde Sculpture in Modern Japanese Ceramics”, showcasing a group of post-war, avant-garde objects and sculptures. This group of works epitomizes the ideologies of three central figures that pioneered the admission of the sculptural format into the world of Japanese ceramics. Yagi Kazuo 八木 一夫(1918-79), Yamada Hikaru 山田光 (1924-2001), and Suzuki Osamu 鈴木治 (1926-2001)’s philosophies sought to solidfy the role of the non-functional ceramic object in the world of Japanese pottery. As such, this exhibit will showcase the instrumental work of Yamada Hikaru, Suzuki Osamu, Hayashi Yasuo, Yanagihara Mutsuo, and the more contemporary sculptures of Miwa Ryosaku. This group of artworks will also spotlight the work of several distinguished contemporary women sculptors who are part of a vanguard generation of highly influential post-war artists in Japan. For example, the radical works of Tashima Etsuko 田嶋悦子 (b. 1959), Kishi Eiko 岸 映子 (b. 1948), and Sakurai Yasuko 櫻井靖子 (b. 1969), who investigate the use of light and color in their clay. On the other hand, the works of Ayumi Shigematsu 重松あゆみ (b. 1958) and Suhama Tomoko 須浜智子 (b. 1965) explore form and surface as influenced by Suzuki Osamu and West Coast Minimalism. Meanwhile, Matsuda Yuriko 松田百合子 (b. 1943) , Shingu Sayaka 新宮さやか (b. 1979), Kato Mami 加藤真美 (b. 1963) & more elaborate upon decorative motifs, creating surfacescapes on ceramic exteriors. The exhibition brings to light on how female voices have understood the sculptural visual vocabulary & modernisms of the radical Sodeisha Movement.