In Japanese art history, the color blue (ao) has an enduring legacy in both cultural significance and art history. As an island nation, nearly every region of Japan is bordered by the sea, making blue a constant presence in the natural landscape and the collective imagination. In visual arts, shades of blue often evoke fog, distance, serenity, and the sublime.
In the world of ceramics, the color blue offers a vast oasis of potential in visual expression, achieved through innovative and technically demanding glazes: most notably celadon and sometsuke (blue-and-white ware). Beyond these glazes, blue also emerges through other techniques such as neriage (marbelized clay), or in sculptural forms and objet d'art, where color becomes structural rather than surface.
This exhibition, on view July 2025, we present a group of works that showcases the diverse ways in which contemporary and modern ceramic artists engage with the color blue in visually compelling and innovative ways, celebrating its beauty, material complexity, and legacy in Japanese art and art history.
