Published on the occasion of Yanagihara Mutsuo's solo exhibition, held at Dai Ichi Arts between May 15-30, 2025. The catalog features a retrospective article by Dr. Andreas Marks, curator of Japanese and Korean art and director of the Clark Center at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, on Yanagihara Mutsuo's six decade contemporary ceramic practice.
Yanagihara Mutsuo (b. 1934) is a pioneering Japanese ceramic artist known for his inventive forms and playful approach to clay. Raised in a family of medical doctors in Kōchi City, his early fascination with botany and the human body would later influence his sculptural ceramics. He studied at Kyoto City University of Arts under modern masters Tomimoto Kenkichi, Kondō Yūzō, and Fujimoto Yoshimichi, graduating in 1960.
Yanagihara’s career has been shaped by international influences, particularly during his time in the United States. Teaching at Alfred University and Scripps College in the 1970s introduced him to the American studio craft movement, reinforcing his experimental and conceptual approach to ceramics. Throughout his career, he has embraced the tension between sculpture and function, creating works that are at once playful, imaginative, and deeply rooted in ceramic tradition. Now at 90, he continues to innovate from his studio in Kyoto.
From his Silver Oribe works (Gin Oribe) and his Flower-eating vessels (Kashoku) to his most recent abstraction series titled Exhalation and Inhalation (Kōki kyūki), this exhibition brings together Yanagihara’s ceramic works that explore the visual languages of botany, anthropomorphism, and abstraction with striking clarity.
In-print copy: $40