ExhibitionFriday 15 September – Friday 22 September 2017
Decorative but Calm ─ Japanese Artists and modern craftsmanship
13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle (entrance facing Regent's Park), London NW1 4QP
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Understanding the materials and acquiring an in-depth knowledge of techniques are the core skills necessary for mastering any process. Embracing the challenge of combining their own personal artistic research with the quest for these competences, the four Japanese artists featured in this exhibition have been all teaching at the Tokyo University of the Arts while pursuing their own practice.
The old Japanese artistic expressions deriving from China and Korea were later influenced by encounters with the West the cross-contamination of these two cultural energies have produced extraordinary results. Similarly, t, and this coexistence had emboldened the innovative and experimentational processes which have formed an outstanding legacy in British crafts. While working to promote their traditional works, the artists of Decorative but Calm have in turn realised that craftsmanship is an international language; crafts appeal to the personal sensibility of each viewer.
Some people may feel that “craftsmanship” and “decorative” imply an overpowering and extravagant use of techniques and embellishments. In this exhibition the pursuit of elaborate designs instead aims, in a true expression of Japanese aesthetics, to create a “decorative but calm” space for reflection that does not intend to overwhelm the viewer.
This exhibition was preceded by a previous project, “Material Symphysis”, held jointly by the University for the Creative Arts and the Tokyo University of the Arts in 2016.
Exhibition Dates:
15–22 September 2017
Admission free, Monday–Friday 9.30am–5pm
About the contributors
Hiroshi Kaito (b. 1970)
Hiroshi Kaito (b. 1970) graduated from Tama Art University in Design and Glass in 1993. Following this, he had a short stint working at the Azumino Glass Studio before becoming an Assistant and a Lecturer at the Institute of Tokyo International Glass Art. Kaito established his own glass studio in 2009, and he was a lecturer at Tokyo University of the Arts until 2016. Kaito is part of “Project Iki”, a group that exhibits tea utensils and performs tea ceremonies. His work was included in the exhibition Material Symphysis The Crafts Study & The Foyer Gallery, Farnham/ UK).
Risa Ohgi (b. 1982)
Risa Ohgi (b. 1982) was attracted to kimono which led her to study at Tokyo University of the Arts. There, she encountered Ceramics and undertook an M.A. in Crafts and Ceramics in 2008. Ohgi worked at the Tokyo University of the Arts as an Assistant and a Lecturer for nine years. Her work was exhibited for the first time in the UK in the collaborative exhibition with Ashley Howard at the Leach Pottery, St. Ives in 2014. In 2016, Ohgi organised the exhibition Material Symphysis, held at the Crafts Study Centre, Farnham.
Shinpei Matsuzaki (b. 1981)
Shinpei Matsuzaki (b. 1981) completed a master’s degree in Urushi Art (lacquerware) at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2007 and remains at the institution as a lecturer. Using traditional techniques such as Makie and Raden, Matsuzaki’s works on boxes and bowls draw inspiration from the beautiful colours of the natural world in Japan. His work has received four awards from the Japan Art Crafts Association.
Satoshi Mizushiro (b. 1982)
Satoshi Mizushiro (b. 1982) is a metalsmith and Lecturer at Tokyo University of the Arts. Alongside the metalsmith decoration techniques learned at university, Mizushiro’s works display his personal design sensibility.