Tokuda Yasokichi IV, Saiyu Jar, 2010, porcelain with vivid colored glaze (yôsai), 12 3/4 × 9 3/4 in (32.4 × 24.8 cm)

Color of Blue in KOGEI
June 11 – July 31, 2024
521 West 26th Street, NYC

Onishi Gallery is pleased to present their new installation for the Summer, Color of Blue in KOGEI.

Bringing colors in Kogei has been an exciting theme for Kogei artists as the materials they use are from nature and are already gifted with a variety of colors from the Earth. Invention plays a key role for some artists who strive to incorporate color in new ways while maintaining their works’ traditional values.

Included in this exhibition are two porcelain pieces in vivid blue by Tokuda Yasokichi III who was a Living National Treasure and the most well-known Kutani ware artist of his time. In these pieces the suffusion of colors is achieved by his inventive coloration of vivid Kutani color glaze.

In another piece where a famed Kogei artist works with blue, the almost transparent and greenish blue on his signature Hakuji porcelain represents a signal departure for Inoue Manji. Manji’s introduction of colors in his work wasn’t until later in his career, after having spent decades working in stark white.

Another attractive blue color is by Suzuki Miki in his famous Blue Bizen ware. Unlike traditional Bizen in brown, Suzuki creates a new impression in this traditional stoneware by shifting to blue.

Spend these summer days exploring the inventive ways artists use the color blue to expand the possibilities of Japanese sculptures.

To learn more, click here.