Playing with Tradition: Modern and Contemporary Mino
January 5 — February 27, 2026
To ring in the Year of the Horse, we are delighted to present Playing with Tradition: Modern and Contemporary Mino. From the crawling, unctuous white glaze of Shino wares to the whimsical, textile-inspired patterns and dripping green glazes of the wares favored by the warrior tea master Furuta Oribe (1544-1615), ceramics from the Mino region have long been characterized by aesthetic variety and experimentation. The exhibition features a selection of Shino, Seto, and Oribe ceramics by past masters of this regional tradition, including Arakawa Toyozō (1894-1985), Kawakita Handeishi (1878-1963), Koie Ryōji (1938-2020), and Katō Yasukage (1964-2012), and living legends like Suzuki Gorō (b. 1941), Wakao Toshisada (b. 1933), and Living National Treasure Suzuki Osamu (Kura) (b. 1934). These consummate works will be complemented by works from younger, emerging artists pushing the boundaries of Mino aesthetics. A celebration of the region’s enduring legacy, this exhibition highlights Mino’s spirit of experimentation and play.
The history of Mino ceramics is inseparable from that of chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony. An increasingly popular pastime among warriors and wealthy merchants from the fifteenth century onwards, chanoyu transformed the serving and drinking of tea from a social nicety into an elaborate ritual infused with a religious and philosophical rigor. In many ways, the philosophy of chanoyu was materialized in the form of the utensils that were used and placed on display, which guests enthusiastically documented in the records they kept of each gathering. With the rise of wabicha in the sixteenth century, taste shifted from luxurious Chinese import wares to more humble ceramics of local origin, whose beauty was located precisely in their rusticity and imperfection.
In their hunt for new and engaging objects, tea masters were instrumental in the emergence of Mino as a center of ceramic production. They collaborated with ceramists at local kilns, whose experimentation had given rise to new and innovative glazing formulas, to create the iconic ceramic styles that would define the region for centuries to come. Visit us this January for a chance to see the legacy of this ceramic tradition as it lives on today.
To learn more, click here.
RECENT ART FAIR
The Winter Show
REFLECTIONS IN BLACK and WHITE: Japanese Art in Clay and Ink
January 22 – February 1, 2026
Booth E5
Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue, NYC
For The Winter Show this January at the Park Avenue Armory, we are delighted to present Reflections in Black and White: Japanese Art in Clay and Ink, a curated exhibition featuring masterpieces by modern and contemporary Japanese artists. The palette of black and white has a long and rich tradition in the history of Japanese art. Masters of ink painting, for instance, have created sweeping landscapes so rich and varied that they inspired the classic adage, “The blackness of ink contains all colors (sumi ni gosai ari).” Reflections in Black and White is a celebration of the astonishing range of expression that has been achieved by Japanese ceramists, painters, and calligraphers carrying on this aesthetic tradition of works in black and white.
To learn more, click here.
Recent Acquisitions
We welcome you to view our recent acquisitions currently on view in the gallery and online.
To learn more, click here.
Videos of Zoom Gallery Talk
Couldn’t make it to one of our gallery talks or want to experience them again? We’re delighted to share that these sessions are now available to watch anytime on our site!
To view them now, click here.
About the Gallery
With more than forty-five years of experience, Joan B. Mirviss is a pillar in the field of Japanese art. As a dealer, scholar, curator, and advisor, she has been the driving force championing the top Japanese clay artists, who she represents exclusively, and whose works she has placed in major museums around the globe. Widely published as a highly respected expert, Mirviss has built many institutional and private collections of Japanese art. JOAN B MIRVISS LTD exhibits modern and contemporary Japanese ceramics, ukiyo-e, and Japanese paintings from its exclusive Madison Avenue location in New York City.
