Yukiya Izumita (b. 1966), Sekisoh, 2020, ceramic, H15.74 x W30.7 x D8.66 in. (H40 x W78 x D22 cm), Photography courtesy Douglas Dubler 3 and Kanako Yamaguchi
Expanding Earth: New Works by Yukiya Izumita
September 12 – October 3, 2024
Opening Reception with Artist: Thursday, September 12, 6-8pm
Kindly RSVP: [email protected] or (212) 967-4899
32 East 67th Street, 3rd Floor
Ippodo Gallery is excited to present Expanding Earth: New Works by Yukiya Izumita, marking the leading ceramicist’s return to New York with his fifth solo exhibition in the United States for Autumn 2024. Over 40 of Izumita’s latest laminate-layered sculptures, flat-folded vases, and tea bowls will be on view beginning on September 12th. Izumita’s unseen sceneries of earthen formations demonstrate his capacity to push the physical constraints of hand-built ceramic and miraculously defy the laws of gravity withstanding the intensity of the anagama tunnel-kiln fire.
Yukiya Izumita (b. 1966) has established himself as a most innovative ceramicist from his remote kiln in Japan’s north-east Tohoku region. He seamlessly integrates the geographically-specific elements of Iwate Prefecture—namely its harsh northern climate and rural seaside locale—into the black, yellow, and red clay. Izumita hand-carries the coastal clay back to his studio in huge loads and driftwood, too, is an aspect of his craft; his creations are born from what is washed ashore and the sea-soaked salvages lend a rudimentary salt-firing element that appears rustic and ancient encased in rare manganese glaze. Izumita seeks out a language of lightness in his sculptures that expertly disguises the heavy reality of earth. His designs seem to float without concern; the ceramic walls are shaped on paper sheets at calculated angles in perfect balance. The salt-rich clay is combined with Chamotte to emulate the rough-hewn texture and colors of Iwate’s sea-battered cliff faces like a fossil record of the passage of time.
Ippodo Gallery and Yukiya Izumita welcome a collaboration with Bronze Craft Foundry to cast a limited edition of sculptures from the artist’s original ceramic forms, which will also be included in the exhibition.
To learn more and preview the works, click here.