UPCOMING EXHIBITION
From the Sea
July 24 – August 21, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday July 23, 5-8pm
Summer is the season defined by the desire to go to the sea, an entity that is an amalgam of so many senses: the sound of waves brushing against the shore, the granularity of the sand on the skin, the brininess of the breeze, and most importantly, the kaleidoscope of life in all its colors and forms. Onishi Gallery’s summer group show From the Sea presents works from nine artists that bring these senses of the sea into an elegant space on the Upper East Side, featuring ceramics, metalwork, and a felt piece.
Kaneshige Kōsuke (b. 1943, Japanese) reinterprets the ancient Bizen tradition with a sense of humor and imagination; Ōsumi Yukie (b. 1945, Japanese) and Nakagawa Mamoru (b. 1947, Japanese) each in their own way merges the metallic touch with the calming pattern of the ocean waves, reminiscent of the dreamy realms of silver-plated screens from the Momoyama period; Tokuda Yasokichi IV (b. 1961, Japanese) and Shōmura Ken (b. 1949, Japanese) capture the blue serenity of the sea and materialize it into a smooth tactility further enhanced by the elegance of shapes. Konno Tomoko (b. 1967, Japanese) makes ceramics that celebrate the glory of life and its many forms in the deep sea, a veritable sculptural equivalent of the best of Joan Miró’s biomorphic paintings. Inoue Manji’s (1929-2025, Japanese) white porcelain on the other hand commemorates the profound silence of the sea, as the starting point of life where everything came from nothingness.
The Japanese ceramics are accompanied by three metal wall pieces by Jeffrey Maron (b. 1949, American), whose exposure to animism during his time in Japan continues to manifest in the infinite dynamism of his geometric compositions. Liam Lee (b. 1993, American)’s felt piece stands in complete tactile contrast to the other works in the show as he exploits the suppleness of felt as a metaphor for the malleability of life and growth.
The show starts on Friday July 24, with opening reception the evening before. Works by Kaneshige Kōsuke and Konno Tomoko will be participating in Homo Faber this September in Venice, Italy, as Onishi Gallery celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year.
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RECENT OFF-SITE EXHIBITION
Tōhen「陶片」
May 31 – July 4, 2026
Galleria Barbara Paci, Piazza Duomo 25 55045 Pietrasanta, Italy
We are proud to announce an off-site exhibition Tōhen 「陶片」, co-curated and hosted by Galleria Barbara Paci, opening in Pietrasanta, Italy on May 31st, 2026.
In the exhibition Tōhen, Japanese ceramic artists Yoshita Minori and Tokuda Yasokichi III—both designated Living National Treasures—present works grounded in ceramic forms and techniques passed down through centuries of tradition. Within the lineage of Japanese ceramic practice, artists undergo rigorous apprenticeship training in inherited skills and formal vocabularies before attaining artistic mastery. From this foundation, they create contemporary works that remain deeply rooted in history while resisting reduction to mere relics of the past.
The dialogue between contemporary Japanese ceramics and Agostino Rocco’s contemporary Italian paintings unfolds through the concept of lineage—understood not as nostalgia, but as a living material condition. Ceramic, pattern, gesture, and surface become vessels of memory, carrying traces of knowledge transmitted across generations. Rather than reproducing tradition, these works reinterpret lineage as a contemporary language shaped by fragmentation, personal history, and the instability of the present moment.
Tōhen invites us to trace these connections across distance and difference—between ceramic and pigment, between Japanese and Italian traditions, between the weight of inherited form and the freedom of contemporary expression. In this convergence, fragments do not simply coexist; they generate something new.
We look forward to welcoming you in Italy soon!
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About the Gallery
Since its opening in 2005, Onishi Gallery has featured contemporary Japanese artists who work in a range of media, including ceramics, metalwork, lacquer, glass, sculpture and painting. These artists are united in their common embrace of tradition in the creative process, and they are distinct in their exquisite and diverse modes of expression. Onishi Gallery merges the past with the present through the presentation of historically rich explorations of traditional art forms and ambitions experimentations in new formats in the center of the international contemporary art scene in New York City.
The Japanese Government has designated several artists that Onishi Gallery represents as Preservers of Important Intangible Cultural Properties, more commonly known as “Living National Treasures.” The Minister of Culture considers locality, tradition and the perpetuation of historic techniques when awarding this title to artists. Once an artist is recognized as a Living National Treasure, their profile publicized on a national and global level, dramatically increasing the value of their work. Many of these artists have works that are included in the permanent collections of major museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Worcester Museum of Art. The system aims to not only celebrate and preserve the historic artistic traditions of Japan, but challenge living artists to continuously improve and incorporate their own individual style while still mastering their craft.
