A Beautiful Balance

Most Americans’ knowledge of contemporary ceramics is limited to the afternoon they spent at Paint-a-Pot or the lopsided coil mug that was a Mother’s Day gift from their second-grader. As with so many other functional processes – such as weaving, carpentry, and quilting – we tend to place ceramics in the world of “craft” rather than “art,” even when a potter exhibits a virtuosity that matches the most celebrated contemporary painters.In Japan, however, ceramic artists have a hallowed and prominent place in the country’s life – so much so that the government appoints extraordinary potters “National Living Treasures” and favorite artists can be as famous as movie stars. Over the next few weeks, New York City will host exhibitions by three of Japan’s most remarkable contemporary ceramic artists, Kishi Eiko and Kondo Takahiro at the Barry Friedman Gallery and Kawase Shinobu at the International Asian Art Fair. While the three work in vastly different styles, all have made names for themselves by creating pieces that are at once tied to tradition and also creative, complex, and current.Mr. Kondo – who to this point has been the most widely exhibited of the three – comes from a long, successful lineage of potters, including his grandfather, National Living Treasure Kondo Yuzo. While he acknowledges the influence that his family has had on his life, he is philosophical in his approach to his art. “When you look at tradition, you have to think about the spiritual side and the technical side,” he said. “In terms of technique, whether it is throwing on the wheel, or glazing, or way of firing, or the kind of clay you use, you do learn from those who are around you, influencing you. But as for the spiritual side, my father’s and grandfather’s work is just something I have inside, unconsciously, and I think of making my own work as something else entirely.”Indeed, in his “Silver Mist” series, Mr. Kondo reinvents simple, geometric porcelain forms by applying an original glaze called “ginteki” that when fired, bears an uncanny resemblance to thousands of droplets of condensation. The theme of water has been central to Mr. Kondo’s work for the past 12 years, but in this series it is water’s different states that fascinate him. The silver, mercury sheen of the ginteki creates the illusion of liquid, while the thick, frosted glass lids on his ceramic boxes call to mind melting chunks of ice. Layered with cobalt blue and mossy green underglazes, the “Silver Mist” pieces bring to mind the natural world, evoking images of morning dew and frost on grass and water. “People like to say that clay is the union of earth and fire,” Mr. Kondo said. “But what I have done is to draw water out of fire and clay.”Like Mr. Kondo, Mr. Kawase is a third-generation potter, though he has chosen to work in a style different from that of his family. Both Mr. Kawase’s father and grandfather were masters of blue and white polychrome pottery, but as a young man, Mr. Kawase expressed interest in working with very difficult celadon glazes. His family had very high expectations for him. “My grandfather showed me an incense-holder from the Chinese Song Dynasty,” Mr. Kawase said, “and he said, ‘If you are going to use celadon, you must make something as good as this.'”With his grandfather’s challenge in mind, Mr. Kawase traveled to China, Taiwan, and Europe to study the art of celadon ceramics from the Song Dynasty, and along the way has reinterpreted traditional Chinese techniques to suit his own more modern vision. “I learned from going back through history, that in ceramics, it always goes back to nature,” Mr. Kawase said. “In my case, I am interested in changing viewpoint, of not looking at things from a human point of view, but rather an insect’s.” With his cool, spotless, and soothing use of the celadon glaze and vases and bowls whose lips curl like young leaves, the gentle, elegant shapes of Mr. Kawase’s vessels are seductive and organic. “The Serene Beauty of Celadon,” opening Thursday at the International Asian Art Fair, is the artist’s first solo American show, and highlights some of the great works from the past 20 years of his career; it is hosted by Japanese art dealer Joan B. Mirviss.The pieces in Ms. Kishi’s exhibit, “A Delicate Balance,” are the most sculptural of the three artists’ work, breaking from tradition not only in the form of the vessels, but also in the delicate, inlaid manner in which they are surfaced. But while she does not come from the same family tradition as many of her male counterparts, Ms. Kishi has been profoundly influenced by other aspects of her own culture, specifically Noh theater. Her large vessels, some 30 inches high, are angular and expressive, their forms calling to mind the stylized poses of performers, their finely textured and patterned surfaces suggesting hand-woven fabric.“Noh has a lot of opposites in it: simple movements that make a powerful impression, costumes that are very elaborate but also very simple, and movements that are very small but make a big expression,” Ms. Kishi said. “Those contrasts interest me. Look closely at one of my pieces and it is gorgeous, but from far away, it seems simple.” Each piece is extraordinarily labor-intensive; first Ms. Kishi makes a sketch, creates a model, and prepares and ferments the clay with pigment – all of which takes months. But Ms. Kishi’s care is evident in the result: luminous figures, flecked with jewel-like fragments of terra-cotta red, robin’s-egg blue, and steel gray – balanced between delicacy and dynamism.It is hard to look at all three artists’ work and not want to stroke the surfaces and feel the weight of each piece in your palms. Luckily, while most museums might scold you, these three artists are eager to have their work handled. “To worry about whether something is functional is a decidedly Western way of looking at things,” Mr. Kondo said. “There are so many aspects of Japanese culture – like tea ceremonies or working with flowers – where the doing is the art. So, the implements can be art objects, too.”Prices for the artists’ work range from $2,800 to $14,500 depending on size and difficulty of the piece.Kondo Takahiro’s “Silver Mist,” and Kishi Eiko’s “A Delicate Balance” are on exhibit through April 16 at the Barry Friedman Gallery, 32 E. 67th St., 212-794-8950, www.barryfriedmanltd.com.Kawase Shinobu’s “The Serene Beauty of Celadon,” presented by Joan B. Mirviss, is on view from April 1 through April 6 at the International Asian Art Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, Park Ave. and 67th St., 212-517-2742, www.haughton.com/asian.

A Beautiful Balance

A Beautiful Balance

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