18 New York Gallery Shows NEW YORK FALL ASIA WEEK


Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849, Keisai Eisen (1790-1848),


and


Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). Attracted by the flat, solid-colour shapes of Western pop art and the mannered figures and bold colours of Japanese woodblock prints, Teraoka combines elements from both genres in his finely rendered watercolour paintings.


Early series’


Soaring (2013) by Hiruma Kazuyo, stoneware,42 x 22 x 57 cm, Dai Ichi Arts


KAZUYO HIRUMA Memories of Water and Earth


Dai Ichi Arts, 7 to 21 September


Tis exhibition features the work of ceramicist Kazuyo Hirum (b 1947), who began her artistic career in 1976, when she worked under the guidance of ceramic artists Sugaki and Hisano Mizuno in Osaka. Prior to committing to her ceramic practice, Sakai City- born Hiruma worked as a graphic designer for a decade. Tis series of works investigates of how memory and erosion come forth in aquatic and terrestrial forms. Ceramic sculptures depicting water and earth inspire nuanced explorations of how these two natural forces interact with time. Hiruma layers thin sheets of clay horizontally or vertically to create each work, finally glazing and firing the ceramic after months of building up the shape. • Dai Ichi Arts, 18 East 64th Street, New York, NY 10065, daiichiarts.com. Opening reception 7 September, 5-8pm


BETWEEN FORMS The Terracotta Cosmos


by Mokichi Otsuka Ippodo Gallery, 6 to 28 September


Mokichi Okura (b 1956) has a fascination with form that takes the shape of two recurrent motifs – women and cats. Female heads, busts and hands bear reference to the Greco- Roman tradition


of seeking an


idealised womanly figure in a three- dimensional world, and the terracotta medium to the history of pottery and its life-bearing properties. Under the tutelage of Italian sculptor Aldo Rontini in Faenza, Italy, Otsuka was encouraged to harness the power of ancient


traditions through ceramic


tiles. And yet, Otsuka’s work takes on a contemporary relevance in its homage to Eastern traditions, in that it looks inward. Particularly in the new cat works, sharp, long eyes bear reference at once to the hollowed and unattainable women of Modigliani paintings, Egyptian and Nepalese deities, and even the Noh masks of Japanese theatre. Teir ability to transcend art historical moments means that their fluidity succeeds in achieving its distance, personifying the value of life in Western antiquity while also encapsulating


the unknowable


inner life prevalent in Buddhist teachings. As they bridge the worlds of Greco-


Roman and Japanese art, Otsuka’s terracotta wares are unique. Even as the concepts endure, the artist deviates from prehistoric Japanese ceramic aesthetics and their contemporary experimentational counterparts. Pieces are fired at 1060° C in an


ASIAN ART SEPTEMBER 2018 such as


McDonald’s Hamburgers Invading Japan and 31 Flavors Invading Japan reflect Teraoka’s fascination with the 19th-century masters Hokusai and Kunisada, blending the decadent and erotic art form of ukiyo-e with modern consumerist culture. • Sebastian Izzard Asian Art, 17 East 76th Street, 3/F, New York 10021, izzardasianart.com


THE BOUNTIFUL TANG Kaikodo, 8 September to 9 November


Etrurian Woman (2017) by Mokichi Otsuka, terracotta, 32 x 14.7 x 28.2 cm, Ippodo Gallery


entirely unique process he continues to innovate. Most recently, he has developed a deeply symbolic and significant perforation technique. What began as red clay inlaid with white dots has evolved to perforations in white clay. Naturally


occurring


cracks are left as part of the work to reveal its soul. Tis exhibition also marks a


transformation in the ethos of Ippodo Gallery. Te message of the gallery has always been in sync with the natural world,


but increasing diplomatic


engagements are solidifying its place in the canon of cross-culturalism. May this exhibition be a continue culmination of exchange of Japanese culture with the Western world. • Ippodo Gallery, 12 East 86th Street, 5/F, New York 10028, ippodogallery.com. Opening reception with the artist, 6 September, 6-8 pm


MASAMI TERAOKA AND HIS SOURCE IMAGERY


Kaikodo has mounted two exhibitions in the past focusing on the special magic of trees and has presented the paintings of exceptional trees by contemporary ink artists. For the autumn 2018 exhibition, they are featuring a photographic portrait of a stunning ancient tree, a gingko planted in China during the 7th century in the early Tang dynasty (618-907). a tree that explodes into breathtaking fall foliage yet today. Michael Cherney, whose work Kaikodo has carried for nearly a decade,


felt this particular photo


image to be an artistic breakthrough and Kaikodo saw the opportunity to exhibit works of art that were produced contemporaneously during this golden age of Chinese art and literature. Tang-dynasty ceramics, metalwork and sculpture along with later paintings inspired by Tang styles and subject matter join the portrait of the tree to celebrate this extraordinary time. • Kaikodo, 74 East 79th Street, New York 10075, kaikodo.com


SHIFTING RHYTHMS The Sculpted Moments of Koike Shoko


Hokusai, Eisen, Kunisada Sebastian Izzard, 10 to 15 September


Tis September, the gallery is showing works by the Japanese-American artist Masami Teraoka from the collection of the well-known Hong Kong-based graphic designer Henry Steiner, along with woodblock prints by


19th-century ukiyo-e artists Joan B Mirviss, 11 September to 19 October


In four exhibitions spread throughout the coming year, Joan B Mirviss is celebrating art, impact, and legacy of four monumental ceramists:


three


contemporary women masters Koike Shoko (b 1943), Ogawa Machiko (b 1946), Fujikasa Satoko (b 1980), and Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886-1963), who was considered one of the most


White Form (2018) by Koike Shoko, glazed stoneware, 20.5 x 15.75 inches, Joan B Mirviss


influential clay artists and teachers of all time. Te gallery is first featuring Koike


Shoko in September and October, the artist’s gallery.


third solo exhibition at the Koike has always taken


inspiration from the hues of blue created by the sky reflecting off the sea. Early in her career, she began to add glass flakes to her glazes creating a blue ‘pool’ through which she incised shell-like forms. She next gave those ‘shells’ dimensionality by sculpting them in clay. Tese shell-like shapes coupled with the puddled-blue glaze in shades ranging from Persian blue, to turquoise, to the most recent cerulean serve as the conceptual foundation for her clay works. While their spiral forms occur in nature, the centrifugal force generated by Koike when using the potter’s wheel to create them evokes for her the rhythms of the universe beyond simply those of the ocean. Te clay cores thrown on the wheel then serve as the base for further hand-building and glazing, which ultimately results in pleated, dancing vessels bursting with energy. Koike believes her most recent clay


vessels clearly embody this rhythm; each sculpture either flowing or staccato, each captured in a still moment amidst an otherwise frenetic existence. • Joan B Mirviss, 39 East 78th Street, New York 10075, mirviss.com


KUNIYOSHI’S BIOGRAPHIES OF THE


AIDS Series/Oiran and Bamboo Garden (1988) by Teraoka Masami (b 1936), watercolour on paper, 38.1 x 56.5 cm, signed: Teraoka Masami in double Toshidama cartouche, sealed: Yamakaya Masami, Sebastian Izzard


LOYAL RETAINERS Ronin Gallery, 13 September to 20 October Kuniyoshi’s iconic series Biographies of


Gingko Tree by Michael Cherney, photograph, the tree was planted in the 7th century century, early Tang dynasty, Kaikodo


From the series Biographies of the Loyal Retainers (1847-1848) by Kuniyoshi (1707-1861), woodblock print, Ronin Gallery


the Loyal Retainers (1847-1848) is on show in the gallery in its entirety this autumn. Based on true events from the turn of the 18th century, this series captures the legend of the 47 loyal samurai, who avenged their master’s unjust death. Te celebrated legend of the 47 loyal retainers stems from an historical event known as the ‘Ako incident’


Continuously illustrated,


parodied and performed since the 18th century, the Ako incident entered Edo’s popular culture through the literary rendition Kanadehon Chushingura (1748). During the 19th century, the tale of the 47 loyal retainers provided irresistible inspiration for artists. Te retainer’s revenge marked an exemplary stand for the samurai code of bushido - a code of loyalty and honour. In the


Fireworks at Ikenohata (1881)by Kobayashi Kiyochika (1868-1912), woodblock print, 23.5 x 35.7 cm, Scholten Japanese Art


(1701-1704). adapted,


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