A trailblazer among a family of traditionalists, Koichiro Isezaki (b. 1974) preserves his renowned father’s Bizen techniques while simultaneously reimagining the ceramic with atypical forms. Early in his career, Isezaki apprenticed with American sculptor Jeff Shapiro. On returning to Japan, Isezaki established his kiln in Bizen, Okayama prefecture. He has exhibited extensively, including at the National Museum of Modern Art Crafts Gallery and the Paramita Museum, where he won the Ceramic Art Grand Prize in 2011. Most recently, Isezaki won the 2022 Japan Ceramic Society Award in recognition of his outstanding bizen artwork.
Awards and Collection:
Crafts Gallery, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Paramita Museum Ceramic Art Grand Prize Exhibition
Encouragement Award, Okayama Prefecture Development of Emerging Artists Program, City Hall of Faenza, Italy
Japan Ceramic Society Award (2022)
-
Koichiro Isezaki: Clay in Flow
11 Sep - 11 Oct 2025Exhibition opens Thursday, September 11, 2025 Opening Reception at 35 N Moore Street, TriBeCa : September 11, 5–8 PM Private viewing by appointment only.Read more -
Magic of the Tea Bowl
Volume 3 8 Jun - 31 Jul 2023Magic of the Tea Bowl (Vol.3) June 2023 The Japanese tea ceremony was first established during the sixteenth century and has continued to flourish to the present day. Closely tied...Read more -
Extreme Surfaces: Cutting Edge Kogei
Ippodo Gallery's Premiere at Design Miami 2022 + New Year Exhibition 30 Nov 2022 - 16 Feb 2023Ippodo Galleryis a pioneering kogei -focused gallery based in Tokyo and New York. Our mission is to honor the living tradition of Japanese fine art in the contemporary world by...Read more -
Magic of the Tea Bowl
Volume 2 2 Jun - 7 Jul 2022Magic of the Tea Bowl (Vol.2) April 2022 The Japanese tea ceremony was first established during the 16th century and has continued to flourish to the present day. Closely related...Read more -
The Breath of Clay
The Life of Koichiro Isezaki's Contemporary Bizen 12 Mar - 16 Apr 2020Time seems to pass slowly in this small village. Set among the greenery of the surrounding mountains, passing along a road lined with walls made of pottery shards, we come...Read more
-
Artist Talk and Opening Reception, Koichiro Isezaki: Clay in Flow
11 Sep 2025We are delighted to welcome the artist Koichiro Isezaki, who travels from Japan, to celebrate his second New York solo exhibition. The artist's mentor Jeff...Read more -
Opening Reception - June 13, 6-8 PM
Magic of the Tea Bowl Vol.3 13 Jun 2023Please join us on Tuesday, June 13th, from 6 PM to 8 PM EST at Ippodo Gallery (32 E 67th Street, New York, 10065). Ippodo...Read more -
Design Miami 2022
Extreme Surfaces: Cutting Edge Kogei 30 Nov - 4 Dec 2022Design Miami 2022Read more -
Opening Reception - June 2 5-8pm
Magic of the Tea Bowl Vol. 2 2 Jun 2022Ippodo Gallery is pleased to present another series of Magic of the Tea Bowl – Volume 2, an exhibition of tea bowls by seventeen respected...Read more -
Conversations from Home Vol.1
Koichiro Isezaki x Louise Cort x Glenn Adamson 30 Apr 2020Featuring: Koichiro Isezaki - Ceramic artist Louise Cort - Craft Historian and Curator emerita for ceramics at the Freer and Sackler, Smithsonian Glenn Adamson -...Read more
-
Studio Visit: Koichiro Isezaki
Magic of the Tea Bowl Volume III July 3, 2023A ceramicist working in the tradition of Bizen , and the son of the Living National Treasure of Bizen —one of Japan's six great historical...Read more -
Altered Forms
Ribbing, Faceting, and Molding December 22, 2020Since the beginning, ceramicists have experimented with form. Altering a thrown object (done on the potter’s wheel) or adding to the piece is more common...Read more -
A Slender Silhouette:
On Ippodo Gallery’s Tall Forms December 8, 2020Koichiro Isezaki, Yo, C19718 Placed in a sagger and wrapped carefully in rice straw, each vessel made by Isezaki emerges from the kiln with their...Read more