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Ethereal Clay
Ceramic works by Shin Fujihira, 13 June - 21 July 2019

Ethereal Clay: Ceramic works by Shin Fujihira

Past exhibition
  • Works
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Works
  • Shin Fujihira Butterfly, 1998 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Butterfly, 1998
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Box, 1990 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Box, 1990
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Cup, 1990 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Cup, 1990
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Cup, 1990 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Cup, 1990
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Cup, 1990 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Cup, 1990
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Incense Burner, 1990 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Incense Burner, 1990
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Incense Container , 2004 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Incense Container , 2004
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Pot , 1980 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Pot , 1980
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Pot, 1990 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Pot, 1990
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Tea Bowl Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Tea Bowl
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Tea Bowl, 1980 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Tea Bowl, 1980
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Tea Bowl, 1993 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Tea Bowl, 1993
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira, Cinnabar Tea Bowl, 1993
    Shin Fujihira, Cinnabar Tea Bowl, 1993
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Incense Container, 1990 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Incense Container, 1990
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Cinnabar Water Dropper Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Cinnabar Water Dropper
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Fish Incense Burner, 2008 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Fish Incense Burner, 2008
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira 梟香炉 - Owl Incense Burner, 1980 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    梟香炉 - Owl Incense Burner, 1980
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira Tiger, 2000 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Tiger, 2000
    Ceramic
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  • Shin Fujihira, Vermillion Water Dropper
    Shin Fujihira, Vermillion Water Dropper
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  • Shin Fujihira Water Dropper, 2010 Ceramic
    Shin Fujihira
    Water Dropper, 2010
    Ceramic
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Press release

As a legend in the field of ceramic art, Shin Fujihira’s impact on Japanese ceramics was profound. His whimsical works lived in an imaginative world of their own and, since his death in 2012, only a very small number of exhibitions have showcased them. Therefore, it is Ippodo Gallery’s immense honor to present “Shin Fujihira: Ethereal Clay,” a solo exhibition of over 50 pieces by Shin Fujihira, ranging from the early 1980s to the late 2000s, on view June 13 until July 21 in New York. For this special occasion, we have essays in the show’s catalogue by Glenn Adamson, curator and Elizabeth Essner, who is an independent curator, writer and researcher specializing in modern and contemporary design and craft. 

 

Fujihira’s legacy was shaped early on by a few key, formative circumstances. His family owned a studio in the well-known ceramic area of Kyoto, Gojozaka, where ceramicists often shared kilns. In fact, Fujihira’s family rented space in the kiln of mingei master Kanjiro Kawai (1890 – 1966) who gave Fujihira his name “Shin.” Growing up, Fujihira and his brother frequently visited Kawai at his home to watch him work. When the time came, Fujihira began studying art at the Kyoto Institute of Technology, but his studies were postponed when he became ill and was hospitalized for four years. It was during this time that Fujihira began sketching the world around him, honing his distinctive eye for the figures he would later incorporate into his ceramic works. 

 

After regaining his health, Fujihira left the hospital with a newfound appreciation for the preciousness of life. His work became a celebration of life itself, filling it with the energy of light, happiness and heavenly spirit. Rather than throwing pieces on a wheel like many of his peers, Fujihira created both ornamental and functional pottery by pinching. This technique gave Fujihara the flexibility to explore the fanciful abstractions of his imagination and translate them into clay.

 

This upcoming exhibition of Shin Fujihira’s works is a testament to the success of this technique in portraying his vision—a woman throws her arms open to the heavens, balancing upon stairs leading nowhere in particular; a pair of squat owls rests atop an incense burner; a water dropper arcs, caves, distends. The fantasy is only heightened by Fujihira’s masterful use of dream-like, pale celadon and cinnabar glazes. It is easy to get lost in the etheral pinks, blues and greens that deliciously coat each piece. More than just ceramics, Shin Fujihira created pure magic, which continues to spark a sense of wonder in all who get a glimpse into his world.  

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Installation Views
  • Shin Fujihira Ny2019 8917 Sh D Flt
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  • Shin Fujihira Ny2019 Crp Sh D Flt
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  • Shin Fujihira Ny2019 8937 Sh D Flt
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  • Shin Fujihira Ny2019 8929 Sh D Flt
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  • Shin Fujihira Ny2019 8931 Sh D Flt
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  • Shin Fujihira Ny2019 8938 Sh D Flt
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Press
  • The Heart of the Matter

    Elizabeth Essner
  • Supreme Tranquility

    Shoko Aono
  • A Bowl of Heaven

    Glenn Adamson Senior Scholar, Yale Center for British Art
Related content
  • The Heart of the Matter Press

    The Heart of the Matter

    Oct 6, 2020
    There is a water dropper, or Suichû, by Shin Fujihira that so closely evokes a heart it nearly seems to beat. This heart is not...
    Read more
  • A Bowl of Heaven Press

    A Bowl of Heaven

    Jun 23, 2020
    It took Shin Fujihira more than forty years to make a teabowl. Not that he was working on it the whole time – in fact,...
    Read more
  • Supreme Tranquility Press

    Supreme Tranquility

    Jun 23, 2020
    The ‘Fuji’ in Shin Fujihira’s surname means ‘wisteria’ and his first name, ‘Shin’, which means ‘to grow’ or ‘develop,’ was given to him in 1922...
    Read more

Related artist

  • Shin Fujihira

    Shin Fujihira

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