Biography

Shiro Tsujimura (b.1947) began his artistic career studying oil painting; however, he became disillusioned during this process and eventually abandoned the idea. Inspired by a classic Ido teabowl from the Folk Museum in Japan, Tsujimura embarked on the journey of ceramic arts. He is known widely known as a master of pottery as his ceramic works reflect a level of sophistication and return to nature in the various clay bodies and glazes he used. His dedication to the ceramic arts bleeds into his lifestyle. In 1967, Shiro and his wife moved to Mima, Nara, where he currently resides, and built a home, a teahouse, and seven kilns over the years.

 

Biography:

1947       Born May 22 in Gossei, Nara Prefecture, Japan. 

1965        Leaves for Tokyo to prepare for entrance examination to art college but becomes disillusioned with the mechanical process and abandons the idea. Upon a visit to the Japan Folkcraft Museum, is intensively inspired by a classic Ido Tea Bowl and decides to take up pottery.

1966 - 1968       Resides at Sanshoji, a Zen temple in Nara.

1968       Returns to his father's farm. Builds a potting wheel from the wheel of an old card, and starts practicing at night.

1969       Marries Mieko Sugiyama.

1970       Buys a plot of land deep in the hills above the city of Nara in Mima, and builds his house, a workshop, a tea house, and seven kilns. Starts a long period of study of ceramics. Kilns rebuilt and / or refined numerous times. 

1975       First son, Yui, is born.

1976       Second son, Kai, is born.

1977       First exhibition at his home. Catalogue is self - made with snapshots of pieces pasted in a short handmade booklet and distributed to friends. 

1978       First public exhibition in Osaka, which is the start of a long career. 

1981       After a visit to Kassai City in Hyogo Prefecture, the arhat theme begins to appear in his ceramics and his paintings.

1982       Toyozo Arakawa (1894 - 1985), a Living National Treasure in ceramics, sees Tsujimura's pieces and asks to purchase a vase.

1993       Builds a kiln in West Devon, U.K. and makes pottery for London exhibitions 

1999       Honored with a solo exhibition at the Kyoto Chado Shiryokan, only the second contemporary potter after Kyoto veteran Shin Fujihira.

2003       Gives talk about his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. 

 

Exhibitions:

1977       First exhibition at Home

1978       Misukoshi, Osaka, Japan

1980       Mitsukoshi, Osaka, Japan

1981       Yamaha Gallery Kichijoji, Tokyo, Japan

1981       Tokyo Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, Japan
1983       Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan

1984       MOA Museum, Atami, Shizuoka, Japan

1984       Nagoya Maruei, Aichi, Japan

1990       Tachikichi Main Store, Tokyo, Japan
1993        Japan Art, Frankfurt, Germany
1994       Gallery Besson, London, United Kingdom

1994       Franfurt Japan Art, Franfurt, Germany

1995       Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan

1996       Kuze Gallery, Gifu, Japan

1996       Yu Gallery, Palace Hotel, Tokyo, Japan

1996       Nagoya Maruei, Aichi, Japan

1996       Toyohashi Hankyu Umeda, Osaka, Japan

1999       Chado Research Center Gallery, Kyoto, Japan

2000       Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan (Paintings)

2000       Hankyu Umeda, Osaka, Japan

2000       Okayama Maruei, Okayama, Japan

2000       Nagoya Maruei, Aichi, Japan
2003       Koichi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts, New York

2004       Toyohashi Maruei, Aichi, Japan

2005       Tachikichi, Kyoto, Japan

2006       Yu Gallery, Palace Hotel, Tokyo, Japan

2006       Axel and May Vervoordt Foundation, Wijnegem, Belgium
2007       Daitokuji Temple, Kyoto, Japan

2007       "Artempo: Where Time Becomes Art", Palazzo Fortuny, Venice

2008       Daitokuji Temple, Kyoto, Japan

2009       Koichi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts, New York

2009       Galerie Yoshii, Paris, France

2009       Ryogotei Tokyo, Japan

2010       Joblonka Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2010       Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan

2010       Tachikichi, Kyoto, Japan

2011       Ippodo Gallery Tokyo, Japan

2011       Kochi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts, New York

2011       Infinitum, Plazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy

2012       Galerie Capazza, Nancy, France

2012       Koichi Yanagi Oriental Fine Arts, New York

2012       Lacoste Gallery, Concord, Massachusets

2012       Mingei Arts Gallery, Paris, France

2012       Imura Art Gallery, Kyoto, Japan

2013       Tapie, Los guardo dell'artista, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice

2013       Leslie Kehoe Galleries, Victoria, Australia

2013       Axel Vervoordt Kanaal, Wijnegem, Belgium

2015       PROPORTIO, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy

 

Public Collections:

Asian Art Musuem of San Franscisco, San Franscisco, California
Ackland Art Museum and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Axel and May Vervoordt Foundation, Wijnegem, Belgium
The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York
The British Museum, London, United Kingdom
Chado Research Center Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Frankfurt Craft Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Freer Gallery of Art, National Museum of Asian Art,  Washington D.C

Hamilton Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia

ISE Cultural Foundation, Japan

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Miho Museum, Shiga, Japan
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Museum of Asian Art, Berlin, Germany
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas
Stockholm Museum of Art, Stockholm, Sweden

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

Works
  • Shiro Tsujimura, Untitled, 2018
    Shiro Tsujimura
    Untitled, 2018
    Ceramic and paint on canvas
  • Shiro Tsujimura, Untitled, 2018
    Shiro Tsujimura
    Untitled, 2018
    Ceramic and paint on canvas
  • Shiro Tsujimura, Shigaraki Jar
    Shiro Tsujimura
    Shigaraki Jar
    Ceramic
  • Shiro Tsujimura, 志野茶碗 Shino Tea Bowl, 2000
    Shiro Tsujimura
    志野茶碗 Shino Tea Bowl, 2000
    Ceramic
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