Exhibitions

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  A Lotus in Bloom

  The Beauty That Rises 10 June - 10 July 2020 Lotus: Beauty that Rises from the Mud Growing out of muddy water, the lotus produces flowers that represent purity and clarity, resulting its use as a symbol of Buddha’s wisdom. Although most often depicted with a Buddha sitting on a lotus Blossom, numerous cultures have used the flower to express... Read more

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  Ceramics on Lacquerware

  Keiji Ito and Tohru Matsuzaki 9 - 18 October 2020 Ippodo Gallery Tokyo is holding “Ceramics on the Lacquerware”, a collaborative exhibition featuring Keiji Ito, ceramic artist, and Tohru Matsuzaki, wooden lacquerware artist. 　 The two artists were first connected by Ippodo Gallery and Shigeru Uchida, renowned interior designer. Uchida once wrote “Keiji Ito’s artwork reassures me ‘the power of... Read more

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  Through Her Eyes

  In Memory of Laura de Santillana 21 October - 18 November 2020 An exhibition at Ippodo Gallery New York featuring artist Laura de Santillana's glass sculptures. Read more

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  Samsara 輪廻:

  Sculptures by Sho Kishino 10 September - 8 October 2020 The sound of footsteps, the rounded shoulders of a priest, the crowing of a gamecock, a mother’s gentle smile…these works possess not only sorrow, but also humor. Light and shadow coexist. Using wood from old temple or shrine buildings, pine, cedar driftwood, or stones he finds in the Kizugawa river... Read more

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  The Breath of Clay

  The Life of Koichiro Isezaki's Contemporary Bizen 12 March - 16 April 2020 Time 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 to a large mound of raw clay that marks Isezaki’s studio. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Yōzan, and... Read more

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  Conversations in Tea

  The Modern Ritual Through Ippodo Artists 6 - 24 February 2020 Read more

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  Scenes of Lightness

  Works by Yukiya Izumita 13 December 2019 - 24 January 2020 Izumita begins his day standing on a beach in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan. He travels back and forth along the path that leads to his studio, carrying salt-rich clay and wishing that ‘the clay could be lighter.’ Heavy and light, living and dying, he searches for a comfortable... Read more

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  Kukai : Sun and Moon

  Paintings by Ken Matsubara | Grand Opening Exhibition at 32 E 67th street gallery 10 October - 22 November 2019 Benevolent Painting The Kuroshio Current that flows along Japan’s south-eastern coastline creates powerful eddies around the sunken rocks while the raging waves thunder against the coast, raising fine spray. The sun rises in the sky, day by day, while at night the silver light of the moon shines through the... Read more

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  Ethereal Clay

  Ceramic works by Shin Fujihira 13 June - 21 July 2019 Read more

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  Laura de Santillana | Moon.

  From Kyoto to New York 19 April - 24 May 2019 In last autumn’s exhibition in Kyoto, Laura’s work was displayed together with kimonos and obi sashes in a traditional Japanese building, where it harmonized beautifully with the tatami matsand painted folding screens. Despite being glass, the light that passes through it is softened, as if it had passed through shōji... Read more

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  Burst of Nature

  Nihonga paintings by Daisuke Nakano 7 March - 6 April 2019 Burst of Nature Shoko Aono A nandina plant with red berries struggles under the weight of the falling snow while a marten holds its breath, its eyes gazing in our direction. The sweet perfume of a magnolia in full bloom almost wafts from the image as the carp stream against... Read more

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  Rinpa: Silver Waves

  Lacquer works by Tohru Matsuzaki 1 - 21 November 2018 Matsuzaki’s studio is set among the quiet mountains of Motegi town in Tochigi Prefecture, which is situated next to the town of Mashiko where the potter, Shoji Hamada, one of the leaders of the mingei (folk-art) movement of the 1920s and 1930s, based his activities. It was in Mashiko that... Read more

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  Moon : Tsuki wo koso …

  Kondaya Genbey x Laura de Santillana 6 - 8 October 2018 Moon : Tsuki wo koso… Genbey Yamaguchi, the tenth generation owner of the famous Kyoto obi specialist, Kondaya, is a rare breed of man. Kondaya has remained a leader in its field for 280 years, and Yamaguchi believes that challenging tradition is the best way to protect it. He therefore... Read more

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  Between Forms

  The Terracotta Cosmos by Mokichi Otsuka 6 - 28 June 2018 Endless Bonds Shoko Aono One day in late summer, I visited Mokichi Ōtsuka at his home in Yamanashi Prefecture. The evening cicadas called as a gentle breeze blew through the trees in the garden of his classical Japanese home, bringing with it a cool scent. The breeze blew past the... Read more

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  Oceans Formed

  Glass Works by Midori Tsukada 24 May - 21 June 2018 To the Forest, Wind and Ocean Depths Shoko Aono When I first saw works by Midori Tsukada, my immediate impressions were of the forest, the wind, and the sea. The refreshing scent of the new leaves experienced when walking through the forest. A form resembling the draping aurora becomes light... Read more

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  Tea Bowls: Art of Five Senses

  Contemporary Japanese Tea Ceremony Wares 15 March - 7 April 2018 Expressing Gratitude for Ippodo Gallery’s First 10 Years Shoko Aono “It (Teaism) insulates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we... Read more

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  Ripples & Blooms

  Metal Works by Shota Suzuki 7 - 29 December 2017 Still Life: Creating a Moment for Eternity Shoko Aono When I was young, I ran through the fields, picking the wildflowers that grew close to the ground. I would return home, hands full of flowers, only for the buds to soon wilt away. But the flowers that Suzuki creates capture... Read more

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  The Essence of Imperfection

  Wabi Sabi at Ippodo Gallery 26 October - 22 November 2017 Wabi Sabi Shoko Aono The call of the evening cicada that signals the approach of autumn, a lonely plain of eulalia grass, a moss-covered rock, a simple teahouse… The Japanese philosophy of wabi and sabi derives from a close affinity with nature and an abiding love for the changes created... Read more

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  Earth From Sky

  Stoneware Works By Mitsukuni Misaki 7 - 29 September 2017 Beginning to Breathe Shoko Aono Blue oceans, endless skies, billowing clouds — a boundless world with a horizon separating earth from sky. Misaki’s works create an impression of limitless space and time, like an ever-expanding universe. Their slightly distorted forms are evocative of naturally sprouting seeds or fruit. Perhaps they... Read more

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  Bamboo Exposed

  Mastery in Modernity of Hafu Matsumoto 8 June - 30 July 2017 Bamboo Exposed Shoko Aono Bamboo has played an important role in Japanese culture since earliest times. Its elegant form, its straight, hollow, green stems reaching up into the skies, symbolize purity and good fortune. In ‘Kaguyahime (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter)’, which is said to be the world’s oldest... Read more

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  Surface Folds

  Yukiya Izumita Clay Wares 9 March - 7 April 2017 Unforseen Lines Shoko Aono Yukiya Izumita’s studio is situated in Noda Village, on the border between Iwate and Aomori prefectures, in Japan’s northernmost ceramic production area.　Facing the Pacific Ocean, the Tohoku region’s distinctive climate is forged by strong winds and rough seas. Izumita’s native landscape lies amidst deserted coastlines, cracked... Read more

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  Lacquer Forms : Modern Negoro

  Lacquer Works by Jihei Murase 13 October - 3 November 2016 The lacquerwork of Jihei Murase embodies the essence of formative art. It represents not merely the ‘beauty of functionality’ that settles comfortably into the hand, but is simultaneously a refined sculpture in its own right. Jihei is the third generation of the Murase family to adopt the name, following his... Read more

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  Beauty of Life

  The Debut Exhibition of Ceramic Works by Yuki Hayama in collaboration with Joseph Carini Carpets 9 - 29 September 2016 Yuki Hayama— A Ceramic Paradise Shoko Aono Yuki Hayama is an exceptional artist whose ceramics resemble gleaming, finely polished gemstones. Those who see these works of ceramic art are drawn into an uncanny world, unable to discern the era or the land in which they were produced but enchanted by... Read more

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  Distillation

  Paintings by Ken Matsubara 12 May - 10 June 2016 “When the ability to express emotion was acquired, that is when man became human. I would like to get back to this starting point. If my paintings strike a sympathetic chord with, and awaken nostalgia in the back of a viewer’s mind, it will be my pleasure as... Read more

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  Synthesis

  Japanese Fusuma Photography by Kenji Wakasugi 10 March - 22 April 2016 Wakasugi combines views of nature he has photographed while traveling the remote regions of the world with fusuma, decorated sliding doors. These particular fusuma have been taken from a Japanese room with over four hundred years of history, and his photographs have been artfully inserted into them. This represents a... Read more

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  Japanese Kogei

  by Five Ippodo Artists 21 October - 28 November 2015 Kôgei art springs from detailed technique and genuine internal soul. In honor of our artists’ participation in the Japanese Kôgei Future Forward exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design, Ippodo will be presenting the newest works by our five exhibiting artists: Shinya Yamamura, Toshio Ohi, Kohei Nakamura, Harumi Noguchi,... Read more

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  Art of Lines | " Human, and We Live "

  Calligraphy by Suikei Saito 12 September - 3 October 2015 'My struggle has started when I was fascinated and astonished by the world of calligraphy, which is the 'art of lines', and its depth, and when I made up my mind to master it. “ Suikei Saito Suikei Saito first held a writing brush when she was twelve. After... Read more

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  Spiral

  Ceramic works By Ken Akaji 18 June - 3 July 2015 Spiral The shape of the Milky Way, of whirlwinds and whirlpools, snails and ivy tendrils—it is the form of the fundamental and mathematical energy of nature, and the pattern we, mankind, have used as a symbol of death and rebirth. Ken Akaji was born in the city of... Read more

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  Hime | The Princess of Japan

  Was I born to Play? Was I born to Frolic? (“Ryōjin Hishō” (1179) ) 12 - 30 March 2015 Was I born to Play? Was I born to Frolic? (“Ryōjin Hishō” 1179) Shoko Aono The samurai lived for victory in the battles that swept the country, creating the history of Japan in the process, but they could not have done so without the support of the brave yet elegant... Read more

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  OKAMI | Wolf & The Elemental Spirits of Nature

  Ceramic sculpture by Harumi Noguchi 8 - 27 December 2014 “There was a time when I was small that I was looked after by a cross between a Japanese wolf and a dog. Like foxes and deer, wolves are said to be messengers of the gods, while simultaneously they are revered as gods in their own right. It can be... Read more

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  Sculpting ‘Emptiness’

  Wood sculptures by Sho Kishino 12 September - 3 October 2013 An Artist Who Sculpts ‘Emptiness’ Shoko Aono Shō Kishino’s sculptures depict the ‘emptiness’ that envelops them. Although they may take the form of a human figure, an animal or a priest, by paring away all superfluous material, he manages to accentuate their inner spirit. He works in wood—old wood from... Read more