Takuro Kuwata
18 Jan - 25 Feb 2013
© Takuro Kuwata
Untitled (black and gold bowl), 2013
Porcelain
5.71 × 6.5 × 6.1 inches (15 × 17 × 15 cm)
Untitled (black and gold bowl), 2013
Porcelain
5.71 × 6.5 × 6.1 inches (15 × 17 × 15 cm)
TAKURO KUWATA
Flavor Of Nature
18 January – 25 February 2013
Salon 94 Bowery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in the United States of the Japanese artist, Takuro Kuwata.
Japanese ceramic techniques and aesthetic principles, both traditional and experimental, form the foundation for Takuro Kuwata’s otherworldly objects & vessels. His creations push the ancient medium to a riotous extreme, dancing between pop and Kogei (traditional craft).
Riffing on the classical tea vessel, Kuwata plays freely with an intense chromatic repertoire: blue, red and gold are a favored palette —perhaps quoting Yves Klein with whimsy and sophistication. The vivid pop colors paired with the metallic glazes provide a futuristic ("future-rustic?") update to the more austere wabi sabi aesthetic of traditional tea ceremony wares.
Kuwata also turns up the volume on Ishihaze or “stone explosion”. He adds stones to his clay mix, and when fired they become large metallic bursts of form and light. The shrunken, crackled glaze of the Kairagi technique has gone wild and the sculptures bring to mind exploded prehistoric eggs or plants dipped in petrol, gold and mercury. In other works, the cracked mercury surface breaks on top, and spikes of the metallic substrate pierce through the surface, to melt at the bottom. Like sugar on a confection, the thick glazes slide downward, a textural marvel and mystery.
Takuro Kuwata was born in 1981 in Hiroshima and lives in Toki City, Gifu. He graduated from Kyoto Saga Art College, Department of Fine Arts, Ceramics Arts in 2001, and started studying under a ceramic artist Susumu Zaima in 2002. His work has been shown extensively in Japan, including this year as part the exhibition “ Art Crafting Towards The Future” 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. He has had solo shows at Tomio Koyama, Kuroda Touen and participated in the group exhibition “Paul Clay” at Salon 94 in 2011.
Flavor Of Nature
18 January – 25 February 2013
Salon 94 Bowery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in the United States of the Japanese artist, Takuro Kuwata.
Japanese ceramic techniques and aesthetic principles, both traditional and experimental, form the foundation for Takuro Kuwata’s otherworldly objects & vessels. His creations push the ancient medium to a riotous extreme, dancing between pop and Kogei (traditional craft).
Riffing on the classical tea vessel, Kuwata plays freely with an intense chromatic repertoire: blue, red and gold are a favored palette —perhaps quoting Yves Klein with whimsy and sophistication. The vivid pop colors paired with the metallic glazes provide a futuristic ("future-rustic?") update to the more austere wabi sabi aesthetic of traditional tea ceremony wares.
Kuwata also turns up the volume on Ishihaze or “stone explosion”. He adds stones to his clay mix, and when fired they become large metallic bursts of form and light. The shrunken, crackled glaze of the Kairagi technique has gone wild and the sculptures bring to mind exploded prehistoric eggs or plants dipped in petrol, gold and mercury. In other works, the cracked mercury surface breaks on top, and spikes of the metallic substrate pierce through the surface, to melt at the bottom. Like sugar on a confection, the thick glazes slide downward, a textural marvel and mystery.
Takuro Kuwata was born in 1981 in Hiroshima and lives in Toki City, Gifu. He graduated from Kyoto Saga Art College, Department of Fine Arts, Ceramics Arts in 2001, and started studying under a ceramic artist Susumu Zaima in 2002. His work has been shown extensively in Japan, including this year as part the exhibition “ Art Crafting Towards The Future” 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. He has had solo shows at Tomio Koyama, Kuroda Touen and participated in the group exhibition “Paul Clay” at Salon 94 in 2011.