Their work expands on an earlier generation of artists who moved away from functional works like vases and tea ware that for centuries had formed the mainstay of Japanese ceramic production. Unlike previous generations of potters who learned in the studios of master craftsmen, these artists studied in universities and in many cases came to ceramics after exploring other fields. They are masters of technique, material, and concept. Their practices are informed by cosmopolitan sources, even when they are part of a longstanding family lineage or regional tradition.

Drawn together by collectors with an eye for the abstract, minimalist, and expressionistic contemporary art, the objects in The Sculptural Turn tell a story of the evolving character of clay in Japan.

Today, clay artists in Japan continue to create work in conversation with contemporary art movements while simultaneously drawing inspiration from rich ceramic traditions and the senior artists who uphold these traditions, officially designated as Living National Treasures.

The diverse artists featured in this exhibition include masters as well as rising young stars. They include some of Japan’s leading female potters—Fujikasa Satoko, Fujino Sachiko, Futamura Yoshimi, Hattori Makiko, Katsumata Chieko, Kishi Eiko, Koike Shoko, Ogawa Machiko, and Sakurai Yasuko—who comprise the first generation of women to distinguish themselves in a traditionally male field. All bring their unique skills and visions to their work, which has been collected by Dr. Phyllis A. Kempner and Dr. David D. Stein of San Francisco.

In Japan, ceramics are embedded with many layers of cultural meaning. Their history touches on ritual, function, and aesthetics as well as stories of cultural interaction, trade, and technical mastery. In the early twentieth century, the Mingei movement celebrated the rustic simplicity of folk arts, and its potters created functional ceramics that reflected regional characteristics. In the postwar period, some Japanese ceramicists based in and around Kyoto formed avant-garde associations in opposition to tradition, seeking instead to push clay art toward sculptural and abstract forms.

Shikokai, founded in 1947, and Sodeisha, founded in 1948, were two pioneering groups of ceramic artists who presented their work as fine art rather than craft and were inspired by international Modern artists such as Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Paul Klee (1879-1940), Joan Miro (1893-1983), and Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988). The artists in The Sculptural Turn follow the work of these experimental pioneers, while other contemporary Japanese ceramic artists continue to follow more conventional forms and practices.