On Friday, October 6th,
Artful Ambience: Contemporary Sake Vessels with Character opens at Schaller Gallery, in St. Joseph, Michigan. This is an exhibition I curated and will include thirty four artists from eight countries. Here is a list of the participants:
USA
Joe Bruhin
Peter Callas
Robert Fornell
Ron Hand
Mitch Iburg
Lucien Koonce
Dick Lehman
Joe McCaffrey
Kristin Muller
Tim Rowan
Akira Satake
Jeff Shapiro
Mike Weber
New Zealand
Elena Renker
Aaron Scythe
Denmark
Anne Mette Hjortshoj
UK
Eddie Curtis
Margaret Curtis
Lisa Hammond
Phil Rogers
Spain
Encarna Soler Peris
Japan
John Dix
Tomoo Hamada
Asato Ikeda
Osamu Inayoshi
Shinsuke Iwami
Mami Kato
Ken Matsuzaki
Hiromi Matzukawa
Shozo Michikawa
Yoca Muta
Higashida Shigemasa
Sweden
David Louveau
Korea
Lee Kanghyo
These are the eight wood fired kurinuki sake vessels I will have in this exhibition, each with its own signed wooden box:
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| Guinomi |
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| Guinomi |
 |
| Guinomi |
 |
| Guinomi |
 |
| Guinomi |
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| Tokkuri |
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| Tokkuri |
 |
| Tokkuri |
This is the curatorial statement I wrote for the exhibition:
Sake, an alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice, has
been one of Japan’s most ceremonious beverages since the 1300’s. Today, sake
consumption is enjoying a global expansion, with breweries opening throughout North
and South America, China, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Clay as a material for
making utilitarian objects has been in existence since around 14,000 BC,
beginning in East Asia, which includes China and Japan. The Japanese culture surrounding
sake consumption developed vessels specifically for the pouring and drinking of
this beverage.
The terms
guinomi (cups)
and
tokkuri (flasks) are most
synonymous with shuki (sake ware) and the drinking of sake. The viewer, when
looking at all the various styles of work, may ask, “What’s the criteria for a
good sake vessel”? First and foremost, the bulk of an answer centers on how
drawn one is to the aesthetics of a particular piece. Of course, one can’t
escape competency by the maker regarding the weight, its balance when held and,
in a cup, how it feels against the lips. None-the-less, the character of a
vessel makes the overall experience unique and special, providing an artful
ambience to any setting. Robert Yellin, considered to be one of the most
noteworthy authorities on Japanese ceramic sake
vessels,
states: “Some things in life have a natural charm, the ability to draw you in
and absorb your attention to the exclusion of all else, if even for only a few
moments. The combination of good sake and . . . yakimono (pottery) is one such
simple joy. Although there is much more to yakimono than only tokkuri (flasks)
and guinomi (cups), the overlap of
this
special niche of the pottery world with the world of sake buzzes with a magic
all its own.”
This exhibition seeks to expose the viewer to a smattering
of the ceramic sake vessels being made by contemporary artists throughout the
world. While demonstrating the aesthetic diversity among sake ware being made today,
the intent is showcasing the unity brought forth by a single passion: the love
of making shuki. Kanpai!
- Lucien Koonce
