Masatoshi Shimizu: Ceramics — Seven Colors of the Snake Kiln

This year, we are once again delighted to present a solo exhibition by Masatoshi Shimizu.

Every year, Shimizu approaches his exhibition with a clear challenge in mind. It is always exciting. And this year, once again, he has delivered.

One of the great attractions of Shimizu’s work is the yōhen—the unpredictable transformations created by the firing—in his jagama, or “snake kiln,” a low, single-chambered wood-fired kiln. This year, remarkably, he has developed these effects in seven distinct variations.

Alongside his popular unglazed, high-fired ware and copper-red shinsha pieces, the exhibition will feature works with a rice-straw ash glaze reminiscent of Madara Karatsu, as well as a new blue series. His white works have also taken on a different character through new techniques combining hikidashi—removing pieces from the kiln while still extremely hot—with carbonization firing.

We call the exhibition “Seven Colors,” but there are actually a few more variations, including works using aka-dobe, or red slip. His red-slip pieces have become even more powerful and expressive this year.

And there is one more!

For another project, we had asked Shimizu to make some painted pieces, and there was something wonderfully mysterious and slightly uncanny about his painting that caught our attention. So this time, we asked him to paint yōkai—supernatural beings from Japanese folklore.

It is easy enough to be the one asking; being the one who actually has to paint them is another matter entirely. But Shimizu is such a sincere and kind-hearted man that we shamelessly took advantage of his good nature and pushed him into doing it. And we are very glad we did.

We hope you will come and discover this new development in Masatoshi Shimizu’s work.