Keiji Ito and Tohru Matsuzaki two-person exhibition “Ceramics ON THE Urushi”
October 9th - October 18th, 2020
The two met a dozen years ago at a group exhibition organized by interior designer Shigeru Uchida.
This will be a collaboration at Ginza Ippodo in 2020.
Exhibition view
Collaboration with different materials, Matsuzaki's simple yet bold lacquer
I'm excited to see how my sculptures will react.
Furthermore, the drawings express various forms of the "tower."
Keiji Ito
It must have been more than ten years ago when I first met Mr. Ito at an exhibition by interior designer Shigeru Uchida.
The objects and vessels I saw at that time looked so natural that I felt a mysterious power that made them seem to blend into the space.
His pottery is the polar opposite of my wooden creations, and in fact our work feels right together.
I would like to thank Ippodo for planning this two-person exhibition with Ito.
Tohru Matsuzaki
Keiji Ito's work is quiet. Just like his life, it is profound, deep and beautiful.
For this two-person exhibition with lacquer artist Matsuzaki Tohru, Ito painted a tower, creating a black ceramic tower that is much simpler than the Gorin no Pagoda.
His series of objects, including the Hiroshima series, Buddha's Footprint, Mask, and Prayer, feel like a homage to human sin.
The fact that the solitary Ito has decided to hold a joint exhibition with the compassionate Matsuzaki suggests that he may finally be beginning to forgive sinful people.
On the other hand, Matsuzaki Tohru's pottery is reminiscent of both Negoro and the Joseon Dynasty, and gives off a sense of nostalgia and warmth, as if it were found in the corner of an old storehouse.
The late interior designer Shigeru Uchida once praised Matsuzaki Tohru's lacquerware as "Jomon red. The red of the sun."
In later years, he came to regard him as one of his favorite artists and took him to various exhibitions both in Japan and abroad.
One of these was in 2008, when Ippodo New York opened, and the two first met at the "Shigeru Uchida and Friends Exhibition." That encounter led to this project. It has been 12 years since then.
This time, Ginza Ippodo will be holding a two-person exhibition by Keiji Ito and Tohru Matsuzaki entitled "Ceramics on the Lacquer."
I felt as if Shigeru Uchida was watching from heaven, and it made me happy.
Keiji Ito
Keiji Ito
Biography
Born in 1935. Graduated from Musashino Art School.
1978 World Crafts Conference Japan Crafts Competition Winner
1979 '79 Japan Craft Exhibition Award
1981: Awarded the 39th Faenzia International Ceramic Exhibition (Italy)
1983 Brownstein Gallery (San Francisco, USA)
1995 Hetjens Museum (Düsseldorf, Germany)
Bowing Gallery (Hanover, Germany)
Museum of Decorative Arts, Lausanne (Switzerland)
2000 International Academy of Ceramic Art (IAC) Exhibition (Hannover, Germany)
"Looking at Pottery" National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (Tokyo)
2002 Artsites Gallery (Greenport, USA)
2008 "Chanoyu" Ippdo Gallery NY (New York, USA)
Collection
Faenzia International Ceramic Exhibition (1981, Italy), Everson Museum of Art (1981, New York, USA), Gifu Prefectural Museum of Art (1988), Ariana Museum of Art (2000, Geneva, Switzerland), The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (2000)
Tohru Matsuzaki
Tohru Matsuzaki
Biography
Born in Umegaoka, Tokyo in 1944
1967 Graduated from Tamagawa University, Faculty of Letters
1974: Received instruction from ceramic artist Tatsuzo Shimaoka
1982: First time selected for the Kokugakai exhibition
1983: Won the Kokugakai Newcomer Award and held his first solo exhibition at Seibu Department Store Ikebukuro Main Branch.
1984: Became a member of the Kokugakai and held a solo exhibition at the Nagoya Meitetsu Department Store.
1987: Received the Kokugakai Fellow Works Award
1988: Recommended as a member of the Kokugakai. Moved his workplace to Mogi-machi, Tochigi Prefecture.
1992 Solo exhibition at Hankyu Department Store Umeda branch. Since then, held annually as a brother exhibition at Hankyu Department Store Yurakucho.
1995 Exhibited at the "Contemporary Japanese Craft & Jewelry Exhibition" (Los Angeles)
2001: Designed Daniel Ost's flower vases at the Daniel Ost Flower Festival in Tokyo
2002 Participated in the Shigeru Uchida Exhibition at the Milan Salone 2002 (Italy)
2003: Exhibited at the "Oribe" Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
2008 CHANO-YU Shigeru Uchida & 7artists (Ippodo New York)
2009 Solo exhibition at Ippodo New York (2012, 2016)
In addition, he holds solo exhibitions and sibling exhibitions in various locations every year.