contemporary art from Japan
Shihoko Fukumoto Okusozakkuri, 2019 Indigo-dyed hemp, H 175 x W 68 cm
Japanese Recollections
3 - 14 December 2024
On view: Erskine, Hall & Coe
15 Royal Arcade
28 Old Bond Street London, W1S 4SP
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm
Artists:
Shihoko Fukumoto
Tomonari Hashimoto
Koji Hatakeyama
Kenji Io
Koichi Io
Ryūichi Kakurezaki
Toru Kaneko
Tsubusa Kato
Eiko Kishi
Takahiro Kondo
Hidetoshi Kouchi
Ritsue Mishima
Yukito Nishinaka
Takayuki Sakiyama
Fumie Sasai
Naoko Serino
Mariko Sumioka
Chikuunsai IV Tanabe
Shinya Yamamura
Katie Jones contemporary art from Japan
info@katiejonesjapan.com www.katiejonesjapan.com
Instagram @katiejones_japangallery
Koji Hatakeyama
Bronze lidded boxes, 2024
Patinated cast bronze, gold leaf, H 18.5 cm & H 26 cm
Takayuki Sakiyama
Large Chōtō Sculpture, 2024
Stoneware, H 44 x W 50 x D 50 cm
stoneware, H 38 x W 90 x D 9 cm
Eiko Kishi
Saiseki Zogan Noh Kata, 2003
Shigaraki
I was very touched when Katie asked me if I could write a short introduction to this exhibition of works by most, although inevitably not all, of the contemporary Japanese craftspeople she has championed over the last 30 years.
Katie’s interest in Japan began when she worked for Henry WoodsWilson at his emporium on Pimlico Road from 1973 to 1985. She subsequently set up her own business and from 1996 to 2005 ran a gallery on Westbourne Grove. She initially dealt in Japanese antiques, but during the regular trips she made to Japan, at least twice and more usually three times a year, she became increasingly attracted to contemporary Japanese crafts.
I didn’t know this until Katie told me recently, but the exhibition Japanese Studio Craft: Tradition and the Avant-Garde I curated at the V&A in 1995 was for her an epiphany that made her decide to focus exclusively on contemporary Japanese crafts. With great energy, a seasoned and seeing eye, and a personability to which everyone she meets in Japan - and indeed elsewhere - instinctively warms, she has built up an impressive network of contacts including the many makers listed on her website.
Starting in 2004 with a large double-walled bowl of hammered and tinned copper by Kaneko Tōru, the V&A has acquired from Katie over 25 very fine examples of ceramics, glass, lacquerware, metalwork and textiles. These include more than one gift another work she patiently held in reserve for the V&A for several years, and among more recent acquisitions a substantial number of pieces bought with funds generously provided by the collector and philanthropist Christopher Gorman-Evans, with whom it was thanks to Katie that my former Japanologist colleagues at the V&A and I became acquainted.
Katie is the only non-Japanese dealer of Japanese art I know to have specialised exclusively in contemporary Japanese crafts. She is a rare person who has enriched not just my own but the lives of the many collectors and others who have been fortunate enough to know her.
When I asked her if this exhibition was intended as a kind of swansong, she replied that it was more a marker of standing back and concentrating on curating some small individual shows, selling online, and finding suitable galleries to take over her younger artists.
This is Katie through and through, especially its expression of concern for her younger artists. Down to earth and someone whose passion is both a way of life and a way of giving, I wish her the fruitful and relaxed semi-retirement she unquestionably deserves.
Rupert Faulkner Honorary Senior Research Fellow, V&A
November
2024
Takahiro Kondo Zero, 2006
Porcelain, cast glass, H 52.5 x W 29 x D 15 cm
Tsubusa Kato
Large Porcelain Bowl, 2007
Celadon-glazed porcelain, H 15 x W 41 x D 41 cm
Ritsue Mishima
Titano, 2017
Blown glass, H 39 x W 33.5 x D 33.5 cm
Hidetoshi Kouchi
Large Shino ware box & cover, 2004
Glazed stoneware, H 22 x W 37 x D 24 cm
14.5 x D 14.5 cm
Ryūichi Kakurezaki
White clay vessel, Una Mistura, 2020
Bizen ware ceramic, H 46 x W
Koichi Io Iron Sphere, 2023
Hammer raised, patinated iron, H 22.5 x W 24.5 cm
Fumie Sasai Morning Moon, 2021
Japanese lacquer (Urushi), hemp cloth, H 20.5 x W 24 x D 8.5 cm
Kenji Io ‘Breeze’ sculptures, 2010
Forged iron, gold & silver leaf inlays, H 16.4 cm & H 24 cm
Chikuunsai IV Tanabe
Disappear VI, 2017
Madake bamboo, H 32.5 x W 47 x D 27 cm
Abstract sculpture, 2005
Jute, H 22 x W 25 cm
Naoko Serino
Toru Kaneko
Tall blue copper vase with small roundels, 2021
Tin plated copper, H 49.5 x W 19.7 x D 12.5 cm
Untitled, 2022
oxide metal, glaze, H 33 x W 29.5 cm
Tomonari Hashimoto
Stoneware,
Yukito Nishinaka Yobitsugi ‘Daichi’ Earth, 2019
Glass, gold leaf, silver leaf, H 30.5 x W 29 x D 22 cm
Shinya Yamamura
Red box with lid, 2007
Japanese lacquer (Urushi), H 2.5 x W 8.5 cm
Toru Kaneko Mariko Sumioka Frame necklace, 2022 Silver, Length 80 cm
First, I want to thank Rupert for his kind words which I would find very difficult to say about myself, thank you Rupert.
When I first arrived in Japan in my thirties, I realised that I wanted to work in this fascinating culture and I somehow understood that I would be able to find my own way within it, even though I was outside of it. Of course, I had my challenges as a young woman in an entirely different culture. But I persevered because of my strong attraction to the refined and exquisite workmanship achieved by these craftsmen and I felt it was not adequately presented outside of Japan. My wonderful experience in the country and my exposure to its exceptional culture and art opened my mind to an aesthetic that came to define my gallery.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my generous assistants who have helped me along the way and without whom I could not have managed; particularly, Shuntaro, Lesley, Sophie, Chantal and Sophia. I also want to thank my fantastic Japanese friend Tomoko for all her help while travelling in Japan - planning trips, visiting artists, for her cultural understanding and for generally smoothing the way for the many years we travelled together.
Of course, thanks are also due to my marvellous, talented artists who put their faith in me and trusted me to represent them here, and to my wonderful clients who have been so encouraging and supportive of me over the years!
Finally, thank you Matthew for allowing me to exhibit once again in your beautiful gallery.
Katie Jones
November 2024
Photography by Stuart Burford
Design by Sophia Kennedy-Wilson
Printing by Park Communications Copyright Katie Jones
