BIZEN REVISITED

B I Z E N R E V I S I T E D

ISEZAKI JUN KAKUREZAKI RYUICHI ISEZAKI KOICHIRO

JEFF SHAPIRO TIM ROWAN

Photography credits: Luiz Bicalho and Japanese Artists

Catalogue Design: Sophia Marsh

B I Z E N R E V I S I T E D

ISEZAKI JUN KAKUREZAKI RYUICHI ISEZAKI KOICHIRO JEFF SHAPIRO

TIM ROWAN

Lucy Lacoste Gallery 25 Main Street, Concord, MA 01742 978-369-0278 info@lucylacoste.com

Five ceramic artists with ties to Bizen are showing at Lucy Lacoste Gallery in Bizen Revisited, November 5 December 3 in Concord, MA. This is a lineage exhibition bringing together for a second time the internationally renowned artists of Generational Crossroads Bizen Evolution, a historic exhibition which took place 16 years earlier at the same location. The artists three Japanese and two American are Isezaki Jun, Living National Treasure of Bizen; Kakurezaki Ryuichi, once an apprentice to Isezaki Jun and now a star of the Japanese art scene; Jeff Shapiro, mentored by Isezaki Jun and colleague of Kakurezaki; Tim Rowan, who apprenticed with Kakurezaki; and Isezaki Koichiro, Jun’s son who apprenticed with Jeff Shapiro.

Each artist has maintained a vibrant approach to their work that can be seen in the evolution of this important exhibition at Lucy Lacoste Gallery.

While Generational Crosssroads highlighted the teacher/apprentice relationship as a way of teaching art, Bizen Revisited shows the artists as equals thriving and continuing to evolve artistically. Each was asked to present 5 pieces that represent their newest works, as well as a selection of teabowls and sake cups.

This historic exhibition is marked by a commemorative sake set with one cup by each of the five artists, in a custom designed box that is signed and stamped by the artists.

Bizen, a province in Japan, is known for a style of pottery making going back thousands of years in which the elements of clay and fire are foremost, and pots are fired unadorned in a wood-burning kiln.

According to Isezaki Jun, the current Living National Treasure of Bizen, “Pottery begins with clay. This is the essential and most basic element of the ceramic production. To this the artist brings wisdom, experience and technique, and then it is given to the element of fire to complete the process. I believe that as a ceramic artist it is most important to become free. The work must express and take the form of the spirit and soul of the creator.”

Education has always been a mission of Bizen, as it has been for Lucy Lacoste Gallery. We are pleased to present to the public this international exhibition showing the evolution of these five worldclass artists springing from the long, expansive history of Bizen, and beyond.

To honor Bizen Revisited, there will be a panel discussion with Koichiro Isezaki, Jeff Shapiro and Tim Rowan at the Umbrella Center for the Arts in Concord, MA. The panel will be moderated by the noted Judith S. Schwartz, PhD, NYU Professor Emeritus. Author of Confrontational Ceramics. Curator of national and international touring exhibitions. Juror to national and international exhibitions. Trustee, Howard Kottler Trust, former Vice President, International Academy of Ceramics, Honorary member of NCECA and teaching excellence awardee.

ISEZAKI JUN

LIVING NATIONAL TREASURE OF BIZEN

Jun Isezaki

FU-SETSU, 2022

13.39h x 8.27w x 4.92d in

Black Rectangular Vase, 2022 10.71h x 4.88w x 4.02d in

Seed, 2022 10.24h x 5.04w x 5.04d in

Untitled, 2022 3.94h x 14.25w x 5.98d in

KAKUREZAKI RYUICHI

Black Hiruko, 2022

16.54h x 8.27w x 6.69d in

Eared Flower vase, Bizen Ware, 2019 13.54h x 7.36w x 6.38d in

Black Dance, 2019 10.71h x 8.43w x 8.43d in

Jinmu, 2019 15.75h x 14.20w x 12d in

Flower vase, Bizen Ware, Una Mistura, 2022 17.91h x 7.09w x 6.30d in

ISEZAKI KOICHIRO

Yo, 2022 12.99h x 11.42w x 13.98d in

Jar, 2022 8.11h x 10.51w x 10.51d in

Vase, 2022

11.81h x 6.18w x 5.12d in

JEFF SHAPIRO

Cone, Abstract, 2022 13h x 10.50w in

Ice Flow Series, 2022 11.50h x 4w in

Ice Flow Series, 2022

9.50h x 15w x 5d in

Black Sculpture with Fluting, 2022 24h x 6w in

Oribe Reborn Sculpture, 2022 22.50h x 7w in

TIM ROWAN

Vessel, 2022 9 50h x 9w in

Isezaki Jun letteing the top of each of the wooden boxes which are then signed by the five artists

Isezaki Jun Black Teabowl, 2022 3.94h x 4.84w x 4.84d in

ISEZAKI JUN

Isezaki Jun was born in 1936 in Okayama Prefecture, Japan and graduated from Okayama University. With his brother, Mitsuru and father Yozan, one of the great 20th century sculptor potters, he reconstructed and fired an ancient anagama kiln. After traveling world wide and winning many awards, Isezaki Jun became the fifth Living National Treasure of Bizen in 2004 and is considered one of the foremost masters of the Bizen style. While using the traditional Bizen clay and incorporating the Bizen firing techniques, his vessels demonstrate unique, one of a kind details of form and surface and are often hand constructed. During his career, he has been most welcoming to apprentices, both men and women, from Japan and beyond. The works of Isezaki Jun can be found in the British Museum London, UK; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA; the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan; among select other public and private collections.

According to Isezaki Jun, the true meaning of tradition is continued renewal “creating something new that represents the present and tradition in equal measure.”

KAKUREZAKI RYUICHI

Kakurezaki Ryuichi, born in 1950 in Fukue, Nagasaki, is highly celebrated in Japan and an artist whose exhibitions sell out within hours. Growing up in Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu from a non pottery making family gives him a certain freedom as the outsider, a mantel he wears well. After graduating from Osaka University of Arts Design department he initially worked for a design company However, when he encountered Bizen pottery he decided to shift his direction. After a long apprenticeship with Isezaki Jun, Kakureazaki went on to become one of the most experimental potters in Japan, inspiring other potters and establishing a standard of creativity all his own. He now lives in Imbe, Bizen where he built his first kiln in 1984.

He has been awarded numerous prizes and his work has been exhibited at diverse galleries and museums both in Japan and overseas Recently he was made Prefectural Cultural Treasure, a step before Living National Treasure.

Oribe Glazed Sake Cup, Una Mistura

“Japanese pottery is handed down from generation to generation with a constant awareness of contemporariness based upon tradition. Perhaps in America they are separate but in the Japanese way, progressive thought and tradition coexist as the front and back of the same page.”

ISEZAKI KOICHIRO

“Fire often oozes out from the back and forth between materials and processes and in that interaction, you discover yourself and find your own direction. These days, I feel that the whole process is like a ‘living creature’. Put yourself in the flow, ride the flow, sometimes be swept away and sometimes resist. Don’t lose sight of your true purpose.”

Isezaki Koichiro b 1974, is represented by Lucy Lacoste Gallery and has shown here many times. He went to art school at Tokyo Sculptural University where he made wood sculpture One day, thinking about how material effects the work and the artist’s mind, he asked “what about clay” Koichiro made a conscious decision to become a ceramic artist, realizing he could do everything he wanted with clay. He then apprenticed with the American potter Jeff Shapiro who had been mentored by his father, Isezaki Jun. As a result, his work has a certain freedom and creativity.

While his work includes respect for the natural clays from the area and utilizes the traditional firing techniques, it leaps to the contemporary Always he seeks personal expression, an impetus made stronger, by awareness of history.

Black Sake Cup

JEFF SHAPIRO

“I ‘look’ with the intent of perceiving the artistic elements of what I am viewing rather than the intellectual dissection of information. To that end, I want to be moved and inspired, and respond to the experiences I encounter. Though I am predominantly working in the wood fire genre at present, I choose to utilize whatever technique, tool or process necessary to best resolve the finished work.”

Jeff Shapiro was born in the Bronx, NY in 1949. He presently works and lives in upstate NY with his wife Hinako. He studied ceramic arts while living in Japan for nine years from 1973 1981. His work has been exhibited internationally in: Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, England, and Japan and can be found in numerous museum collections including: The Carlo Zauli Museum, Faenza, Italy; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA; The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; The Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY; The Fuller Museum, Brockton, MA. He has given workshops and seminars in many countries around the world and has built two wood fire kilns in Italy In addition, he is known for the in depth tours he leads to artist studios in Japan. Jeff has been part of Lucy Lacoste's roster for many years and instrumental to our connections to Japan.

TIM ROWAN

“Ideas about originality or making something new are not what concern me, but rather making work that is representative of myself and my personal experience. The deeper I search in trying to come to some understanding of this existence and my own journey the more what I make takes on its own life. I see my current work as an extension of what I had been making 16 years ago. It's an exploration of clay, form, and fire where the artificial and the natural intersect.”

Tim Rowan was born in 1967 in New York City and grew up in Connecticut along the shore of Long Island Sound. His art education began during college, receiving a BFA from The State University of New York at New Paltz before journeying to Japan for 2 years to apprentice with Kakurezaki Ryuichi. Upon his return he worked briefly in studios in Massachusetts and New York before receiving his MFA from the Pennsylvania State University. Tim established his kiln and studio deep in the woods of the Hudson Valley in 2000, where he lives with his wife and son. His works are seen internationally in solo and group exhibitions and in museum collections, including the Currier Art Museum in Manchester, NH, and the Fuller Craft Museum, in Brockton, MA. He has been represented by Lucy Lacoste since our early days

Sake and Tea Cups

Lucy Lacoste notes on this exhibitionGenerational Crossroads, was a seminal exhibition for Lacoste Gallery, perhaps the greatest. I had to paint my gallery black; they were doing a movie on Jun, so a film crew came from Japan; and it became the gateway to Japan and showing all the great artists whom we met through Jeff Shapiro. Bizen Revisited honors that exhibition and the continued evolution of the artists involved as well as our friendship with them. I am forever grateful.

GENERATIONAL CROSSROADS: Bizen Evolution, 2006