B. 1938. One of the most versatile and forward-thinking of Japan’s contemporary artists, Koie Ryōji is best known as a ceramist. His love of experimentation has led to his creation of “ceramic happenings,” with themes that are social and often political critiques of the horrors of the 20th century.
1938 Born in Tokoname, Japan
1962 Worked at Tokoname Ceramic Institute (until ‘66)
Began working at the Tokoname Ceramics Research Institute
1966 Became independent
1971 Built a kiln in India
1989 Became Assistant Professor at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts
1992 Became Professor at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts
Workshop and a lecture, University of Western Michigan, Kalamazoo, MI
1994 Workshop and a lecture at Scripps University in Claremont, CA
Founded his new studio in Ena-gun in Gifu Prefecture
1998 Workshop at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI
Awards:
1971 International Honorary Grand Prix, 3rd Vallauris Exhibition, France
1992 The Japan Ceramic Society Prize
2001 The Third Oribe Award
2005 The Chunichi Cultural Prize
2008 Japan Ceramic Society Gold Prize
Solo Exhibitions:
1984 Hong Kong Art Center
1991 Galerie Besson, London, United Kingdom (again in ’98)
1992 Takashimaya Store Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo
Keio Art Gallery, Tokyo
Mitsukoshi Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo
1993 Bijutsu Kokei
Gallery Mizunoya
Yamaki Gallery, Osaka
Hashimoto Bijutsu
1994 Ryōji Koie; from the earth, to the earth, Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu
Takashimaya Gallery, New York, NY
1997 Tsutsi Art Space in Seoul, Korea
Yamaki Gallery, Osaka
1998 Ikuko Gallery, Kurashiki, Okayama
1999 Gallery Kōgen, Nagoya
2005 Made in New Jersey, Yamaki Art Gallery, Osaka
2010 Work from St Ives, Galerie Besson, London, United Kingdom
2011 Gallery Kurimoto, Nagaoka, Niigata
Selected Public Collections:
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art
Idemitsu Museum
Kyung Sung University Museum, Pusan, Korea
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
Musée Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland
Museo internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy
Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu
Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museo de Art Moderno, Buenos Aires, Argentina
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
River Retreat Garaku, Toyama
Seoul Museum of Art, Korea
Tokoname City Hall, Aichi
Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art
Selected References:
Christine Shimizu, Tōji: Avant-Garde et Tradition de la Cèramique Japonaise, Editions de la réunion
des musées nationaux, Paris, 2006.
Earle, Joe, Contemporary Clay: Japanese ceramics for the new century, (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2005), pp. 100-101
“50 persons representing Japanese ceramic art,” Honoho Geijutsu No. 112, Winter 2012 (Tokyo:
Abe shuppan, 2012), pp. 19.
Gendai no Nihon tōgei: Tōkai (Tokyo: Tankōsha, 1989).
Gabriel Umstatter et. al. One thousand and one cups, contemporary ceramics, trip around the
world from India to Switzerland. (Geneva: La revue de la céramique et du verre, 2010) pp. 164-65 and 293.
Inui, Yoshiaki (Ed.) Gendai nihon no tōgei (Contemporary Japanese Ceramic Art): Vol 14 Tsuchi to hi no kisō (Fanstastic ideas in clay and fire), Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1984), pp. 104-111 and 152-153.
Japanese Ceramics Today: Masterworks from the Kikuchi Collection. Exhibition Catalogue.
Japan: Hakuhodo Incorporated, 1983.
Joe Earle Contemporary Clay: Japanese ceramics for the new century (Boston: Museum of Fine
Arts, 2005) pp. 100-101.
"Koie Ryoji: Earth <-> Human" vo. 1 (Gifu: Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu).
Koie Ryōji; Prior to Creation.” In Toward a 21st Century Renaissance in Ceramics, vol. 2 (Kyoto:
Dohōsha, 1997) pp. 69- 95.
Leaders of Contemporary Japanese Ceramics: Exploring Techniques and
Forms for the New Century. Exhibition Catalogue. (Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, 2001): 44-47.
Matsuyama, Tetsuo. “Shinjitsu ichiro no muteppō [Adventurous seeking the only truth].” Honoho
Geijutsu no. 70 (Tokyo: Abe shuppan, 2002) pp. 12-18.
“Naze tōgeika wa Oribe ni hikitsukerarerunoka? [Why ceramic artists are attracted by Oribe style?]”
Tōjirō 30 (Tokyo: Futabasha, 2002) pp. 31-34.
Toh; Koie Ryōji, vol. 86 (Kyoto: Kyoto Shoin 1993) pp. 1.
Rupert Faulkner. Japanese Studio Crafts: Tradition and the Avant-Garde (London: Laurence King,
1994) pp. 75-76.
Work from St Ive.s Exhibition Catalogue. Galerie Besson, London, 2010
Tōjiki no ippin (Ceramic Masterpieces). Tokyo: Abe Shuppan. 2015. p. 94. - Joan Mirviss