ADAA: The Art Show 2023 | Taizo Kuroda: White Porcelain

November 02, 2023 - November 05, 2023

Yoshii Gallery is pleased to exhibit a solo presentation of Taizo Kuroda: White Porcelain at The Art Show 2023.

Taizo Kuroda is widely recognized as one of the most important artists in Japanese contemporary ceramics.  Having trained under master ceramicists, he developed his signature style of white porcelain in 1991 and embarked on a relentless pursuit of this unique means of expression.  At his wheel, he focused on a few specific forms, constantly returning to the same shape.

With these pure and elegant forms, Kuroda strived to evoke an infinite world beyond the realm of earthly limitations.  He considered his works to be a physical manifestation of his thoughts; a way to give form to the formless ideas that populate his consciousness.  Though seemingly similar, each piece is an irreplicable product of a specific time, place, and mindset combined with the unique motions of the artist’s hands, which he described as “an abstract drawing in the air.”  He hoped to create the place “between ‘yes’ and ‘no’,” and “between existing and non-existing.”  With each work, the shape that Kuroda imbued in his vessels also shapes the space within the vessel.

Kuroda’s life and practice were guided by simplicity and strength.  In the spirit of the works displayed, the booth is designed as a peaceful and deliberate space – a meditative environment away from the sensory overload of modern life.

Taizo Kuroda (1946 – 2021) was born in Japan in 1946. He began his study of ceramics in Canada in the 1960s and returned to Japan permanently in 1981. In 1992, he presented his white porcelain works to the public for the first time.  Kuroda spent his later years settled in a simple home studio that he built for himself in Futo, on the Izu Peninsula of Japan.  Here, he drew satisfaction from his tranquil surroundings and his work at the wheel.  Kuroda’s artworks are included in the collections of the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, The Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art, as well as private collections around the world.