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194:(lit. 'kiln-fired object'). While this was a form debuted by Kazuo Yagi and the other members of Sōdeisha, including Yagi, the latter expressed that he was never particularly convinced by the term, feeling that there was a lot of confusion surrounding its meaning for both critics and the casual viewer, and that a lot of meaning became lost in its translation, resulting in a conception of Sōdeisha pottery that was more generalized than the sensibilities with which the artists sought to imbue their work. As a result, Suzuki sought to find a different term to apply to his later work.
119:, founded Sodeisha, an avant-garde artist movement that sought to push back against the traditional aesthetics of Japanese ceramics, particularly relating to the mingei or folk-craft movement, which they regarded to promote rustic nostalgia and simplicity over modernist innovation. Using traditional firing and glazing techniques while simultaneously seeking to push the existing boundaries of form in contemporary ceramics, the three artists circulated inaugural postcards to publicize their manifesto, which read:
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In 1990, Suzuki became dean of the
Faculty of Fine Arts at the Kyoto University of the Arts. He retired in 1992 and became an emeritus professor. In his final years, he received a number of awards recognizing his lifetime of achievement as an artist and innovator, including designation as a Person of
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In addition to the iron-rich stoneware emblematic of
Sodeisha's well-known 'muddy' aesthetic, Suzuki always worked in the contrastingly polished medium of white porcelain. Since he worked in both mediums throughout his career, Suzuki was known for keeping an immaculate studio, deep-cleaning the space
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Not all of the changes to Suzuki's oeuvre were based on choice. In the 1960s, the world of Kyoto ceramics took a huge turn when the city government banned the use of traditional woodfiring kilns due to air pollution concerns. As a result, they began using gas and electric kilns, applying thin layers
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Postwar art needed the expediency of creating associations in order to escape from personal confusion; but today, finally, the provisional roles appear to have ended. The birds of dawn taking flight out of the forest of falsehood not discover the reflections in the spring of truth. We are united not
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I began to call my works 'deishō' because I always had a deep affinity for the context of clay, and for a time, I tried referring to it as 'deizō' or 'dogu' (prehistoric ceramic ware), but I decided to settle for the term 'deishō', because of its connotation to the universe and the cosmos. I enjoy
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In this way, Sodeisha, the name of which originated from a
Chinese term that meant 'glazing flaw,' not only sought to disrupt cultural and historical associations that pottery had in Japanese society, but also to find beauty in the aesthetics of nature's imperfections.
63:, Suzuki developed his style considerably over the course of his career, beginning with functional vessels in his early work, and spanning to fully sculptural works (which he called "clay images") in the latter half of his career. Suzuki has been described by
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It was not long, however, before the members of the fledgling
Sodeisha movement were even starting to take issue with the typical vase form itself, since this template was based on the very aesthetic foundations against with the group sought to rebel.
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dynasties. The potters took this traditional form and applied unconventional decor to its surface; art historian Louise Cort posits that Suzuki's 1950 vase Rondo may have been a result of seeing a photograph of an abstract
Jackson Pollock painting.
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As the work of Suzuki and his contemporaries continued to evolve, their works became less and less 'functional,' eventually moving into the realm of completely non-functional sculptural objects. These first came in the form of pieces known as
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Thus, Suzuki and his colleagues began to move away from creating traditional vessel openings in their work, experimenting with asymmetry and multiple mouths, as in the case of Suzuki's 1951
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Suzuki studied ceramics and graduated from the ceramics department of The Kyoto Second
Industrial School in 1943, just avoiding conscription in the military during the Second World War.
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a horn-shaped piece that featured two large openings. Additionally, in the late 1950s the potters began using rough, unglazed clay to create a more unfinished, naturalistic effect.
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During a 1992 solo exhibition, the artist explained that he saw a clear distinction between his works that could be 'used' and his works that could be 'seen.' He stated:
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of iron oxide to their pieces before firing to create similar coloration to that produced by the
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had worked and established studios. He became familiar with ceramics from a young age, as his father, Ugenji Suzuki, was a
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the idea of coining this term for the purpose of describing my work, which is undefinable...not exactly a 'clay form.'
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https://web.archive.org/web/20170205013817/http://exhibition.ceramics.ntpc.gov.tw/celadon/en/a_products_03.html
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Cort, Louise
Allison (December 2004). "Crawling through Mud: Avant-Garde Ceramics in Postwar Japan".
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and served as a counter to the traditional forms and styles in modern
Japanese ceramics, such as
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Suzuki's work has been featured in a number of collaborative and solo exhibitions, including:
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to provide a 'warm bed of dreams,' but to come to terms with our existence in broad daylight.
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Suzuki's work can be found in museum and gallery collections around the world, including:
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During these early years, the three
Sodeisha artists experimented largely with forms of
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Matsuo, Amiko (2014). "Suzuki Osamu, Sodeisha and Ceramic Identity in Modern Japan".
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34:(1926-2001) was a Japanese ceramicist and one of the co-founders of the artist group
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after each use to prevent cross-contamination between the two materials.
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as "one of Japan's most important ceramic artists of the 20th century."
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Tobunken (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties)
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Suzuki was born on November 11, 1926, in the Gojo area of
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1970: The Biennale International Pottery Exhibition in
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master and production potter at Eiraku Zengoro Studio.
341:"Clay Image: The First Branch (Deisho: Saisho no eda)"
40:(eng. "Crawling through Mud Association"), a Japanese
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Ceramic Art of Suzuki Osamu: Poetry in Ceramic Works
216:Suzuki died of esophageal cancer on April 9, 2001.
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277:Mud Elephant: The World of Suzuki Osamu,
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220:Select list of exhibitions and holdings
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367:"Crawling through the Mud in Style"
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345:Japan Society Official Website
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393:Ceramics: Art and Perception
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232:(winning the Golden Prize)
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71:Early life and education
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694:Japanese artist stubs
489:"鈴木治 (Suzuki Osamu)"
208:Later life and death
107:Founding of Sodeisha
297:The Brooklyn Museum
102:Career as an artist
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42:avant-garde
678:Categories
395:(96): 4–5.
327:References
192:objet-yaki
184:Objet-yaki
146:and early
113:Kazuo Yagi
285:Yamaguchi
270:Kurashiki
266:Hiroshima
264:, Kyoto,
262:Fukushima
230:Vallauris
61:porcelain
57:stoneware
523:30 April
498:30 April
478:Ibid, 4.
376:30 April
350:30 April
311:Kanazawa
45:ceramics
37:Sōdeisha
631:design
275:2013:
252:1999:
245:1989:
237:Faenza
180:Deishō
136:Cizhou
87:, and
53:Mingei
625:This
514:"鈴木治"
451:Ibid.
433:Ibid.
281:Aichi
140:China
93:lathe
77:Kyoto
635:stub
629:and
574:stub
525:2023
500:2023
414:(1).
378:2023
352:2023
182:and
148:Ming
144:Tang
115:and
59:and
23:鈴木 治
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