Over the past several years there have been quite a few exhibitions of Japanese ceramics overseas, but "Contemporary Clay/Japanese Ceramics for the New Century," which is now at the Japan Society Gallery in New York, is the most brilliant by far.
The bulk of the Japan Society Gallery exhibition consists of major works from Halsey and Alice North's collection. The Norths are founders of The North Group Inc., which assists nonprofit performing arts centers and theaters across the United States. With foresight, passion and a keen sense of beauty, the couple have assembled a major collection of contemporary Japanese ceramics over a period of 20 years. Most of the Norths' selections bring traditional styles into the present day.
Their collection includes rugged, gritty Shigaraki ware by Shiro Otani and Yasuhisa Kohyama; warm, brown-toned Bizen ware by Ryuichi Kakurezaki, Togaku Mori and Kosuke Kaneshige; and pitted, glazed Shino ware by Yasukage Kato. All these potters have broken with tradition in forms, while retaining the centuries-old characteristic of their styles. The focus of the collection is on Kyoto artists, including Kazuo Yagi, Osamu Suzuki and Hikaru Yamada -- the three founding members of the Sodeisha ceramics movement.