RAKU WARE

This year marks the 15^th anniversary of the opening of the Raku Kichizaemon Pavilion. This has been the venue for a series of exhibitions entitled KichizaemonX in which Kichizaemon XV・Raku Jikinyū has engaged with different themes and artists that he has felt a close sense of commonality with. The current exhibition traces the development of Kichizaemon XV・Raku Jikinyū’s creativity that has emerged out of these collaborative ventures. It starts with a display of tea bowls and tea caddies shown in the first exhibition made in response to Indonesian native art. After these come tea bowls and unglazed stoneware vases from the second and third exhibitions reflecting his experience of living and working in France. These are followed by close-up photographs of the surfaces of Raku tea bowls shown in the fourth exhibition that came out of a collaboration with the contemporary artist Takatani Shirō. Subsequent exhibitions from which works have been selected saw his artistic vision expand in response to works by Wols, Fukami Sueharu, Saitō Takashi and, most recently, Malevich. They include yakinuki-type Raku tea bowls made from white clay, Yakinuki-type Black Raku tea bowls, Yakinuki-type Raku tea caddies, and Yakinuki-type ‘Black Rock’ and ‘White Rock’ Raku tea bowls. This exhibition provides unique insights into the forever evolving nature of Kichizaemon XV・Raku Jikinyū’s artistic genius.