ARTIST

Takuro Kuwata

Takuro Kuwata’s unique and unparalleled works expand the boundaries of ceramic art. His visual language, a contemporary take on traditional Japanese ceramic techniques such as ‘kairagi’ and ‘ishihaze,’ has garnered international acclaim. Kuwata’s studio is situated at the heart of Japanese ceramic artistry in the Mino region of Gifu Prefecture, which retains techniques dating back to feudal Japan. Inheriting the traditional tea-ceremony aesthetic of ‘wabi-sabi,’ his creations celebrate imperfect beauty and natural forms in the preservation of a rustic, unrefined elegance. Through dialogue with environment, history, nature, and time, Kuwata fuses together tradition and modernity, bringing into existence provocative works of art.

Takuro Kuwata was born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan in 1981, and is currently based in Gifu, Japan. Following his graduation from Kyoto Saga University of Arts in 2001, in 2002 he began studying under ceramic artist Susumu Zaima. In 2007, he graduated from the Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center. His works have been exhibited globally in cities such as Brussels, London, and New York, and he was a finalist for the LOEWE Craft Prize 2018. Kuwata’s works have been acquired by various international public collections including the Rubell Family Collection, the Palm Springs Art Museum, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

WORKS

INSTALLATION VIEW

BIOGRAPHY

1981 Born in Hiroshima, Japan
2001 Kyoto Saga University of Arts, Associate in Fine Arts, Department of Ceramic Art
2002 Apprenticeship under Susumu Zaima
2007 Graduated from Tajimi City Pottery Design and Technical Center
Lives and works in Gifu, Japan

CV

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2022 “Dancing Udon” THE GALLERY, New York, USA
2021 “USE” Roll, Tokyo, Japan
“Yunomi” ROPPONGI HILLS A/D GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan
“TEE BOWL” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan
“ZUNGURIMUKKURI (ROLY POLY)” Salon 94, New York, USA
2020 “CUP” KAKIDEN Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
“Hi Tea Bowl, I'm in Paris.” Pierre Marie Giraud, Paris, France
2019 “TETSUKI” GINZA KURODA TOUEN, Tokyo, Japan
“today” Pierre Marie Giraud, Brussels, Belgium
“Day After Day” Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kyoto, Japan
“Dear Tea Bowl, Horsetails are in season in Hagi.” Hagi Uragami Museum, Yamaguchi, Japan
2018 “Are You Going Out, Tea Bowl?” Galeria Mascota, Mexico City, Mexico
“Teacup and Cup” KAKIDEN Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
“TAKURO KUWATA meets Trading Museum COMME des GARÇONS” Trading Museum COMME des GARÇONS, Tokyo, Japan
2017 “I’m Home, Tea Bowl” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan
“Good Morning, Tea Bowl” Pierre Marie Giraud, Brussels, Belgium
2016 “From Tea Bowl” Alison Jacques Gallery, London, UK
Gendai Tougei Kandori, Tokyo, Japan
2015 GINZA KURODA TOUEN, Tokyo, Japan
“Dear Tea Bowl” Salon 94 Freemans, New York, USA
Indoor stone garden "Heaven" The Sogetsu Kaikan 1F, Tokyo, Japan
8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
KAKIDEN Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2014 “From Nature” Pierre Marie Giraud, Brussels, Belgium
Ito Bijyutsuten, Aichi, Japan
Koubou IKUKO, Okayama, Japan
Gallery Kohodo, Gifu, Japan
2013 Gallery NOW, Toyama, Japan
Gallery SOU, Hokkaido, Japan
ROKU, Tokyo, Japan
GINZA KURODA TOUEN, Tokyo, Japan
Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga, Japan
Gallery Bougatei, Nagano, Japan
8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
“Flavor of Nature” Salon 94 Bowery, New York, USA
2012 Matsuzakaya Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
ROKU, Tokyo, Japan
Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store 6F, Art Square, Tokyo, Japan
Oriental Design Gallery, Hiroshima, Japan
KAKIDEN Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2011 Gallery Kurimoto, Niigata, Japan
GINZA KURODA TOUEN, Tokyo, Japan
Tenmaya Art Gallery, Hiroshima, Japan
TKG Ceramics: Tomio Koyama Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
Itamuro Onsen Daikokuya, Tochigi, Japan
Art Salon Yamaki, Osaka, Japan
Gallery Suki, Aichi, Japan
Gallery Bougatei, Nagano, Japan
Rakusui-tei Museum of Art, Toyama, Japan
2010 Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Roppongi Hills Art and Design Store Space A+D, Tokyo, Japan
GINZA KURODA TOUEN, Tokyo, Japan
Gallery Suki, Aichi, Japan
Gallery Kohodo, Gifu, Japan
Gallery Utsuwa-kan, Kyoto, Japan
Gallery MITATE, Tokyo, Japan
2009 GINZA KURODA TOUEN, Tokyo, Japan
Tenmaya Art Gallery, Hiroshima, Japan
TKG Editions Kyoto: Tomio Koyama Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
Gallery Suki, Aichi, Japan
Gallery Koketsu, Gifu, Japan
2008 GINZA KURODA TOUEN, Tokyo, Japan
Gallery Suki, Aichi, Japan
2007 Gallery Suki, Aichi, Japan
Liberal art JPN, Hiroshima, Japan
Gallery Wa2, Tokyo, Japan

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024 “Earth, Wind, and Fire: Visions of the Future from Asia” Okura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
“Plain” MtK Contemporary Art, Kyoto, Japan
“A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art: Takahashi Ryutaro Collection”
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
“Fellow Travelers of the Canvas A Perspective on Contemporary Art of Japan from the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection”
Yamagata Museum of Art, Yamagata, Japan
2023 “HOME IS WHERE YOUʼRE HAPPY” Haus Mödrath, Kerpen, Germany
“The Hints 12 perspectives for looking at the present and the future” Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
East Building Rising Square 1F Earth Garden, Tokyo, Japan
WORLDS IN BALANCE: ART IN JAPAN FROM THE POSTWAR TO THE PRESENT” Okura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
“TOGEI IN THE PROGRESSIVE FORM” Musée Tomo, Tokyo, Japan
“GO FOR KOGEI 2023” Toyama, Japan
“Takahashi Ryutaro Collection ʻArt de Cha Cha Cha ‒ Exploring the DNA of Japanese Contemporary Art ‒ʼ”
WHAT MUSEUM, Tokyo, Japan
“POKÉMON X KOGEI Playful Encounters of Pokémon and Japanese Craft” National Crafts Museum, Kanazawa, Japan
2022 “Tell me! The Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo : Q&A on Collections and Exhibitions” The Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo, Japan
“The Japan Ceramic Society Award Exhibition Takuro Kuwata, Kimiyo Mishima” Kochukyo, Tokyo
“Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art” Hayward Gallery, London, UK
“Romantic Progress” Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, Japan
“The Fragments of Homo Faber -the Future of Humans and Crafting-” Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto, Japan
“Against Nature” MO.CO Montpellier Contemporain, Montpellier, France
“Yurakucho Window Gallery” Ippodo, Tokyo, Japan
“LIBRARY STOOL 42 & CUPS” Salon 94 Design, New York
“toucher terre” Fondation Villa Datris, L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France
“Dear Friend” KOSAKU KANECHIKA, Tokyo, Japan
“Contemporary Japanese Crafts” Matsuzakaya Art Museum, Aichi, Japan
2021 “ALLEGRA!” Werkstatt Hildegard Schenk, Zuoz, Switzerland
“RAPTURE” Larsen Warner, Stockholm, Sweden
“The Flames: The Age of Ceramics” Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
“Cracked” Tristan Hoare Gallery, London
“Contemporary Japanese Crafts” Miyazaki Art Center, Miyazaki, Japan / Asahi Beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan
“GO FOR KOGEI 2021” Okamoto-Otaki Shrine, Fukui, Japan
“GEIBI KAKUSHIN ('Aesthetic Innovation on Japanese Ceramic Art')” Perrotin, Paris, France
“Maker's Eye: Stories of Craft” Crafts Council Gallery, London, UK
“FUNKA” Siegfried Contemporary, London, UK
“Healing” Perrotin, Shanghai, China
“CHATO” Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Ibaraki, Japan
2020 “Classical Revival and Modern Japanese Ceramics” POLA Museum of Art, Kanagawa, Japan
“The World: From The OKETA COLLECTION” 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
“Contemporary Japanese Crafts” Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
“The power of things” KAMU kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
2019 “Where We Now StandーIn Order to Map the Future [2]” 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
“CERAMIC MOMENTUM – Staging the Object” CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art, Middelfart, Denmark
2018 “Bubblewrap” Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan
“The 42nd Marunouchi Street Gallery” Marunouchi Naka-Dori Street, Tokyo, Japan
“‘The Dramatic Vessel’: The Beauty of the Vessel, Perfected by the World’s Ceramic Artists” Iwate Museum of Art, Iwate, Japan
“Fire and Clay” Gagosian Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
“Place for Life, Energy and Spirit” 丗|SEI, Kyoto, Japan
“LOEWE Craft Prize 2018” DESIGN MUSEUM, London, UK
2017 “Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony - 2018 Hagi”
Hagi Uragami Museum, Yamaguchi, Japan
“Regarding George Ohr: Contemporary Ceramics in the Spirit of the Mad Potter” BOCA RATON MUSEUM OF ART, Florida, USA
“NOUVELLE SHINO” gallery VOICE, Gifu, Japan
“Japanese Kogei | Future Forward - Bridge Art and Craft -” EYE OF GYRE, Tokyo, Japan
“Frieze Sculpture 2017” Regent’s Park, London, UK
“MIDTOWN” Lever House, New York, USA
“PUNK” Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Ibaraki, Japan
“An Occasion for Contemplating Ceramics and Sculpture: Seeds Sown in Shigaraki” Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
“Takashi Murakami’s Superflat Consideration on Contemporary Ceramics” Towada Art Center, Aomori, Japan
“The Dramatic Vessel” Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga, Japan
“KOGEI Future Forward” Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store, Tokyo, Japan
“Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony” Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Ibaraki, Japan
2016 “PREVIEW: A GROUP SHOW OF REPRESENTED ARTISTS” SPACE TGC, Tokyo, Japan
“echo” Takasaki City Gallery, Gunma, Japan
“PUNK” Rakusui-tei Museum of Art, Toyama, Japan
“Even if contemporary art ended” Sokyo, Kyoto, Japan
“A Guide to Contemporary Ceramic Art” Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Ibaraki, Japan
“JAPAN 7” SILVERLENS, Manila, Philippines
2015 “Come after Magic” aura gallery taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
“Japanese Kōgei | Future Forward” Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA
“2732: Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better” Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles, USA
“8 Ceramic Artists” 8/ ART GALLERY/ Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
“Wabi Sabi Shima” Thalie Art Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
“ORGANIC SCULPTURE” Alison Jacques Gallery, London, UK
2014 “FIRE!” Venus Manhattan, New York, USA
“Phenomenon of Contemporary Ceramic” Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Ibaraki, Japan
“More Material” Salon 94 Bowery, New York, USA
2013 “10 Under 40” ISTANBUL’74, Istanbul, Turkey
“Master Teabowls of Our Days” Musee Tomo, Tokyo, Japan
“Why not live for Art? II — 9 collectors reveal their treasures” Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
“Ceramic Sculpture” Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, USA
“Our Haus” Salon 94 Freemans, New York, USA
2012 “WAO 2012 vol.1 [CRAFT meets ART] Ceramic Beauty” EYE OF GYRE, Tokyo, Japan
“The 7th Paramita Ceramic Art Grand Prize Exhibition” Paramita Museum, Mie, Japan
“Art Crafting Towards The Future” 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
2011 “Contemporary Ceramics in Tokai — Thinking New Generation —” Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Aichi, Japan
“Paul Clay” Salon 94 Bowery, New York, USA
“Contemporary Kogei Art Fair” Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan
2010 “COLOR Secret Relationship between Ceramics and Colors” Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, Japan
2008 “Hamada Shoji Award and Kamoda Shoji Award, Winner Exhibition” Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, Tochigi, Japan

Public Collections

The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, USA
KAMU kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Marciano Art Foundation, California, USA
Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, Tochigi, Japan
The Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan
National Crafts Museum, Ishikawa, Japan
Palm Springs Art Museum, California, USA
Rakusui-tei Museum of Art, Toyama, Japan
Rubell Family Collection, Florida, USA
Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, USA
Takahashi Ryutaro Collection, Tokyo, Japan
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Michigan, USA
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan

Awards

2022 Japan Ceramic Society Prize
2018 LOEWE Craft Prize 2018, Special Mention
2009 The 17th Tableware Award, Grand Prize, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award
2008 The 8th International Ceramics Competition MINO, MINO Award
The 26th Asahi Modern Craft Exhibition, Encouragement Prize
2007 The 2nd Oribe Craft Design Competition, Silver Prize
2006 The 6th International Mashiko Ceramics Competition, Grand Prize, Hamada Shoji Award

PRESS

ARTIST WEBSITE

http://www.takurokuwata.com/