KOSAKU KANECHIKA is pleased to present “Strata in Gestation,” an exhibition guest-curated by artist Yoshitomo Nara at our Tennoz gallery from June 27 to August 8, 2026.

Since the gallery’s inception in 2017, KOSAKU KANECHIKA has featured artwork ranging across a diverse variety of media, not just paintings, and maintained a particular focus on the evocative medium of ceramics. To present the myriad possibilities within the realm of ceramic expression, we have invited Yoshitomo Nara, who himself works with ceramics, to curate this exhibition.
In response to this task, Nara has selected four artists whose works he describes as “breathing life into the very atmosphere surrounding them simply by existing in the space.” This exhibition features approximately thirty works by Eiji Uematsu, Takuro Kuwata, Chinoko Sakamoto, and Masaomi Yasunaga.

Nara has provided the following statement for this exhibition, the first show he has curated at KOSAKU KANECHIKA.

“Strata in Gestation ― Enduring Through Consumption by Fire”

When Kosaku Kanechika, whom I have known since he first stepped foot into the art world, invited me to curate this exhibition, I accepted immediately. However, while ceramics does fall into the category of contemporary art, I am not particularly well versed in kogei crafts, nor am I an expert on the history of ceramics. Nevertheless, I feel that I do understand the appeal and depth of the field of ceramics to the same extent that I do painting or sculpture. So, I decided to select a few people I am familiar with based on my own theoretical perspective on plastic arts.

Because I decided to focus strictly on sculptural structure, I avoided selecting artists who employ a character-like or pop aesthetic, and also steered clear of those defined solely by technical perfection in kogei work. Instead, I sought out artists whose work conveys a geological density, as opposed to surface-level appeal, or those whose compositions deviate subtly from conventional design norms. In other words, I aimed to select artists who capture the “irreversible traces” woven by the interplay of earth, fire, time, and chance through the artists’ physical sensibilities, and manifest these vestiges as an extension of their own bodies and existence. The aim of their artwork is not to achieve perfection of form or exquisite glazes. Instead, their work possesses a profound intensity, a sheer presence that endures despite embracing the very qualities of “incompleteness,” “uncontrollability,” and “fragility.” Artists such as Eiji Uematsu and Masaomi Yasunaga, whose work may be described as strata that reject the superficial, were the first to come to mind. For Chinoko Sakamoto, I avoided singular, self-contained works reminiscent of well-known pieces like Constantin Brancusi’s “Endless Column” or Karl Blossfeldt’s photography of plants and flowers in favor of her recent pieces defined by their stratigraphic dynamism born from the imperfection of the aggregate. It was also from these musings that I came to the realization that, paradoxically, the strength of Takuro Kuwata’s work lies in the very richness of its exterior.

In this exhibition, I wanted the viewers and myself to share with these artists the moment when the primitive weight of clay, together with the artists’ memories and physicality, breaks through the surface, and finally emerges into view.

This exhibition presents a collection of works created by artists who utilize ceramics as their starting point while drawing upon their own distinctive physical sensibilities and perceptions of time. While embodying the fundamental elements of the medium, these works transcend the established boundaries of both traditional kogei crafts and contemporary art, offering a multilayered viewing experience. The perspective of guest curator Yoshitomo Nara, who refuses to be confined by refined styles or techniques and focuses instead on the uncontrollable nature of serendipity, resonates deeply with the imaginative forms created by the artists participating in this exhibition.

KOSAKU KANECHIKA warmly invites you to this special exhibition guest-curated by Yoshitomo Nara.

Courtesy of Gallery 38 and Nonaka-Hill

Eiji Uematsu

Eiji Uematsu was born in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, in 1949. In 1975, he relocated to Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture, where he began creating his own works while working at a ceramics factory. Since 1982, he has been based in Marubashira, Iga City, Mie Prefecture, where he continues his practice today. Uematsu’s major solo exhibitions include “Shape of Soil” (The Museum of Arts & Crafts Itami, Hyogo, 2007), “SOIL/FIRE – TO THE ROOT” (Koumi-machi Kougen Museum of Art, Nagano, 2009), “Soil and Fire” (The Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo, 2020) and “Soil and Fire – Uematsu Eiji” (Mie Prefectural Art Museum, 2024). Group exhibitions include “Ceramic Annex Shigaraki ’86” (Traditional Craft Center of Shigaraki, Shiga / The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, 1986), “The 1992 International Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramic Art” (National Museum of History, Taipei, 1992), “BIWAKO BIENNALE 2010” Shiga, 2010), “Craft Arts: Innovation of “Tradition and Avant-Garde,” and the Present Day” (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 2016) and “The Fragments of Homo Faber -the Future of Humans and Crafting-” (Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, 2022). Uematsu’s work has been acquired by the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto and the Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo.

Takuro Kuwata

Takuro Kuwata was born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, in 1981. 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 and is currently based in Gifu, Japan. Notable solo exhibitions include Indoor stone garden “Heaven” (The Sogetsu Kaikan 1F, Tokyo, 2015), “Dear Tea Bowl, Horsetails are in season in Hagi.” Hagi Uragami Museum, Yamaguchi, 2019), “Day After Day” Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kyoto, 2019) and “TEA BOWL PUNK” (Mead Gallery, Coventry, 2025). Group exhibitions include “Art Crafting Towards the Future” (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, 2012), “Japanese Kōgei | Future Forward” (Museum of Arts and Design, New York, 2015), “Contemporary Japanese Crafts” (Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art, Tokyo, 2020), “GO FOR KOGEI 2021” (Okamoto-Otaki Shrine, Fukui, 2021), “Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art” (Hayward Gallery, London, 2022) and “Roppongi Crossing 2025: What Passes Is Time. We Are Eternal.” (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2025). Kuwata was a finalist for the LOEWE Craft Prize in 2018, and was also awarded the Japan Ceramic Society Prize in 2022. His works have been acquired by various international public collections including the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, the National Crafts Museum, Rakusui-tei Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Rubell Family Collection.

Chinoko Sakamoto

Chinoko Sakamoto was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1992 and is currently based in Nagasaki. In 2016, She graduated from the Department of Sculpture at University of the Arts London Camberwell College of Arts. She has presented in solo exhibitions including “No Stranger” (Playmountain EAST, San Francisco, 2019), “Ima hajimete miru” (IDÉE SHOP Jiyugaoka IDÉE GALLERY AND BOOKS, Tokyo, 2020), “Textures of Encounter” (VOU Kyoto, 2021), “Chinoko Sakamoto” (CURATOR’S CUBE, Tokyo, 2022), “Chinoko Sakamoto Studio work” (Spiral Entrance, Tokyo /「+S」Spiral Market Osaka Takashimaya, 2023) and “Monuments” (VAGUE ARLES, 2025). Group exhibitions include “Un panorama japonais très actuel” (Gallery Le Don du Fel, Le Fel, 2018), “Finding Form” (FLOW GALLERY, London, 2019), “Collect 2020” (Somerset House, London, 2020), “Fellow Travelers of the Canvas A Perspective on Contemporary Art of Japan from the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection” (Yamagata Museum of Art, 2024) and “Un livre est comme un jardin que l’on porte dans sa poche” (Librairie Yvon Lambert, Paris, 2025). Sakamoto’s work has been acquired by the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park and the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection.

Masaomi Yasunaga

Masaomi Yasunaga was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1982. After enrolling in the Department of Environmental Design at Osaka Sangyo University in 2000, he began studying under ceramic artist, Satoru Hoshino in 2003. He received a Master Degree in Environmental Design from Osaka Sangyo University in 2006, and is currently based in Mie, Japan. Notable solo exhibitions include “Memory of Orient” (Gallery Utsuwa Note, Saitama, 2018), “Masaomi Yasunaga” (Nonaka-Hill, Los Angeles, 2019), “Empty Landscape” (Libby Leshgold Gallery, Vancouver, 2020), “Masaomi Yasunaga” (Lisson Gallery, East Hampton, 2021), “Masaomi Yasunaga: Treading the Earth” (Lisson Gallery, Shanghai, 2025). Group exhibitions include “OBJECT&THINGS at The Noyes House” (New Canaan, 2020), “Romantic Progress” (Museum of Moden Ceramic Art Gifu, 2022), “A Matter of Life and Death” (Thomas Dane, Naples, 2022) and “Enamel & Body / Ceramics” (Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum, Tokyo, 2023). Yasunaga’s works have been acquired by the Ariana Museum, the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.