Anjin Abe, a famously independent creator of Bizen ware ceramics, held a successful exhibition at the Onishi Gallery in autumn 2007. At SOFA New York, the gallery presented examples of Abe’s distinctive and vividly colored saishoku-Bizen ware and of his highly regarded work in bronze. Abe began his career as a painter, and he brings a painterly touch to his pottery and to his cast-bronze wall hangings.
In adtition to Abe’s immense influence on the aesthetics of ceramics, his chemical analyses have upended traditional notions of the clays and kilns used in producing the classic Bizen ware of the Azuchi-Momoyama era (late 16th century). Abe has stimulated tree-saving approaches to kiln firing, meanwhile, by achieving impressive results while dispensing with the traditional, round-the-clock firing.
Profile
- 1938
- Born in Osaka, Japan
- 1957
- Began study under noted painter Saburo Miyamoto (1905–1974)
- 1960s
- Attained prominence as painter
- 1972
- Began making pottery
- 1999
- Held two-man show with friend and globally renowned contemporary artist Masuo Ikeda
- 2002
- Held two-man show with Bizen legend and “living national treasure” Toyo Kaneshige
- Maintains kiln in Ushimado(Bizen) and continues to produce Bizen ware and works of contemporary art
Selected Exhibitions
- 2009
- Japanese Contemporary Craft, Onishi Gallery, New York
- 2008
- SOFA New York
- 2008
- Arts of Pacific Asia Show, San Francisco
- 2007
- Onishi Gallery, New York
- 2002
- Espace Culturel Bertin Poiree, Paris
- 1995
- International Cultural Exchange Show, Milan
Museum Collections (partial listing)
Ariana Museum, Geneva / Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / Mint Museum, Charlotte /Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Riga / National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
