Following on from the previous exhibition, “Cinnabar and Ultramarine” last year - his first in Japan in 11 years - this time the exhibition will feature 22 pieces in total, including 10 new works. Kojima’s works, known for discovering aesthetic in the ups and downs of human society, are compositions of blocks of original soil from local mountains or Kaolin.
In recent years, Kojima has succeeded to evoke the curvature created by the firing process in his recent series, using traditional Taiwanese roof tiles. The stone-based civilization humanity has created, symbolized by stone castles and walls, gives off a momentary glow, floundering, decaying, and being buried in oblivion. Such unexpected scenes rise before us as we peer through the melted glass.
“All things created by humanity will eventually collapse. The prosperity of humanity cannot last forever, there is always a crack or distortion somewhere.” Amidst the sorrow of those cracks or distortions exists beauty, expressed by Kojima through his ceramic works. This year especially, with the large-scale changes to society due to factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the clear truth was thrust before the artist’s eyes anew. Sitting quietly, Kojima’s artworks’ evoke the feeling that that nothing in this world will last forever. Rather than viewing this pessimistically, his works present before our eyes a fleeting yet beautiful moment of light that undeniably does exist in this world.
Osamu Kojima
Born in Fukui Prefecture in 1973 in Japan, and currently lives and works in Mie, Japan. Collections include the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan; Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Koka, Shiga, Japan; Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, MT, U.S.A.; and New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei City, Taiwan; and Harn Museum of Art, Gainsville, FL, U.S.A. Received M.F.A. at Tainan National University of the Arts, Tainan, Taiwan in 2016. Invited to artist-inresidence programs such as Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Koka, Shiga, Japan; Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, MT, U.S.A. and Tainan National University of the Arts,Tainan, Taiwan. Recent exhibitions include New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei City, Taiwan, and Jason Jacques Gallery, New York, NY, U.S.A. in addition to solo exhibitions in Japan. Awards include the Bronze medal at the 7th International Ceramics Festival MINO in 2005 (also won in 2014), the Shumei Cultural Foundation’s 17th Shumei Cultural Foundation Prize in 2006, and the Gold Medal at the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale in 2012 (also won the biennale’s Grand Prize in 2016).