OGAWA MACHIKO (b. 1946)

Ogawa Machiko has been a vital force in the dialogue of contemporary clay since her arrival on the scene in 1985. After years of study at National University of Fine Arts & Music, she drew inspiration from her travels, which included living and studying in Paris at the École d’Arts et Métiers and then in Burkina Faso in West Africa. Winner of the Ceramic Society Award, she has be the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at major galleries and museums throughout Japan. Some of her work resembles cracked ice, while other vessels have a volcanic, scorched earth appearance. While Japanese in origin, Ogawa’s work transcends national characterization, resonating with a universal sensibility.

1946 Born in Sapporo, Japan 1969 Graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Studied with three Living National Treasures: Fujimoto Yoshimichi (1919-1992), Kato Hajime (1900-1968), Tamura Koichi (1918-1987) 1969-71 Studied Ceramic at École d’Arts et Métiers, Paris 1972-75 Studied Ceramics in West Africa

Awards:

1992 Takashimaya Culture Trust Fund, New Artist Encouragement Prize 2001 Japan Ceramic Society Prize 2008 Art Encouragement Prize of the Ministry of Education and Culture 2010 Musée Tomo Prize, Award of Excellence

Solo Exhibitions:

1987 Kandori, Tokyo (also in ‘94,’97 and ‘00) 1991 Sōgetsu Museum, Tokyo 1999 Seto City Cultural Center, Aichi 2002 Japan Ceramic Society Award Winners Exhibition, Wako Hall Gallery, Tokyo Today’s Artists VIII: Ogawa Machiko Li2O・NaO・CaO・Al2O3・SiO2 Breathing Bubbles, Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama 2007 Works from the Soil, Tokyo Opera City Gallery (joint show with Akiyama Yō) Breaking the Mold, Joan B Mirviss LTD, New York, NY 2008 Aso Bijutsu Gallery, Tokyo (Also in ‘10, ‘12 and ‘14) 2009 Fire and Ice: The Dynamic Clay Art of Ogawa Machiko, Joan B Mirviss LTD, New York, NY 2011 Umaretate no utsuwa (Archetypal Vessels), Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi 2012 L’Autre face de la lune, Takashimaya Art Gallery X, Tokyo 2013 Du Temps Cristallisé, Gallery Shibunkaku, 2014 Lunar Fragments: Ceramic Sculpture of Ogawa Machiko, Salon Art + Design Fair, New York, NY, also at Joan B Mirviss LTD, New York, NY

Select Group Exhibitions:

1986 Chanoyu 500 nen no zōkei (500 Years of Tea Ceremony Clay Vessels), Takashimaya Art Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo Crafts – The Standard Bearers at the End of the Century, Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo 1988 Aspects of Japanese Contemporary Arts and Crafts: Earth, Water, Fire and Wind-Sympathy of Cosmic Images, Azabu Bijutsu Kōgeikan (Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts), Tokyo 1989 New Tea Ceremony Clay Vessels Opening Next Generation, Art Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo (Also ’90-‘93) 1992 Ceramics of Japan, Major Art of 100 Contemporary Creators, Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo 1993 Thinking about Contemporary Clay Vessels, Museum of Modern Art, 1994 NICAF '94, Pacifico Yokohama, Kanagawa Art Spirit Hokkaido Biennial, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo Current Trends in Ceramic Vessels and Objects, Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto 1995 The Now in Ceramics, Transmitting Vessels, Takashimaya Art Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo 1996 New Expression in Porcelain: Developments in the 1990's, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Expression and Potential in Contemporary Ceramics, Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto Suntory Museum of Art Grand Prize '96 Special Exhibition; Challenges on Forms, Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo 1997 Yakimono Tambō (Exploring Ceramics), Takashimaya Art Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo (also subject of NHK television documentary) 9th Triennial-India 1997 Japan, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, India 1998 Nature as Object-Craft and Design from Japan, Finland and Australia: 3rd Australian International Craft Triennial, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia 2001 Leaders of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum Symphony of Beauty - Ceramics: Food Vessels, Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo 2002 Takashimaya Art Prize Exhibition, Takashimaya Art Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo The Legacy of Modern Ceramic Art: The Evolution of Japanese Ceramic Art, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Female Artists from the Terada Collection, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo New Way of Tea, Japan Society Gallery and also Asia Society and Museum, New York, NY 2003 Japanese Ceramics Today, Part 1 Masterworks from the Kikuchi Collection, Musée Tomo, Tokyo Another History: Contemporary Japanese Art from the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura and Hayama 2nd World Ceramic Biennale 2003, Now＆ Now World Contemporary Ceramics Icheon World Ceramic Center, Korea Japan Ceramic Society Award Winners Exhibition, Wako Hall Gallery, Tokyo (Also ‘04, ‘07-‘14) 2005 Ars Nova: Between the Contemporary Avant-garde Art and the Crafts, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo Asian Potential -Art Nursed by Sea and Islands, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Seto 2005-06 Contemporary Clay: Japanese Ceramics for the New Century, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and Japan Society Gallery, New York, NY 2006 The Quintessence of 100 Years of Japanese Ceramics, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu Thought of Rock, Paper, Scissors: Coexistence without Winning or Losing, Icheon Cerapia, Korea; Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu; New City Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei City, Musée Tomo Prize Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony: Free Creativity and Atypical Use, Musée Tomo, Tokyo 2008 Small Universe 3, Ichinokura Sakazuki Art Museum, Gifu 2009 Touch Fire: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics by Women Artists, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA Mirai no takaramono (The Future's Treasures), Takashimaya Art Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo, , , and Kyoto Dissolving Views, Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, Korea Archaic Fantasy, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Hokkaido Eastern Departures, Joan B Mirviss LTD, New York, NY 2010 Musée Tomo Prize Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony - Free Creativity, Musée Tomo, Tokyo A Viewpoint on Contemporary Kôgei, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Ogawa Machiko+Tashima Etsuko: Fertility Water, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu 2011 Conversations in Clay, Joan B Mirviss LTD, New York, NY 2012 The French Connection, Joan B Mirviss LTD, New York, NY Torn Light, Sezon Museum of Art, Karuizawa, Nagano Giappone Terra di Incanti, Palazzo Pitti, Museuo degli Argenti, Florence, Italia Chaji ni matsuwaru utsuwa (Vessels Pertaining to Tea eremony), Selections from National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Tōgei Messe Mashiko, Tochigi Kōsa suru shiten to katachi (Crossing Over Viewpoints and Forms) Vol.5, Sapporo Art Museum, Hokkaido 2013 Contemporary Arts and Crafts: Now - Five Words, Rakusui-tei Museum of Art, Toyama Breaking the Mold, Salon: Art + Design Fair, Joan B Mirviss LTD, New York, NY 2014 Tradition on Fire: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics from the Paul and Kathy Bissinger Collection, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA

Selected Museum Collections:

Aichi Prefectural Ceramics Museum, Aichi Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD Gitter-Yellen Collection, Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN Musée Tomo, Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Rakusui-tei Museum of Art, Toyama River Retreat Garaku, Toyama Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA Sōgetsu Art Museum, Tokyo Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Takamatsu Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyoya, Aichi Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

References

“Exhibition Review.” Honoho Geijutsu, no. 107 (2011), pp. 90 & 134.

“50 Persons Representing Japanese Ceramic Art.” Honoho Geijutsu, no. 112 (Winter 2012) p. 45.

Leaders of Contemporary Japanese Ceramics: Exploring Techniques and Forms for a New Century.(April 28 – June 17, 2001).

Morse, Samuel and Todate Kazuko. Touch Fire: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics by Women Artists. Northampton: Smith College Museum of Art, 2009, pp. 76-80.

The 3rd Musee Tomo Prize Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony – Free Creativity. (July 2010).

Toh: Hokuriku Potters Vol. 67; (Kyoto Shoin: Japan), 1993.

Umaretate no “Utsuwa” (Archetypal Vessels). Aichi: Toyota Municipal Museum, 2011.