KANETA MASANAO (b.1953)

An eighth generation Hagi potter, Kaneta Masanao has expanded beyond his hefty heritage to create a more sculptural oeuvre. Perhaps due to Kaneta's training as a sculptural artist, his forms have a strong and dramatic presence that sets them apart from the works by other artists of this traditional ceramic center. Using the centuries-old Hagi white-pink glazes, Kaneta creates unique and readily identifiable functional and non-functional sculptural forms. His signature technique of kurinuki, in which he digs or scoops-out a form out of the clay instead of shaping it on a wheel, further allows him to boldly depart from ancient Hagi traditions.

1953 Born in Hagi City, 1977 Graduated from Department of Fine Arts, University of Education, majored in sculpture 1979 Completed degree in sculpture in the Fine Art Research Department of the graduate school of Tsukuba University 1981 Participated in Hagi International Sculpture symposium (stone carving) 1985 Became an official member of the Art and Crafts Institute 1989 Symposium of Asobi at Gallery Saitoan, Hagi, Yamaguchi 1991 Retired from the Japan Arts and Crafts Institute 1994 Featured on NHK Television station, “The Ceramics of Japan” 1998 Featured on NHK Television, “Yakimono Tambo” 2000 Became Assistant Professor at Tsukuba University 2005 Become the 8th generation of Tenryūsan Kiln

Awards:

1981 Award of Excellence, Kyūshū Yamaguchi Ceramics Exhibition Yamaguchi Prefecture ’s Award, Western Japan Ceramics Exhibit 1983 Iwataya Award, Crafts Exhibition 1984 Mainichi Shibun Award, Kyūshū Yamaguchi Ceramics Exhibition 1989 Received the Michisuke Sugi Award Prefecture Governor’s Award, Western Japan Ceramics Exhibition 1990 The MITI Minister’s Award, Western Japan Ceramics Exhibition 1996 Award of Promotion and Encouragement for Art and Culture in Yamaguchi Prefecture 1999 Enargia Award for Contemporary Arti 2004 Yamaguchi Prefectural Culture Contribution Award

Solo exhibitions:

1981 Seibu Gallery, , Tokyo 1983 Shibuya Kurodatōen, Tokyo 1984 Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Tokyo (also 1986, 2003 and 2005) 1985 Daimaru Art Gallery, Tottori 1986 Sun Gallery, 1988 Fukuya, 1991 Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, 1992 Matsue Ichibata, Matsue JOAN B MIRVISS LTD JAPANESE FINE ART 39 EAST 78TH STREET, 4TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10075 Phone: 212.799.4021 Fax: 212.721.5148 www.mirviss.com

1993 Daimaru Art Gallery, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto 1995 Garth Clark Gallery, New York 1996 Gallery Kurimoto, Nagaoka 1997 Gallery Sheale, Utsunomiya Sun Gallery Sumie, Nagoya 1998 Akasaka Yū Gallery, Tokyo 1999 WORK 99, Gallery Saitōan, Hagi 2000 WORK 2000, Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Nihonbashi Tokyo 2001 WORK 2001, Hankyū Art Gallery, Osaka 2002 Gallery Ryōsai, Kyoto Kokura Tamaya, Gallery Teruyama, Tokyo Denenchōfu, Tokyo 2003 Tō ’03 Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Nihonbashi, Tokyo 2005/6 Solo installation of tearoom at Hagi Uragami Museum 2006 Tachikichi Gallery, Kyoto Tō ’06 Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Nihonbashi, Tokyo Hagi Uratami Museum, Yamaguchi 2008 Kaneta Masanao/ New Works, Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd. 2008-2009 Generosity in Clay: Modern Japanese Ceramics from the Natalie Fitz-Gerald Collection, Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Hanford, CA 2009 Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Tokyo 2010 Osaka , Osaka 2011 Tō ’12, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Tokyo

Group exhibitions:

1990 Chigusa-kai Exhibition, Hotel Okura, Tokyo 1992 Contemporary Ceramics II, Higashi Hiroshima Museum of Art, Hiroshima 1993 Three Contemporary Artists in Hagi, Takashimaya Art Gallery, Okayama 1995 The Hagiyaki, Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, Yamaguchi 1996 Art Works on the desk IV, V, Contemporary Art NIKI, Tokyo 1998 Three Contemporary Artists in Hagi, Takashimaya Department Art Gallery, Osaka 1999 Japanese Pottery- The Rising Generation From Traditional Japanese Kilns, Organized by Japan Foundation 2001 400 years of Hagi Ware, Suntory Museum, Tokyo and Hagi Uragami Museum, Yamaguchi 2002 The Legacy of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu Museum of Modern Ceramics, Gifu 2003 Contemporary Master Ceramists of Western Japan, Ibaragi Ceramic Art Museum, Ibaraki 2006 Saza - Beyond the Mountains, Yamaguchi Prefectural Hagi Uragami Museum, 2006 2006/7 Contemporary Clay: Japanese Ceramics for the New Century, Japan Society, New York 2009 Breaking from Tradition Japanese Ceramics Today, Harvey/Meadows Gallery, Aspen in conjunction with Joan B. Mirviss, LTD., New York 2010 Sakagura Shinbei, Tahawa Tobei, Kaneta Masanao, three-person show, Keio art gallery, Tokyo

JOAN B MIRVISS LTD JAPANESE FINE ART 39 EAST 78TH STREET, 4TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10075 Phone: 212.799.4021 Fax: 212.721.5148 www.mirviss.com

Third Musée Tomo Prize, Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony- Free Creativity, Musée Tomo, Tokyo 2014 The Betsy and Robert Feinberg Collection: Japanese Ceramics for the Twenty-first Century, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore Japan in Black and White: Ink and Clay (Asia Week New York), Joan B. Mirviss Ltd., NY

Select Public Collections:

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Brooklyn Museum of Art The Japan Foundation, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Ceramic Art, Gifu National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Philadelphia Art Museum, PA Yale University Art Gallery Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, Yamaguchi Yamaguchi Prefectural Hagi Uragami Museum Yokohama Sogō Museum of Art, Yokohama

References:

Toh: Kaneta Masanao, vol. 29. Kyoto: Kyoto Shoin, 1992.

Wege zur Japanischen Keramik: Tradition in der Gegenwart, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst zu Berlin, 2005.

Japanese Pottery- The Rising Generation From Traditional Japanese Kilns, The Japan Foundation, Tokyo, 1999, pp.7.

Hayashi, S., Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony- Free Creativity, Musée Tomo, Tokyo, 2010, pp.69-71, cat.nos. 48 & 49.

Mintz, Robert and Joan Mirviss with Betsy Feinberg. The Betsey and Robert Feinberg Collection: Japanese Ceramics for the Twenty-first Century. Exhibition Catalogue. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 2014.

JOAN B MIRVISS LTD JAPANESE FINE ART 39 EAST 78TH STREET, 4TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10075 Phone: 212.799.4021 Fax: 212.721.5148 www.mirviss.com