Pot luck: Takashi Murakami’s vast ceramics collection goes on display in Japan

Ceramics first emerged in Japan in the Jomon period - the prehistoric era - making it one of the first art forms in the country, and one of the oldest ceramic traditions in the world. Chanoyu tea ceremonies designed by Rikyuu - the ancient master of the Japanese green tea ritual - popularised ceramics, and in the 1920s, the Mingei folk art movement continued to place ceramics at the forefront of Japanese culture.
It’s no surprise that contemporary Japanese artists have continued to mine this medium for meaning. Takashi Murakami, the founder of the Superflat movement, is one of Japan’s most prominent collectors of ceramics today. Since opening his small ceramics store, Oz Zingaro, on the 4th floor of Tokyo’s Manga paradise Nakano Broadway in 2011, Murakami has ensured that the development of ceramics in Japan continues to flourish.
Curated pieces from Murakami's extensive ceramics collection.
His latest public initiative comes in the form of his first museum exhibition on contemporary ceramics: a selection of 300 pieces, curated from his own collection, on view at the Towada Art Centre (the multifunctional arts space designed by Ryue Nishizawa) until May. The exhibition surveys work mostly by Japanese artists, such as Superflat artist Yoshimoto Nara, whose Girl with Tongue Out (2010) forms a neat parallel with Otani Workshop’s more recent Sleeping Child (2016) but there are some major international names too - Rosemarie Trockel, Klara Kristalova and Gabriel Orozco among them.
Murakami also considers the flexibility of ceramics, between functional and art object: Yuji Murakami's Torn Jar with Ameyu, and Shin Murata’s Torn Jar, are both contemporary takes on the rough aesthetic of primitive ceramics, and earthenware originally used by Buddhists in Japan. Similarly, the muted earthy palette of pieces by Yuji Ueda and Aso Kojima reflect on the tradition of the ceramic craft, recalling the simple style of early pottery. They look at the objects of the past as high art, uncovering their inherent beauty and value.
Visitors are encouraged to consider the flexbility of ceramics, between function and art
Featured artists include Ryo Aoki, Masanobu Ando, Shin Murata, and Aso Kojima as well as ceramic works by contemporary artists Yoshitomo Nara, Naoki Koide, Chiho Aoshima and Otani Workshop
A journey into the history of ceramics uncovers the value of ceramics in contemporary Japanese culture
INFORMATION
Takashi Murakami’s 'Superflat Consideration on Contemporary Ceramics' is on at the Towada Art Centre until 28 May. Fore more information, visit the Towada Art Centre website
ADDRESS
Towada Art Centre,
10-9 Nishi-Nibancho,
Towada-shi, Aomori,
Japan
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Charlotte Jansen is a journalist and the author of two books on photography, Girl on Girl (2017) and Photography Now (2021). She is commissioning editor at Elephant magazine and has written on contemporary art and culture for The Guardian, the Financial Times, ELLE, the British Journal of Photography, Frieze and Artsy. Jansen is also presenter of Dior Talks podcast series, The Female Gaze.
-
All-In is the Paris-based label making full-force fashion for main character dressing
Part of our monthly Uprising series, Wallpaper* meets Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø of All-In, the LVMH Prize-nominated label which bases its collections on a riotous cast of characters – real and imagined
By Orla Brennan
-
Maserati joins forces with Giorgetti for a turbo-charged relationship
Announcing their marriage during Milan Design Week, the brands unveiled a collection, a car and a long term commitment
By Hugo Macdonald
-
Through an innovative new training program, Poltrona Frau aims to safeguard Italian craft
The heritage furniture manufacturer is training a new generation of leather artisans
By Cristina Kiran Piotti
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuit
Ella Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
By Hannah Silver
-
The art of the textile label: how British mill-made cloth sold itself to Indian buyers
An exhibition of Indo-British textile labels at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is a journey through colonial desire and the design of mass persuasion
By Aastha D
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experience
In ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
By Hannah Silver
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate Britain
In his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
By Emily Steer
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desire
In a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
By Sam Moore
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next year
Tate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
By Anna Solomon
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlight
For more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
By Hannah Silver
-
From counter-culture to Northern Soul, these photos chart an intimate history of working-class Britain
‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’ is at Edinburgh gallery Stills
By Tianna Williams