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 SPECIAL PHOTO TOUR AND REVIEW
20 Photos on this page
Koie Ryoji -- the name conjures up images of a wild master potter, nipping at the bottle, making some of Japan's most spectacular ceramic art ever seen. In a sense this is an accurate picture of a man who has been at the forefront of the ceramic art scene since 1962. That was the year he entered a bottle into the Contemporary Japanese Ceramics competition and won a prize, and some money. He thought back then, "Hmm, this is strange, I didn't think it would be so easy." Yet at the same time he already started to become disillusioned with the way the ceramic world was set up and thus began his rebellious path.
 One huge influence was the revolutionary Sodeisha artists in Kyoto, in particular Yagi Kazuo and Yamada Hikaru. Yet, as he told me the other day, "everything is my teacher." He also wrote that his influences were:
My mother, Nami's death and my father. My grandparents' stories of their travels. The Tomimoto family and music. Fisherman and sea, wind, sun. A slope, the shadow of an overpass. Teachers like Inaba, Yamashita, Sakakibara, Tanikawa, and Osaki. Pottery fragments, the remains of fires, spirits, Mirco Macro. I can't write the name of drinking establishments -- there is perhaps much one cannot write that has been a teacher or 'anit-teacher.' Shitara's water and cold wind. Upanishad. Other things. Various people. My first wife, Yoshiko.
The above quotes, and the below paragraph, were taken from the excellent book "The Works of Ryoji Koie" published by Kodansha, 1994. In the book, Kaneko Kenji describes the birth of the Koie style:
The Koie style made its debut, then in 1968, at his first exhibition of that year, RETURN TO EARTH. The way it happened, though, was like this. Koie had been scheduled to show at an outdoor exhibition at the Modern Art Museum in Nagoya, but the event had to be cancelled due to the interference by the Zero Dimension group. Koie, beside himself with anger, showed up at the exhibition site anyway, and created a work there, alone. For this work, he took the powder of pulverized sanitation equipment (toilet bowls and such) and formed a series of small mounds, placed on top of each a powder impression of his face, molded by means of a mask, which was seen to gradually decompose, from mound to mound, until finally consumed in the final mounds.
 The RETURN TO EARTH series shocked the art world then and many came to see Koie as a great artist who questioned existing beliefs and one who made tremendous discoveries in the stuffy ceramic art world. His main questions back then were, "Who am I? What is living? What is dying?" He answered "It's how we live."
Koie's work can be provocative, calming, inward, boisterous, and intense, yet it all has a sense of "freedom and humanity." From his large installations to his small sake cups, I could always feel that in his work and after looking-holding-pondering many works the past several days, my respect for Koie has only deepened.
He works with great "abandoned freedom" and that doesn't mean child's play. A child, of course, still does live on in his heart. At his home he told me how some local elementary school kids stop by his place on the way home. "Koie-ochisan," they yell and he usually comes running out. "Would you like some snacks?" he often asks and brings out some rice crackers or other goodies. He lives in the countryside where the kids walk to school. In that respect he reminded me of the great Zen monk Ryokan who would often do the same and then go on to play "a serious" game of hide-and-seek with the kids.
I had the good fortune to spend a night at Koie's home and watched him work. He was loose yet controlled, spontaneous yet disciplined, focused yet carefree. It seemed he was always in constant motion, even on his breaks where he plopped down in a folding chair in the studio, the TV on, writing thoughts down in his red journal. He has no need for a watch or calendar and luckily his dear wife Sono makes sure all the "details" are attended to. He works with two apprentices now, as well as his second son Akira.
Koie came to my office for two days for the opening of his exhibition. He was always at ease and polite to any visitor even though many were in awe of being in his presence. The first night we went to a local hot spring and he talked of being inspired by the moment, anytime, anywhere. He told me of his world travels and always being able to communicate with the heart. That's where "it" all lives for him and he brings that out so well in his art. It's a place where we all can meet.
Below are some photos from my day at his house and studio and also of some taken at our e-y net office. I sincerely hope you enjoy a peek into Koie's world -- it is a captivating place.
Story by Robert Yellin
 
(L) Front Door (R) Chawan Outside
  
(L) Koie throwing chawan (C) Koie carving (R) Koie ladling
  
(L) Mountain scene (C) Return to Earth (R) Pots unloaded
 
(L) Tools (R) Work Area
 
(L) Works drying (R) Watching TV
 
(L) Tsubo (R) Scene
 
(L) Firecoats (R) Koie using firecoat
Right photo courtesy NHK Kobo Tanbo Tsukuru, Vol. 4
Out of the fire; the result after firing
 
(L) Vase (R) Kiln opening
(L) Yellin and Koie
PROMOTIONAL COPY FOR THE KOIE RYOJI EXHIBITION
To discover is a great motivation for living. On the most basic level any person needs to discover who they are -- to find a "'light"' within themselves they can call their own. For many this is enough. Yet for those who create it is only a beginning. The questions continue to be asked and many can never be answered -- yet that is ok.
For Japanese potter Koie Ryoji, the question that has burned in his mind since the 1960s is "What is yakimono?" He has challenged that question ever since in his work, and in doing so has challenged us as well. Koie is a "professor of clay and fire" and has taught many worldwide. People around the world love him, and his work, and we are very honored to host Koie's exhibition in our Mishima office -- as well as online! The exhibit will feature 60 works, with many of the pieces also offered for online viewing and purchase. The online gallery & estore will be posted shortly, on or around May 16. At that time, please visit our online store and type "Koie Ryoji" in the search box. We welcome you to stop by our office -- or online gallery -- and discover for yourself the "answers" that Koie has created in clay.
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