ART BASEL HONG KONG 2023

Takuro Kuwata has captivated a global audience through exhibitions in major cities worldwide including Tokyo, New York, London, and Brussels. Adorned with vivid hues and metallic glazes, his unforgettable works remain distinctive while incorporating traditional Japanese ceramic techniques such as ‘kairagi’ (the effect of shrinking and cracking within the glaze, translating to ‘like the skin of a plum tree’), ‘ishihaze’ (the process of stones exploding upon their mixture with clay and subsequent firing), and ‘hibukure’ (swelling in the surface caused by heat, conventionally an undesired outcome). Though his works are deeply rooted in ceramic tradition, Kuwataʼs novel visual language retains a critical eye, moderating a dialogue between primitive material and a contemporary perspective.

In Kuwataʼs creative process, he painstakingly masters and reinterprets ceramic techniques through meticulous investigation. His experiments, which sometimes even negate previous developments, push the technical boundaries of the medium, resulting in sculptures that embody daring visions and break away from convention. His works embody organic forms and a distinct playfulness, evoking molten lava, sun baked mud, or exploding candies. Inheriting the traditional tea-ceremony aesthetic of wabi-sabi, imperfect beauty and natural forms are celebrated in the preservation of a rustic, unrefined elegance. Kuwata seeks to expose his audience to this newfound territory, wherein his work serves as the medium of communication. A variety of small, medium, and large-sized sculptures are on view to demonstrate the breadth and sense of evolution present in Kuwataʼs work that ranges from a resemblance to their ancestral utilitarian objects to towering sculptural monuments.

This presentation also includes a recent series of sculptural work entitled ‘TEE BOWL’, derived from the traditional tea bowl form. The title, along with it being a wordplay on ‘tea bowl’, encapsulates the artist’s ambition in elevating the art of ceramics from simple craft to fine art. Just as one would tee up a golf ball before making a swing, Kuwata tees up his ceramic onto the realm of fine art, deconstructing previous notions stating otherwise. This presentation will introduce 13 works, including ‘TEE BOWL’ sculptures, each work presented in a way as to give viewers a sense of the individual creative processes that went into its production. The booth space is designed by Tokyo-based architect Kentaro Ishida.