YOD Gallery is pleased to announce the group exhibition, "Shape of Monotone, Expression in the territory of ceramics", introducing 3 artists, Yoko Miki, Sayaka Shingu and Katsuhisa Kitano, that will be hold from 28 May to 25 June.

It seems to be a movement to show ceramic artists at contemporary galleries in Japan these days. It can be said that there are clear reasons for both sides, a deadlock over new ideas in the territory of Arts and advancement in the artistic status of Ceramics. Accelerated by the progress of media, the speed to approach each other has become very fast. We should discuss the question how we grasp Ceramics in the Arts now.

Excluding the elements of material and style, works in the territories of Arts and Ceramics can be divided into 2 elements, expression and techniques. We think that the Arts place an emphasis on expression and Ceramics put it on techniques in this case. As the main characteristic of crafts is a tradition of techniques that is continuously inherited from the past to the present, a basis of ceramics is a technique to burn and form clay. On the other hand, the Arts have adopted different kinds of mediums from other fields after the modern period in the early 20th century and have become more complicated to classify in only materials and techniques. Artist’s mind and sense is supposed to be a main element to choose subject matter of their execution before choosing mediums and techniques, to which the element of expression is strongly related.

In order to read Ceramics from the Arts' point of view with the element of expression, we only focus on form and shape of Ceramics in this exhibition. If clay as a limited material and the definition of practical use were aptitude in Ceramics, the formative or figurative style, such as Haniwa, Imari figures and small works of Bizen, appeared in the Japanese history could be a sign for the change in the identity of Ceramics. There might have not been the definition of expression at the time, but artistic expression was naturally established when the use and form of Ceramics were changed from utilities to figurative or sculptural forms. It was once restarted by the definition of Arts and Crafts from the West, but the expression in Ceramics received attention with the appearance of "Sodeisha (avant-garde ceramic artist group in Kyoto)" after the Second World War and was widely discussed. In the present time when the expression becomes more complicated, we deeloy have to re-think what ceramics should be.

The 3 artists, Yoko Miki, Sayaka Shingu and Katsuhisa Kitano, in this exhibition have a common style in using colours limited in monotone. They respectively present each tone in monotone colours that they think ideal and have investigated by themselves, but it is a strong element to emphasis on expressing unique forms in their execution. Through their works by the 3 artists, we can see a diversity of the development of Ceramics based in form by limiting the expression in colours. Miki expresses artificial objects and animals in the ordinary life. Shingu executes imaginative flowers in fine details. Kitano executes vigorous vases and vessels in the traditional style with the excellent technique of potter's wheel. It would be an opportunity to re-think expression in the territory of Ceramics through their contrastive techniques of forming and different approaches to Ceramics.