Mimesis

23 July – 21 August 2021

Mimesis is a group exhibition of 6 contemporary Japanese ceramicists, namely Chikako Inaba, Jun Matsumura, Nami Takahashi, Sayaka Shingu, Yu Tanaka, and Yuri Takemura, whose focus is the creation of original works by imitating things and transforming them. The objects range from plants and water to natural scenery and inorganic objects, transcending the boundaries between figuration and abstraction to achieve a unique beauty of form.

This is a new trend that has emerged since the 2000s in Japanese modern ceramics driven by both the inheritance of tradition and modernism based on the destruction of norms. These artists contextualized Japanese ceramics into a poetic art by exploring new modeling techniques and pure observation of the world. As a result, this has attracted young talented people to ceramic art and has become the driving force behind the exciting space of contemporary Japanese ceramics today.

Aristotle’s view of Mimesis, as laid down in "Poetics", is the act of imitation inherent in human beings and therefore is the source of all art and poetry. The works of the 6 artists in this exhibition represent contemporary Japanese ceramics and are good examples of mimesis.


Exhibition Catalogue