Clay and Paper: Japanese Ceramics and Screens

Exhibition Website

Apr 24 2021 - Apr 24 2022

Clay and Paper: Japanese Ceramics and Screens presents an array of functional and decorative modern ceramics and traditional screens from the island nation.

In traditional Japan, palaces and castles were designed with large interior spaces that could be divided as needed with large, movable, folding screens. Made with wooden framework covered with paper, screens were both functional and decorative. Artists from different schools of painting were commissioned to paint subtle landscapes or colorful processional and festive scenes that flowed across both screens in a pair. These images often evoked a particular season or celebration.

Like these traditional screens, modern Japanese ceramics are created to be functional, decorative, or both. Some works such as water vessels and tea bowls are created for use in tea ceremonies, whereas others are purely sculptural. Many works are deliberately rustic or asymmetrical, reflecting an aesthetic preference for the imperfect and organic rather than the refined and precise. Since the end of World War II, both women and men in modern Japan are trained in art schools and studios to create ceramics such as these.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

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