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Shio Kusaka

March 28–May 26, 2018
Rome

Installation view Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Installation view

Artwork © Shio Kusaka. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio

Works Exhibited

Shio Kusaka, (line 55), 2017 (left), and (line 67), 2017 (right) Stoneware, line 55: 27 × 11 ¼ × 11 ¼ inches (68.6 × 28.6 × 28.6 cm); line 67: 23 ¾ × 11 ¾ × 11 ¾ inches (60.3 × 29.8 × 29.8 cm)© Shio Kusaka. Photo: Brian Forrest

Shio Kusaka, (line 55), 2017 (left), and (line 67), 2017 (right)

Stoneware, line 55: 27 × 11 ¼ × 11 ¼ inches (68.6 × 28.6 × 28.6 cm); line 67: 23 ¾ × 11 ¾ × 11 ¾ inches (60.3 × 29.8 × 29.8 cm)
© Shio Kusaka. Photo: Brian Forrest

Shio Kusaka, (line 65), 2017 Stoneware, 28 × 19 × 19 inches (71.1 × 48.3 × 48.3 cm)© Shio Kusaka. Photo: Brian Forrest

Shio Kusaka, (line 65), 2017

Stoneware, 28 × 19 × 19 inches (71.1 × 48.3 × 48.3 cm)
© Shio Kusaka. Photo: Brian Forrest

Shio Kusaka, (line 68), 2017 (left), and (line 67), 2017 (right) Stoneware; (line 68): 24 ¾ × 9 × 9 inches (62.9 × 22.9 × 22.9 cm); (line 67): 23 ¾ × 11 ¾ × 11 ¾ inches (60.3 × 29.8 × 29.8 cm)© Shio Kusaka. Photo: Brian Forrest

Shio Kusaka, (line 68), 2017 (left), and (line 67), 2017 (right)

Stoneware; (line 68): 24 ¾ × 9 × 9 inches (62.9 × 22.9 × 22.9 cm); (line 67): 23 ¾ × 11 ¾ × 11 ¾ inches (60.3 × 29.8 × 29.8 cm)
© Shio Kusaka. Photo: Brian Forrest

About

Gagosian is pleased to present new works by Shio Kusaka. This is her first solo exhibition with the gallery and her first in Italy.

While Kusaka’s exhibitions typically feature a combination of abstraction and representation, this is the first to focus exclusively on her abstract work. The ceramics, variations on the form of the vase, are etched with continuous geodesic lines—a process that is simultaneously systematic and intuitive. Minimalist repetitions stretch across the round volumes, echoing the grids of Agnes Martin, or the instruction-based wall drawings of Sol LeWitt, which also embrace the irregularities of the hand-drawn line, creating sinuous, oscillating terrains.

Throughout her oeuvre, Kusaka has infused the subtleties of the ceramic medium with playful details and subject matter, from basketballs and fruit to dinosaurs, raindrops, and wood grain. Her geometric works, however, offer a more direct view of her technical mastery, as she discovers the infinite permutations that can result from adhering to a single process and approach. In previous abstract works, Kusaka often “ended” a line or grid pattern once it became distorted by the curvature of the pot, producing fragmented, interlocking patterns that appear as overlapping drawings, contradicting the three-dimensional volume. In these new works, however, she takes an almost topographic approach, expanding the responsive tactility necessary for wheel-throwing by carving, or drawing, intricate lines along the surfaces of each pot.

Allowing the three-dimensionality of each vessel to determine the concentric curves of the lines, Kusaka unites the primary creative acts of drawing and sculpting. While some lines appear straight and parallel, others resemble waveforms and schematic topographies. Her largest vessels to date, displayed on a long, curved wooden pedestal, are glazed in cool, muted tones, from pale blue, pink, or yellow to a tranquil off-white, and the thick liquid stops above the base of each: a necessary precaution when kiln-firing, and a subtle reminder of the alchemical transformations inherent to the medium. In a selection of smaller pots, Kusaka repeats many of the etched patterns as pencil drawings on a white ground, creating more intimate, sketch-like echoes of the large works. She thus restates the process-based techniques of the Minimalists, while also underscoring the infinite potential of form itself: from large to small, liquid to solid, two to three dimensions.

A fully illustrated catalogue will be produced for the exhibition.

Gagosian è lieta di presentare la prima mostra in Italia dell’artista giapponese Shio Kusaka.

Kusaka, nota per i suoi lavori in continua tensione tra astratto e figurativo, ha sviluppato per Roma un progetto fortemente incentrato sulle geometrie dell’astrazione. Le ceramiche in mostra, variazioni sulla forma del vaso, sono disegnate e incise con linee geodetiche continue tramite un processo contemporaneamente sistematico e intuitivo. Ripetizioni minimaliste si estendono lungo i volumi stondati riecheggiando le griglie di Agnes Martin o i disegni a muro di Sol LeWitt, e rivelando le irregolarità della linea disegnata a mano per creare terreni sinuosi oscillanti.

Nella sua opera Kusaka fonde la raffinata lavorazione tradizionale della ceramica con dettagli e soggetti giocosi quali palloni da basket, frutta, dinosauri, gocce di pioggia e venature del legno. I lavori geometrici offrono una dimostrazione più immediata della padronanza tecnica dell’artista che, concentrandosi sull’elaborazione di un singolo processo ne scopre le infinite varianti.

Nei precedenti lavori astratti Kusaka spesso “terminava” una linea o un motivo a griglia appena questi venivano distorti dalla curvatura del vaso, producendo motivi frammentati, come dei disegni sovrapposti, che contraddicevano il volume tridimensionale dello stesso. In queste nuove opere, invece, l’artista assume un approccio quasi topografico, sviluppando la manualità tattile necessaria per lavorare al tornio intagliando o disegnando linee intricate lungo ogni superficie del vaso.

Lasciando che la tridimensionalità di ciascun vaso determini le curve concentriche delle linee, Kusaka fonde i primordiali atti creativi del disegno e della scultura. Mentre alcune linee appaiono sottili e parallele, altre assomigliano a delle onde e a schemi topografici. Saranno presenti in mostra i vasi più grandi mai realizzati dall’artista disposti su un piedistallo lungo e curvo, e smaltati in vari colori, dal blu pallido, al rosa, al giallo fino ad un placido bianco sporco. Il liquido denso si ferma al di sopra della base di ognuno: una precauzione necessaria per la cottura a fuoco, e un sottile ricordo delle trasformazioni alchemiche tipiche di questa tecnica. In una selezione di vasi più piccoli, Kusaka ripropone molti dei motivi a incisione come disegni a matita su fondo bianco, creando echi più intimi, quasi degli schizzi, dei lavori più grandi. L’artista ribadisce così la tecnica dei Minimalisti basata sul metodo, e sottolinea anche l’infinito potenziale della forma stessa che varia da grande a piccola, da liquida a solida, da due a tre dimensioni.

Un catalogo illustrato verrà pubblicato in occasione della mostra.