Akagi Akito "Tea Box"

Shibunkaku is pleased to present the second solo exhibition by Akagi Akito at Gallery Shibunkaku and Shibunkaku Ginza.

Over the past thirty years, Akagi has been creating in a diverse body of Wajima-nuri, the Wajima lacquerware. Incorporating his unique aesthetics of everyday life into the traditional techniques of Wajima-nuri making, Akagi shares with the audience his sensitiveness towards art and crafts, reviving the long-established tradition of lacquer art in a contemporary way.

This exhibition highlights twelve sets of tea box produced for this show, together with other everyday wares such as bowls and dishes as well as other utensils.

biography
1962 Born in Okayama Prefecture, Japan
1985 Graduates from Chuo University;Became an editor of Kateigaho magazine
1988 Quits his job and moves to Wajima
1989 Starts Wajima nuri apprenticeship under Okamoto Susumu
1994 Becomes an independent Nushi (lacqerware craftman) of Wajima-nuri

Selected exhibition
1997 Contemporary Japanese lacquerware exhibition, Germanisches National Museum, Berlin, Germany
2000 Utsuwa – Thoughts on Contemporary Vessels, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
2012 Things: Plain & Simple, Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria
2014 Tea Box, Gallery Shibunkaku, Kyoto, Japan