Isezaki Kantaro
From the Earth — Mountain and Kiln
Earth and stones excavated in Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture
Dimensions variable
2023
Reference price: On Request
The work shown here may not be available in the fair.
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Kantaro Isezaki was born in Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture, an area known for Bizen ware, a traditional Japanese ceramic art. Growing up surrounded by this close relationship between craft and land, he developed a strong interest in the connections between people and place.
His work focuses on the transformations of materials that occur underground and inside the kiln. Through sculpture and installation, he explores themes such as “existence,” “time,” and “site-specificity” inherent in materials themselves.
In recent years, Isezaki has come to view the process of making Bizen ware as a sculptural act in its own right, as it deeply engages with place. Digging clay, kneading it, and firing it are not merely technical steps but actions that can be translated into sculpture. Through these processes, he seeks to examine the relationship between human activity and the land.
Artist Profile
Isezaki Kantaro
1998 Born in Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
2023 MFA in Sculpture, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
2020 BFA in Sculpture, Tokyo Zokei University
Selected Solo Exhibitions and Group Exhibitions
2025 Tenjinyama Art Studio, Okayama
2025 Post-Fake, Tokyo
2026 What the Clay Remembers, Up & Coming, Tokyo
Selected Awards
2022 Encouragement Award, 15th Okayama Emerging Artists Development “I Prize”
2023 Yuji Akimoto Award, Ceramic Synergy Exhibition
Public Collections
Teikyo University Museum
Gallery Information
GALLERY KOGURE
GALLERY KOGURE internationally introduces artists who possess a concept that approaches the truth and create the highest quality of art.
It goes without saying that unique originality is an artist’s lifeline, but what we consider the most important in selecting an artist is his or her “object beauty”, “super-technique” and “Neo-culturalism.”
“Object beauty” means that an art object itself emits unwavering beauty and that it attracts people even without its concept. What we want from an artwork before anything else is beauty.
“Super-technique” is what an artist acquires by spending a lot of time on studying and training. Originality of an artist who takes interest in and learns antiques and craftsmen’s excellent skills is never carried away by the tide of time.
“Neo-culturalism” is a term coined from the idea of “Multiculturalism”. The concept was born from a desire to introduce unique and stimulating works that are a subset of “Multiculturalism”, a proactively receptive expression of the art of various cultures, but specifically featuring the distinctive background of modern Japan.
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