NEW YORK, NY.- Joan B Mirviss LTD is presenting Colored by Flame: The Artistry of Katō Ryōtarō, the artist’s first solo show in the United States now on view. Featuring more than twenty new works showcasing six of Katō’s captivating glazing styles alongside two works of calligraphy, this is a rare and unmissable debut to one of Japan’s most distinctive ceramic voices.
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Katō Ryōtarō (b. 1974) is an eight-generation descendant of ceramic artists from the Mino region. His grandfather, Katō Takuo (1917–2005), received the prestigious designation of Living National Treasure for his recreation of historical Persian glazes and lusterware techniques, a tradition that Ryōtarō’s father, Katō Kōbei VII (b. 1945) has continued. In contrast, Ryōtarō has returned to his family’s historical ceramic roots: the sensuous ash-based glazes and wood-fired kiln techniques of Japan’s Mino region.
At the heart of Katō’s ceramic practice is the anagama, or tunnel kiln. After lighting the kiln, he spends five days stoking the flames and praying to the gods of fire. Flames and black smoke spout out from the kiln, the interior of which reaches 1300 degrees Celsius. In these extreme conditions, the glaze turns molten and interacts with minerals present in the clay body. Natural ash coats the works, altering the chemistry of the glaze formula it contacts. It is through this process that the works’ unique gradations of color emerge.
Katō likens this process to a collaboration between himself and the kiln, one that requires an act of surrender on his part:
“My work extends to the point of loading the kiln. The rest is up to the kiln gods.”
Yet this is not entirely the case. While the precise result of the firing is in the kiln gods’ hands, Katō’s years of experience with the anagama, or tunnel kiln, has granted him a remarkable prescience that guides him as he loads the kiln and stokes the flames. Blending generations of Mino craftsmanship with a spirit of experimentation, Kato embraces the kiln’s unpredictability, allowing natural processes to leave their mark on every surface. His work honors tradition while pushing it in unexpected directions. While it is the flames that catalyze the alchemical transformation of the works’ surfaces, it is Katō’s hands that orchestrate it. The result is pure magic: sensuous surfaces that shift from blue to green to ochre, each unique expression a trace of the kiln’s flames.
