FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Toshiko Takaezu

 Recent Sculpture
September 3 - October 5, 2002

Toshiko Takaezu elaborates on her signature closed form ceramic works for her upcoming exhibition at Charles Cowles Gallery. The new work combines her serene stoneware and porcelain shapes with alchemic glazing techniques. Fired in either a precision gas kiln or in an unpredictable wood-fire Anagama kiln, the outcome of these works relies on Takaezu’s long experience and instinctive understanding of each method. Her works range from palm sized to five-foot towers and their forms shift from bulbous to willowy. Their presence in groups anthropomorphizes them into happy families of diverse silhouettes, sizes and colors.

Takaezu, born in Hawaii of Japanese descent, has been working with clay for over four decades, and her work reflects the combined traditions of Eastern and Western techniques and aesthetics. Following her studies at Cranbrook in the 1950s, she has regularly exhibited her ceramic pieces while steadily evolving her forms from utilitarian vessels to abstract sculptural forms. Takaezu's work ranges from breathtaking understatement to expressive excitement while remaining fundamentally consistent in its Zen-like simplicity. A master of glazing, she will exhibit her Makaha Blue series of stunning deep-cobalt closed forms, which rival the intensity of an Yves Klein painting.

Since her retirement from teaching at Princeton for 25 years, Takaezu continues to create some of her most vital and creative work. Her work is included in numerous museum collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Renwick Gallery Smithsonian American Art Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the National Museum in Bangkok, Thailand. Among her many honors, she has been named a Living Treasure of Hawaii, received the Human Treasure Award from the University of North Carolina, and has been awarded several honorary doctorates for her lifetime work.

The exhibition will be on view at the Charles Cowles Gallery, 537 West 24th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues in Chelsea. Hours are 10am to 6pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

There will be a reception for the artist on Thursday, September 12 from 6-8 pm.

For further information or photographs, please contact the gallery.

Above image: Makaha Blue II, 2001-2002, stoneware, 48 x 18 1/2" diameter