Firing stone / Firing clay - Masaomi Raku / Jikinyu Raku

Museum “Eki” Kyoto

Finished

Artists

Masaomi Raku, Jikinyu Raku

The first-generation Chojiro, inspired by the simplicity of Sen no Rikyu's wabi-cha, created a groundbreaking Raku tea bowl in red and black, eliminating decorative elements. Fast forward about 450 years, Jikinyu Raku (1949–) has been undertaking various challenges within the relationship between stone and soil. After changing his name from the 15th Kichizaemon to Jikinyu in 2019, he distanced himself from the philosophy and traditions of wabi-cha. He settled in a mountain village at the northernmost tip of Kyoto city, dedicating himself to the pure sculptural creation of tea bowls. In 2022, he presented an exhibition of tea bowls with the provisional title "White Rock" in London and Doha. The name, initially a provisional one for a "tea bowl resembling a white rock," is now widely recognized overseas. With "White rock" in existence, it's only natural to have "Black Rock," and both will be exhibited in this show.

Masaomi Raku (1983–), the second son of Jikinyu, is a stone sculptor. In 2023, he unveiled the long-conceived "Stone Tool" series. By carving out the form of a tea bowl from welded tuff and firing it, the sculpture reaches a state between melting and non-melting, where the supposedly immovable existence shifts slightly due to gravity. In this work, just like in the "Reincarnation" and "Stone Box" series that Masaomi has previously presented, there is a recurring theme of reincarnation within the relationship between stone and soil. Jikinyu describes Masaomi's work as having "an appearance as if it emerged from the depths of the earth as if it has existed there since ancient times."

This exhibition primarily features Masaomi Raku's new "Stone Tool" series sculptures and Jikinyu Raku's tea bowls, including "Black Rock" and "White Rock."

Schedule

Jan 2 (Tue) 2024-Jan 29 (Mon) 2024