Contemporary Clay/Japanese Ceramics for the New Century

Right now at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (www.mfa.org), there is an exhibition entitled "Contemporary Clay: Japanese Ceramics for the New Century" that is showing until July 9, 2006. The majority of the work on display is from the private collection of Alice and Halsey North (www.northgroup.biz/ceramics/), pioneer collectors who have had the yakimono itch for about 20 years now.
They have studied, and often visited kilns and selected works of the highest quality; their collection is as good as it gets for modern forms. The North Collection has been featured in a past issue of Kateigaho International (int.kateigaho.com) and a small portion of it is also featured in the catlaog that accompanies the exhibition.
The cover shows a winged form by Shigaraki ceramic artist Kohyama Yasuhisa and all in all there are 36 artists in the catalog. Each artist has a concise two-three paragraph introduction as well as at least one color photo of the exhibited piece. Every single piece in the book is an outstanding example for that artist, with a special emphasis on Kyoto artists. More sculptural than functional, the stlyes range from blistered Shigaraki to smooth, elegant porcelain.
Exhibitions like this will certainly attract more collectors to the very exciting field of contemporary Japanese ceramics.