Points of Connection: Generations of Mingei

This show is a story about connection. In 1918, through an association with Japanese a esthetic critic Yanagi Soetsu, the British potter Bernard Leach visited Japan where he met a young, then unknown now legendary, potter Shoji Hamada in the small village of Mashiko. This friendship sparked the resurgence of the mingei aesthetic, from which sprung the life force of modern Japanese ceramics. Mingei, the "art of the people", aspires to celebrate beauty in the functional.

Shoji Hamada, one of Japan's National Living Treasures, mentored Tatsuzo Shimaoka, also a National Living Treasure, who in turn mentored Ken Matsuzaki.  Shinsaku Hamada, son of Shoji, continued the tradition, passing it along to his son, Tomoo Hamada. Tomoo Hamada and Yoshinori Hagiwara represent the contemporary work in this lineage. Inspired by Bernard Leach, Phil Rogers carries on the legacy in Great Britian.

The clay soil in the humble village of Mashiko , Japan, has yielded hundreds of years of creative acts of object formation, derivations of patterns and glazes, examples of  which are here to be enjoyed or collected at the Harrison Gallery. It is with great appreciation and gratitude that we bring these fine ceramics to the Berkshires, in cooperation with the Pucker Gallery. The show will run through July