Akio Takamori: "Europeans"

November 19, 2009—December 19, 2009 | Reception Thursday, November 19th, 6-8PM

James Harris Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by Akio Takamori. The artist has been a seminal figure working in ceramics for more than twenty five years. Takamori’s sculpture has always been figurative, based on the human body and expressive of human emotion and sensuality. The show will consist of twelve small scale porcelain figures paired with an accompanying photograph and five large scale stoneware figures. The porcelain works were conceived during a residency at the International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark. Upon his return from Northern Europe, the artist created the stoneware pieces in his Seattle studio. The exhibition explores both contemporary and Renaissance portraiture as a psychological crossroads between past and present.

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"Actor" 2009
"dutch Grandmother" 2009
"Producer" 2009
"Queen" 2009
"Queen Mother" 2009
"Spanish Maid" 2009
"Spanish Prince" 2009
"Student" 2009
"Teacher" 2009
"Writer" 2009
"Poet" 2009
"Blue Princess" 2009
"Pink Princess" 2009
"Dutch Mother" 2009
"Black Princess" 2009
"Doctor's Wife" 2009

Akio Takamori

Takamori was a seminal figure in ceramic art, whose work over the past thirty years has left an enduring impact on the Pacific Northwest arts and the medium itself. His work is often autobiographical, drawing on his life in Japan, his family, and mythological themes. He is known for his coil-built figurative sculptures in which the narrative painting defines the form.  Takamori explored themes of cultural identity by engaging the history of Eastern and Western aesthetics. Bold form and color defines his body of work, which is highly expressive of human emotion and sensuality.

Akio Takamori was born and raised in Japan. He has been exhibiting in the United States, Europe and Asia since the mid 1980s. Takamori received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1976 and his MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University in 1978.

Takamori’s work is included in numerous collections including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Los Angels County Museum of Art, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Ariana Museum in Geneva, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including three National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowship Grants (1986, 1988, 1992), the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant (2006), and the USA Ford Fellowship (2011). Takamori was a professor of art at the University of Washington. He lived and worked in Seattle.