Photo by Seiichi Tanaka
Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
TRIBUTE TO KOINUMA MICHIO (1936-2021)
It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the passing of Koinuma Michio, whose strongly formed sculptural vessels covered with gray ash evoke the surfaces of excavated ancient bronzes and ceramics.
Born in 1936 in Tokyo, Koinuma abandoned his studies in economics and politics to instead become a ceramic artist. He moved to Mashiko and built his own kiln there in 1969. For some of his works he employed the tatara method, using flattened plates of clay to create strongly geometric forms with sharp, defined layers. Other works were more organic, with curving lines, and were covered in designs inspired by textile patterns or archaic bronzes. Throughout his career, he exhibited continuously at galleries in Japan and won several important prizes. His works have been exhibited at the Taipei National Museum of History, Taiwan; Hong Kong Art Center; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, who holds his work in their collection.
In 2013, a collectors' tour led by Joan Mirviss visited Koinuma at his studio in Mashiko, where we saw him at work and learned about his creative process. Collectors will cherish this memory of meeting the artist, and he will be greatly missed by the artistic community.
