Lee Love on mon 19 jul 04
Robert Yellin has a review and photos up from the Murata Gen
show John Baymore and I went to while John was here in Mashiko.
Previously, I had only seen odds & ends of Murata's and didn't find his
work too interesting. But seeing the whole show, I developed a deeper
appreciation. There is an unpretentious freedom in the work that is
shared in Hamada's work, as well as some of the other potters of that
period. Work that tries to copy this feeling either seems contrived
or sloppy. These potters began working before such things as national
living treasures and before anybody thought a potter could be
wealthy. I think the kind of humility these potters expressed in
their work is more difficult to achieve today.
Here is Robert a quoting of Murata Gen:
""The war came. We had four children and nothing to eat. I told Shoji
Hamada that all I wanted was to build a kiln at the foot of a mountain
and to live a quiet life." From Ann Holmes' book: Shards/Mashiko
Poetry *.*
Murata Gen Exhibition at the
Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art
from July 3 to Sept. 26, 2004
Story by Robert Yellin
Adapted from his article first appearing in
DARUMA Magazine, Issue 32, Autumn 2001*
Check it out here:
http://tinyurl.com/546rm*
--
in Mashiko, Japan http://mashiko.org
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