Since its opening in 2012, KH Gallery Ginza has continued to introduce fashion designer Hiroko Koshino’s creations which range from paintings and three-dimensional works to lifestyle design. The gallery has also been a space for organizing collaborative exhibitions with artists from various genres.
For this exhibition, Hiroko Koshino welcomes ceramic artist Toshio Ohi for a two-man exhibition. Next in line to inherit the tradition of Ohi ware which has continued for 350 years in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Toshio Ohi will present a collection of ceramic work that was produced exclusively for this exhibition, while Hiroko Koshino will exhibit oil paintings that have never been on display before, as well as earthenware created during her visit to The Tenth Ohi Chozaemon Ware this August.
Toshio Ohi’s ceramic works are characterized by the elegant luster and exquisite hue formed by the layering of kiln-transformed natural ash glaze. The unique forms produced by the traditional hand-forming technique also give off a sense of ambiguity, where “rigidity and flexibility” as well as “dynamic and static” coexist. In comparison, Hiro Koshino’s abstract oil paintings, of which thick surfaces deeply dimensioned with multiple layers of oil paint and solvent are sure to intrigue their audience with a dignified presence that completely differs from that of her conventional acrylic paintings. Hiroko Koshino’s profession as a fashion designer comes to life in her earth ware, where dimension is formed by “cutting” clay.
The exhibition brings together Toshio Ohi and Hiroko Koshino’s insatiable pursuit for “beauty” in the form of a new type of beauty, which explores the integration of tradition and modernity to expand beyond the physical spaces created by the two artists and evolve into the realm of the grand universe.