Akiyama Yō

Akiyama's major concerns revolve around the physical properties of clay as a material and his exploration, through the manipulation of his medium, of the tension between surface and form, between the ordered and the organic. This direct relationship with his materials and commitment to experimentation and reinvention has made Akiyama one of Japan's most important contemporary artists. Currently he serves as the chairman of the ceramics department at Kyoto City University of Arts.

1953 Born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture
1972 Entered Kyoto City University of Arts
Studied under Yagi Kazuo and started to use black clay
1978 Completed postgraduate course in ceramics, Kyoto City University of Arts
1978-81 Taught ceramics to handicapped children at Zeno, a home for disabled children
1986 Became an official member of International Ceramic Academy
1988 Professor Kyoto City University of Arts (Currently chairman of the Department of Ceramics)

Awards:

1984 Purchase Prize, Kyoto Art and Craft Exhibition (also in 1985)
1986 Yomiuri Prize, Yagi Kazuo Competition of Contemporary Ceramics
1987 Excellence Prize, Yagi Kazuo Competition of Contemporary Ceramics
1989 Ravenna Chamber of Commerce Prize, 46th Faenza International Competition of Art Ceramics
1992 Best Emerging Artist Prize, Kyoto City
1994 12th Kyoto Prefecture Culture Prize, Kyoto Prefecture
1997 Japan Ceramics Society Prize, Japan Ceramic Society
2006 Excellence Prize, First Musée Tomo Prize, Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony- Free Creativity and Atypical Usage, Musée Tomo, Tokyo
2007 Merit Prize and 25th The Kyoto Prefecture Culture Prize, Kyoto Prefecture
Enku Award, 4th Enku Grand Award Exhibition
2008 21st Kyoto Art and Culture Award, Kyoto Prefecture
2009 Grand Prize, 17th Mokichi Okada Award, MOA Museum of Art, Atami
2010 Excellence Prize, Third Musée Tomo Prize, Contemporary Ceramics for the Tea Ceremony-Free Creativity, Musée Tomo, Tokyo
2011 Mainichi Art Award by Mainichi Shimbun Newspaper, Tokyo

Selected Public Collections:

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto, Aichi
Aichi Prefecture Museum of Arts, Nagoya, Aichi
Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
Everson Museum of Fine Art, Syracuse, NY
Faenza International Ceramic Museum, Faenza, Italy
Hagi Uragami Museum, Hagi, Yamaguchi
Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum, Ibaraki
International Ceramic Studio, Kecskemét, Hungary
International Olympic Ceramic Sculpture Museum, Amaroussion, Greece
Keramion Frachen, Germany
Japan Foundation, NY
Kōriyama City Literature Hall, Fukushima
Kyoto Prefectural Government
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN
Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, NC
Musée national de Ceramique de Sèvres, France
Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, The Shigaraki Cultural Park
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museum of Modern Art, Shiga
Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama
Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu
Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka
National Museum of Art, Osaka
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Portland Museum of Art, OR
Prague Decorative Art Museum, Czech Republic
Shimane Art Museum, Shimane
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo
Takamatsu City Museum, Kagawa
Tokoname Board of Education, Tokoname, Aichi
Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo
Ube Open-Air Sculpture Museum, Yamaguchi
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

"I make it a habit to seek out the 'invisible' through the 'visible'. This is something I’ve learned from various experiences throughout my life. My teacher, Yagi Kazuo-sensei, used to say, 'Even when you look at a mountain towering before you, pay attention to the structure hidden beneath its outer appearance.'"

AKIYAMA YŌ