Nishihata Tadashi

Exhibitions
biography

A native of the centuries-old ceramic region of Tanba, Nishihata comes from a long line of distinguished ceramic artists. His work reflects his mastery of these ancient techniques as well as his keen sense of refined modern aesthetics, making him one of the masters of Tanba ware.

1948 Born in Hyogo, Japan
1969 Started producing ceramics
1990 Jury at Japan Art and Craft Exhibition, Kinki Area
Member of Japan Arts and Crafts Association
2011 Official member of Nikkō Kogei kai
Awards:

1976 Hyogo Encouragement Prize for Artists
1988 Matsushita Award, the Japan Art and Craft Exhibition, Kinki Area
1990 Encouragement Award, Plastic Arts for the Way of Tea Exhibition (also in 1997, 2007, 2008)
1991 Grand Prize, Plastic Arts for the Way of Tea Exhibition (also in 2005, 2006)
1992 Excellence Award, Plastic Arts for the Way of Tea Exhibition (also in 1993, 1996)
Encouragement Award at Hyogo New Talent of Arts Award
1994 Won Grand Prize, Chanoyu no zōkei Exhibition organized by the Tanabe Museum of Art
1997 Encouragement Award, Plastic Arts for the Way of Tea Exhibition
2005 Won Grand Prize, Chanoyu no zōkei Exhibition organized by the Tanabe Museum of Art (also in 2006 for third time)

Selected Public Collections:

British Museum, London
Higashi-Hiroshima City Museum of Art, Hiroshima
Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN
Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo
Museum of Fine Art, Boston
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Tanabe Museum of Art, Matsue, Shimane
Nishihata Tadashi
bio pt 1

Born 1948, Hyogo, Japan

A native of the centuries-old ceramic region of Tachikui celebrated for producing Tanba pottery, NISHIHATA TADASHI comes from a long line of distinguished ceramic artists, going back to the middle Edo period. His work reflects his mastery of these ancient techniques as well as his keen sense of refined modern aesthetics, making him one of the contemporary masters of Tanba ware. Nishihata has brought new energy and a spirit of modernity and attention to this hidden spot between Osaka and Kyoto.
bio pt 2

Fired in an anagama (half underground kiln), his uniquely thick ash glazes cascade into a waterfall of melting colors. His signature blueish-green glaze is made from a combination of rice straw and other local wood ashes. The diagonally faceted, carved surfaces on his rounded triangular vessels provide the ideal form for the traditionally fired unctuous glazes. On the other hand, it is his reinvention of the ancient akadobe slip-glazing, a Momoyama era technique for creating a deep brick-red surface through the application of a particular type of mud prior to a prolonged wood-firing, which has brought him the greatest acclaim in Japan. For this later style work, Nishihata abandons his anagama and instead using a climbing kiln (which he modified fifteen times) to fire his ceramics.
video
pull quote

"With my ceramics, I strive to evoke flowing water, mountain ridges or forests of trees while always bearing in mind which shapes will bring out the allure of the clay itself."

NISHIHATA TADASHI