Porcelains in the Mist: The Kondō Family of Ceramicists, the Brooklyn Museum’s current installation featuring ceramic objects by Kondō Takahiro, is on view in our Arts of Japan gallery. Keep reading to learn more about what makes these ceramics so special—and come see them for yourself!
There’s a secret technique behind the dewy texture on artist Kondō Takahiro’s ceramic objects. The effect, which he calls gintekisai, or silver mist, is the result of a special glaze that beads up during firing to look like condensation or rain drops—except that it is metallic. When combined with blocks of colorful cast glass (another favored material), the metallic beads make Kondō’s ceramics feel precious and jewel-like.
It would be so easy for the artist to lean heavily on his invention and just produce one gorgeous piece after another, but he is a thoughtful man, and he uses the silver mist to make us think as well.
When he applies the glaze to cobalt-blue surfaces, the droplets evoke the depth and multiplicity of a galaxy.
When he puts it on a human form, it recalls perspiration, along with the toil and worry that make us sweat.
Takahiro arrived at his two signature elements, mist glaze and cast glass, as the result of a quest to create the effect of water from fire. The technology to create glazed ceramics (and glass) is wonderfully counterintuitive: it takes elements dug up from the earth, introduces them to very high temperatures in kilns, and produces something cool, smooth, and often pure white or brightly colored. In the process, dirt is turned into something like a gemstone.
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From top: Kondō Takahiro (Japanese, born 1958). Silver Mist Colors Tea Bowl, 2013. Glazed porcelain, 2 15/16 × 6 1/4 × 6 1/4 in. (7.5 × 15.8 × 15.8 cm). Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection. © Kondō Takahiro. (Photo: Richard P. Goodbody and John Morgan); Kondō Takahiro (Japanese, born 1958). Large Bowl with Silver Mist Colors (detail), 2021. Glazed porcelain, 1 15/16 × 22 11/16 in. (5 × 57.6 cm). Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection. © Kondō Takahiro. (Photo: Richard P. Goodbody and John Morgan); Kondō Takahiro (Japanese, born 1958). Three pieces from the series Reflection: TK Self Portrait, 2010. Glazed porcelain, each piece, 9 7/16 × 6 5/8 × 8 11/16 in. (24 × 16.8 × 22 cm). Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection. © Kondō Takahiro. (Photo: Richard P. Goodbody and John Morgan); Kondō Takahiro (Japanese, born 1958). Mist Box, 2005. Glazed porcelain, glass, 19 1/16 × 6 3/16 in. (48.5 × 15.7 cm). Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection. © Kondō Takahiro. (Photo: Richard P. Goodbody and John Morgan)
Porcelains in the Mist: The Kondō Family of Ceramicists is organized by the Brooklyn Museum based on the exhibition Transcendent Clay/Kondo: A Century of Japanese Ceramic Art, originally presented by the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, and guest curated by Joe Earle. The Brooklyn Museum’s presentation is organized by Joan Cummins, Lisa and Bernard Selz Senior Curator, Asian Art.
We are grateful to Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz, whose generosity and enthusiasm made this exhibition possible.
