Born in 1947 to a Kyoto family that manufactured porcelain tableware, Sueharu Fukami was exposed at an early age to a variety of ceramic styles and working methods, experimenting widely before he developed a unique practice that has earned him a global reputation both for technical mastery and for single-minded pursuit of perfection in form and finish.
Fukami sometimes uses a potter's wheel, but the majority of his soaring, graceful abstract sculptures are created by forcing liquid porcelain clay under high pressure into large plaster molds which he uses to produce editions typically limited to eight casts, no two of them exactly alike. Once a cast is dry enough to be removed from its molds, Fukami scrapes and polishes it into its final shape before firing it in an electric kiln whose reducing (oxygen-starved) atmosphere enables him to coat his sculptures in seihakuji, a luminous bluish-white glaze originating in eleventh-century China. Every aspect of his work is meticulously planned in advance, especially the dynamic interaction of color and form through variations in glaze depth that produce subtle modulations in the seihakuji palette.
Fukami's artistic achievements have been recognized by a wide range of honors including the Grand Prize at the International Ceramic Exhibition at Faenza, Italy and two Gold Medals from the Japan Ceramics Society. His work is in private collections and museums all over the world including the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; and many other American institutions.
Thomsen Gallery has enjoyed a close relationship with Sueharu Fukami for three decades, mounting successful solo exhibitions in 2008, 2014 and 2018. He continues to dazzle us with his perfectionism, his commitment to technical innovation, and his sophisticated, even aristocratic, artistic persona. His mature abstract style embodies a contemporary global vision, at the same reflecting a traditional Japanese disregard for the time and effort required to produce works of such uncompromising beauty.
Artist Biography
1947 Born in Kyoto
1965 Graduated from Kyoto Arts and Crafts Training Center
14th Zen Kansai Bijutsu Ten (All-Kansai Art Exhibition)
1967 Participated for the first time in the Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition)
19th Kyō Ten (Kyoto Art Exhibition)
20th Kyōto-fu Kōgei Bijutsu Ten (Kyoto Prefecture Arts and Crafts Exhibition)
1969 Prize, 18th Zen Kansai Bijutsu Ten (All-Kansai Art Exhibition)
Eighth Nihon Gendai Kōgei Bijutsu Ten (Japan Contemporary Arts and Crafts
Exhibition)
1970 Ninth Nihon Gendai Kōgei Bijutsu Ten (Japan Contemporary Arts and Crafts
Exhibition)
1971 First Nihon Tōgei Ten (Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition), Avant-garde Section
Third Prize, 20th Zen Kansai Bijutsu Ten (All-Kansai Art Exhibition)
1972 Yomiuri Newspaper Award
1973 Second Nihon Tōgei Ten (Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition), Avant-garde Section
1974 Prize, 27th Kyōto-fu Kōgei Bijutsu Ten (Kyoto Prefecture Arts and Crafts Exhibition)
Second Prize, 23rd Zen Kansai Bijutsu Ten (All-Kansai Art Exhibition)
1975 Prize, 28th Kyōto-fu Kōgei Bijutsu Ten (Kyoto Prefecture Arts and Crafts Exhibition)
Married Takahashi Chieko
1976 Commemorative Prize, 15th Nihon Gendai Kōgei Bijutsu Ten (Japan Contemporary
Arts and Crafts Exhibition)
1977 Solo exhibition at Odakyū Department Store, Tokyo
Mayor’s Prize, 29th Kyō Ten (Kyoto Art Exhibition)
1978 Solo exhibition, Gallery Third Floor, Kyoto
Grand Prize, 31st Kyōto-Fu Kōgei Bijutsu Ten (Kyoto Prefecture Arts and Crafts
Exhibition)
Kyoto Newspaper Prize, 30th Kyoto Art Exhibition
1979 Solo exhibition, Hankyū Department Store, Osaka
Members’ Prize, First Shin Nihon Kōgei Ten (Annual Japan Contemporary Arts and Crafts Exhibition)
Mayor’s Prize, 31st Kyō Ten (Kyoto Art Exhibition)
28th Zen Kansai Bijutsu Ten (All-Kansai Art Exhibition)
1980 Solo exhibition, Asahi Gallery, Kyoto
Newcomer Prize, 30th Kyōto Kōgei Bijutsu Ten (Kyoto Arts and Crafts Exhibition)
International Academy of Ceramics Miniature Exhibition, Kyoto Prefectural Center
for Arts and Culture
Hana to Tō Ten (Flower Arrangement and Ceramics Exhibition), Kintetsu
Department Store, Kyoto
1981 International Academy of Ceramics Miniature Exhibition, Musée des Arts Décoratifs,
Paris
Visiting Professor, University of Alberta, Canada
1981 Kyoto City Artistic Newcomer Award
1982 Grand Prize, Tenth Chūnichi Kokusai Tōgei Ten (Chūnichi International Exhibition of
Ceramic Arts)
Solo exhibition, Gallery Nakamura, Kyoto
1983 Birth of daughter, Tomoko
First Zen Nihon Dentō Kōgei Senbatsu Ten (All-Japan Selected Exhibition of
Traditional Crafts), Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya
Seventh Nihon Tōgei Ten (Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition), General Section
Governor of Aichi Prefecture Prize, 11th Chūnichi Kokusai Tōgei Ten (Chūnichi
International Exhibition of Ceramic Arts)
Purchase Prize, First Kyōto Kōgei Bijutsu Senbatsu Ten (Kyoto Selected Arts and
Crafts Exhibition)
1984 Ceramic Plaque 22, Wako Hall, Tokyo
Special Prize, 16th Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition)
Encouragement Prize, Seventh Kyōto Kōgei Sakka Kyōkai Ten (Kyoto Artists’
Association Exhibition)
Second Prize (Tōkai TV Prize), 12th Chūnichi Kokusai Tōgei Ten (Chūnichi
International Exhibition of Ceramic Arts)
Judge, 36th Kyō Ten (Kyoto Art Exhibition)
1985 ’85 Senbatsu Ten (Exhibition of Selected Fine Arts), Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
Grand Prix, 43rd Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d’Arte, Faenza,
Italy
Encouragement Prize, 23rd Asahi Tōgei Ten (Asahi Ceramic Exhibition)
Grand Prix, 13th Chūnichi Kokusai Tōgei Ten (Chūnichi International Exhibition
of Ceramic Arts)
Hors Concours, 17th Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition)
Excellence Prize (Sankei Newspaper Prize), 11th Ashita o Hiraku Nihon Shin Kōgei
Ten (Contemporary Arts and Crafts of Japan Exhibition)
Invited guest, Hakuji no Bi Ten (The Beauty of White Porcelain Exhibition), Kyushu
Ceramic Museum
Invited guest, Third Biennale de Châteauroux, Musée Bertrand, Châteauroux,
France
1986 Solo exhibition, Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf, Germany
Solo exhibition, 44th Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d’Arte, Faenza, Italy
Tsuchi: Imēji to Katachi 1981–1985 (Clay: Image and Form 1981–1985), Seibu
Department Store, Ōtsu and Yūrakucho Art Forum, Tokyo
Chōkoku Shōhin Ten (Small Sculpture Exhibition), Gallery Haku, Osaka
Invited Guest, Fourth Nihon Gendai Kurafuto Ten (Asahi Contemporary Crafts
Exhibition)
Art Japonais Contemporain, Gallery Kisaragi, Paris
Rotating Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Ceramics in the United States and
Eastern Europe, sponsored by the Japan Foundation
Bronze Prize, First Kokusai Tōgeiten Mino (Mino International Ceramic Exhibition)
1987 Solo exhibition, Aoyama Green Gallery, Tokyo
Solo exhibition, Musée de Design et d’Arts Appliqués Contemporains, Lausanne,
Switzerland
Solo exhibition, Maya Behn Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
Solo exhibition, Museum voor Sierkunst en Industrielle, Ghent, Belgium
Solo exhibition, Maghi Bettini Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Invited guest, Ninth Nihon Tōgei Ten (Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition)
Kijō Kūkan no tame no Obujē Ten (Ceramic Art on the Desk Exhibition), Seibu
Department Store, Shibuya, Tokyo
Chōkoku Shōhin Ten (Small Sculpture Exhibition), Gallery Haku, Osaka
’87 Senbatsu Ten (Exhibition of Selected Fine Arts), Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
Titograd Prize, Second World Triennial Exhibition of Small Ceramics, Zagreb
1988 Solo exhibition, Seibu Takanawakai, Tokyo
Rotating Exhibition of Traditional Japanese Crafts in Eastern Europe, sponsored by
the Japan Foundation
Three Ceramic Artists, exhibition organized by the French Ministry of Culture,
Limoges, France
Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR
Prize, Eighth Ten Ten, Tenri Biennāre (Tenri Biennale Exhibition)
Tsukue o Meguru Obujē Ten (Ceramic Art on the Desk Exhibition), Shibuya Seibu,
Tokyo
Asahi Tōgei Senbatsu Sakka Ten (Asahi Selected Ceramic Artists Exhibition),
Nagoya and Tokyo
Stopped submitting works to the Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition)
1989 Céramiques de l’Ère Showa, Europalia ’89, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Mons, Belgium
Invited guest, Triennale de la Porcelaine, Nyon, Switzerland
Invited gallery artist, 46th Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d’Arte, Faenza,
Italy
1990 Tōgei no Genzai: Kyōto Kara Ten (The Now in Japanese Ceramics—Message from
Artists in Kyoto: A Drama of Space Enacted by Ten Clay Artists), Tokyo, Kyoto,
Osaka, and Yokohama
Judge, 42nd Kyō Ten (Kyoto Art Exhibition)
1991 Solo exhibition, Takanawa Art Salon, Tokyo
Solo exhibition, Aoyama Green Gallery, Tokyo
Judge, 47th Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d’Arte, Faenza, Italy
1992 Solo exhibition, Gallery Yuri, Fukuoka
Tōgei no Genzaisei Ten (Contemporary in Ceramics Exhibition), Kobe and Tokyo
MOA Okada Mokichi Merit Award, MOA Museum of Art, Atami
Japan Ceramic Society Award
La Céramique au Japon, un Art Majeur: 58 Créateurs Contemporains, Mitsukoshi
Étoile, Paris
1993 Solo exhibition, Kochūkyo, Tokyo
Nihon, Kankoku Gendai Zōkei Sakka Kōryū Ten (Exchange Exhibition between
Japanese and Korean Artists), Osaka Contemporary Arts Center
Gendai Tōgei Utsuwa Ten (Contemporary Ceramic Works: Utsuwa), The Museum of
Modern Art, Saitama
Modern Japanese Ceramics in Japanese Collections, Japan Society Gallery, New
York; New Orleans Museum of Art; Honolulu Academy of Arts
1994 In Touch: International Craft, Winter Olympics, Maihaugen, Lillehammer, Norway
Heian Kento 1200nen Kinen Bijutsu Senbatsu Ten (Kyoto 1200th Anniversary
Celebration Exhibition), Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
Kokusai Gendai Tōgei Ten: Konnichi no Utsuwa to Zōkei (Current Trends in
Ceramics: Vessels and Objects), Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto
Clay Work, The National Museum of Art, Osaka
Kyōto Sōsaku Tōgei no Nagare (Kyoto Ceramic Art Trends), The Museum of Kyoto
International Academy of Ceramics Members’ Exhibition, Prague
1995 Solo exhibition, Aoyama Green Gallery
Gendai: Kyōto no Kōgei Ten (Today: Arts and Crafts in Kyoto), The Museum of
Kyoto
Kyōto no Bijutsu, Kinō, Kyō, Ashita: Sakazume Atsuo, Fukami Sueharu (Art in Kyoto,
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Sueharu Fukami and Atsuo Sakazume), Kyoto
Municipal Museum of Art
Faentsua no Kaze Ten (Wind from Faenza Exhibition), Ceratopia Toki, Gifu
Japanese Studio Craft: Tradition and the Avant-garde, Victoria and Albert Museum,
London
Invited guest, ’95 Kanazawa Taishō Konpetishon (Kanazawa Arts and Crafts
Competition)
Contemporary Japanese Art and Crafts Exhibition, Museum für Kunst und
Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
International Academy of Ceramics Members’ Exhibition, Prague
Kyoto Art and Culture Award
Judge, Triennale de la Porcelaine, Nyon, Switzerland
1996 Solo exhibition, Tenmaya, Hiroshima
Jiki no Hyōgen: 1990nendai no Tenkai (New Expression in Porcelain:
Developments in the 1990s), National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
International Academy of Ceramics Members’ Exhibition, Saga Prefectural Museum
of Art
Eighth Kyōto Bijutsu Bunka Jushō Kinen Ten (Kyoto Art and Culture Awards
Exhibition), The Museum of Kyoto
Gendai no Tōgeibi: “Rin” Ten (Quiet Clarity “RIN”: Beauty in Contemporary
Ceramics), The Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park
Santorī Taishōten ’96 (’96 Suntory Prize Exhibition), Suntory Museum, Tokyo
Mainichi Art Award
1997 Solo exhibition, Kochūkyo, Tokyo
Invited artist, Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition: The Contemporary Teapot, Museum
of International Ceramic Art, Grimmerhus, Denmark
Merit Award, Kyoto Prefecture Culture Awards
Invited guest, 14th Nihon Tōgei Ten (Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition)
15th Kyōto-fu Bunka Jushōsha Ten (Kyoto Prefecture Culture Award-Winners’
Exhibition), The Museum of Kyoto
1998 Solo exhibition, Takanawa Art Salon, Tokyo
Solo exhibition, Contemporary Ceramic Art Kandori, Tokyo
11th MOA Okada Mokichi Shō Jūnen no Ayumi Ten (Okada Mokichi Award,
Decade of History: Award Recipients and Their Works Exhibition), MOA Museum
of Art, Shizuoka
1999 50 Maîtres: Les Arts Appliqués dans le Japan Contemporain, Paris
Artisti dal Mondo, Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy
2000 Solo exhibition, Mitsukoshi Department Store, Tokyo
Small Ceramic Sculpture, Kunstforum, Kirchberg, Switzerland
International Academy of Ceramics Members’ Exhibition, Keramion Museum,
Frechen, Germany
NHK Eisei Hōsō Yakimono no Tanbō 2000 Ten (2000 NHK Satellite Broadcasting
Ceramic Quest Exhibition), Nihonbashi Takashimaya Department Store, Tokyo
2001 Solo exhibition, Gallery Dōjima, Osaka
Gendai Tōgei no Seiei Ten (Leaders of Contemporary Japanese Ceramics), Ibaraki
Ceramic Art Museum, Shizuoka
2002 Solo exhibition, Garth Clark Gallery, New York
Gendai no Kōgei: Dentō to Kakushin, Kyōto no Rokunin (Handicrafts Today: Six
Kyoto Artists: Tradition in Innovation, Innovation in Tradition), Mie Prefectural Art
Museum, Tsu
Contemporary Japanese Crafts, Indonesia and Malaysia, sponsored by the Japan
Foundation
Judge, Sixth Kokusai Tōjikiten Mino (Mino International Ceramics Competition)
Kaikan Kinen Ten “Gendai Tōgei no 100nen Ten”: Nihon Tōgei no Tenkai (The
Legacy of Modern Ceramic Art, Part I: From Artisan to Artist, The Evolution of
Japanese Ceramic Art), Inaugural Exhibition, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu
2003 Solo exhibition, Genesis of a Genius: The Early Ceramics of Fukami Sueharu, The
Ruth and Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art at the Clark Center, Hanford, CA
Now and Now: World Contemporary Ceramics, Icheon World Ceramic Center,
South Korea
Japan, Keramik und Fotographie, Tradition und Gegenwart, Deichtorhallen,
Hamburg, Germany
Japanese Ceramics Today, Musée Tomo, Tokyo
Gendai Nihon no Tōgei: Juyō to Hasshin (Contemporary Japanese Ceramics:
Admired Traditions and New Messages), Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum,
Tokyo
2004 Katachi ga Kiru: Nihon no Gendai Tōgei (Cut by Shape: Japanese Contemporary
Ceramics), Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu
2005 Solo exhibition, Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy
Contemporary Clay: Japanese Ceramics for the New Century, Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston
Faszination Keramik: Moderne japanische Meisterwerke in Ton aus der Sammlung
Gisela Freudenberg, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
Transformations: The Language of Craft, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Judge, 54th Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d’Arte, Faenza, Italy
2006 Nihon Tōgei 100nen no Seika (The Quintessence of Modern Japanese Ceramics),
Ibaraki
Ceramic Art Museum, Kasama
2007 Fourth Cheongju International Craft Biennale, South Korea
Faïence: Cento Anni del Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza, Faenza,
Italy
2008 Solo exhibition, Erik Thomsen Asian Art, New York
Kyoto City Person of Cultural Merit
Celebrating Kyoto: Modern Arts from Boston’s Sister City, Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston
2009 Lecturer, Rad Smith Japanese Art Program, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2010 Excellence Award, Gendai no Cha: Zōkei no Jiyū (Tea Ceramics Today:
Freedom of Form), Third Musée Tomo Grand Prix Exhibition, Musée Tomo,
Tokyo
2011 Qingyun Liudong (Ambient Green Flow: The Origin and Development of East
Asian Celadon Exhibition), New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan
2012 Gold Medal, Japan Ceramic Society
2013 A Distant View: The Porcelain Sculpture of Sueharu Fukami, Garden Pavilion,
Portland Japanese Garden, Portland, OR
2023 Water in Crafts and Design: Color, From, and Texture, National Crafts
Museum, Kanazawa
Public Collections Include
Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC
Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto
Ariana Museum, Geneva, Switzerland
Art Institute of Chicago
British Museum, London
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI
Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Hanford, CA
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
French Culture Foundation, France
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA
Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf, Germany
Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Japan Foundation, Tokyo
Kameoka City
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
Kyoto Prefectural Library and Archives
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tokyo
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
MOA Museum of Art, Atami
Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, Switzerland
Musée de Design et d’Arts Appliqués Contemporains, Lausanne, Switzerland
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
Musée National de Céramique, Sèvres, France
Musée Tomo, Tokyo, Japan
Museo de Arte Moderno La Casa de Japón, San Isidro, Argentina
Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy
Museum of Art and History, Geneva, Switzerland
Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyōgo
Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade
Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shiga
Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Museum of Art, Osaka
National Museum of History, Taipei
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
New Orleans Museum of Art
Newcastle Art Gallery, Cooks Hill, Australia
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh
Okada Museum of Art, Hakone
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR
Rakusui-tei Museum of Art, Toyama, Japan
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI
Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park
Spencer Art Museum, Lawrence, KS
St. Louis Museum of Art
Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo
Tokoname City Education Bureau
Tokyo Opera City Gallery
Tsurui Museum of Art, Niigata
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT