"Presence in Between - Miyanaga Tozan III, Miyanaga Kotaro, Miyanaga Aiko" (TOKYO)

Mizuma Art Gallery is proud to present “Presence in Between – Miyanaga Tozan III, Miyanaga Kotaro, Miyanaga Aiko” from Wednesday, March 11. Curated by MIYANAGA Aiko, this exhibition brings together the works of three family members: her father, Miyanaga Tozan III, her brother Kotaro, and Aiko herself.

Now 90 years old, her father Tozan no longer spends every day in the workshop as he once did, but Aiko recalls that from her earliest childhood, the home was always filled with the “figure of a maker at work.” She has been encouraged by that presence for many years. For this exhibition, Aiko and her brother Kotaro, who grew up in the same household and works as a sculptor, collaborated on the exhibition layout, presenting their works in a way that traces each artist’s gaze.

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When my father held a solo exhibition in Kyoto aged 88, he wrote in his thank-you note: “Thank you, it was fun. Next, 90!” Seeing that postcard, Mr. Mizuma said, “Then let’s hold it at our gallery!” – and that became the catalyst for this exhibition.

For this show, I requested my brother to include works from around the time I became a university student in the early 1990s, and together we are shaping the layout. My father, Miyanaga Tozan, is the third generation of the Miyanaga Tozan kiln. Our family has been involved in ceramics for over 120 years. Yet, with each generation exploring different forms and styles, the question of what has truly been inherited is not something that can be easily put into words.

Now, from among the familiar landscape filled with my father’s works, I am thinking about the exhibition we want to create. How have we, across generations, approached art and engaged with the times? How have we watched over the making of each other’s works? These are things so ordinary I had never consciously reflected on them before.

I hope this exhibition becomes one that revolves around the perspectives of each family member. As I exchange ideas with my brother, I notice surprising overlaps in our tastes and ways of seeing. Perhaps these are the qualities we have quietly nurtured together within our family, beginning with our father and the environment we grew up in.

MIYANAGA Aiko

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【Profiles】

Miyanaga Tozan III (Miyanaga Rikichi)

Sculptor and ceramic artist. Born in 1935 as the son of the second-generation Miyanaga Tozan (Miyanaga Tomoo 1907-1995). Graduated from the Sculpture Department of Kyoto Municipal University of Fine Arts in 1958, studying under Tsuji Shindo and Horiuchi Masakazu. He later withdrew from the postgraduate program in 1960 to move to the United States, where he studied at the Art Students League. From 1962 to 1969, he was affiliated with the Kodo Art Association, and in 1970 joined Sodeisha. In 1999, he assumed the name of the third-generation Miyanaga Tozan.

His early sculptural forms made use of the mass and materiality of clay. From 1964 onward, he turned primarily to porcelain, developing geometric forms, experimenting with low-temperature glazes for distinctive colour effects, and creating his folded form series using paper moulds. Today, he pursues a monochromatic world centred on blue tones.

Major exhibitions include “Contemporary Trends in Japanese Paintings and Sculpture” (The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, 1964); “Japanese Ceramics Today” (Denver Art Museum, USA, 1979); “Japanese Studio Crafts: Tradition and the Avant-Garde” (Victoria & Albert Museum, UK, 1995); and “Crafts in Kyoto: 1945–2000” (National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo, 2001), among others.

He was awarded the Japan Ceramic Society Gold Prize (2023) and the 38th Kyoto Art and Culture Award (2025).

Miyanaga Kotaro

Born in 1969 and based in Kyoto. Graduated in 1991 from the Sculpture Department of Kanazawa College of Art. Currently serves as Professor in the Department of Fine Arts, Faculty of Art, Kyoto Seika University.

Working with natural materials such as brick, earth, water, and seeds, he primarily creates installations that incorporate the passage of time and the forces of nature, integrating with the surrounding landscape.

Major exhibitions include the solo exhibition “Range” (Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2006, Dragon Museum of Contemporary Art, Niigata, 2006); “Reproduction by Sculpture” (Gallery Nakamura, Kyoto, 2008); “After School” (Rissei Elementary School, Kyoto, 2009); and Rokko Meets Art 2010 (Rokko Musical Box Museum & Gardens MORINONE, Hyogo, 2010), among others.

He received the Excellence Award at the Oita Asian Sculpture Exhibition (2004) and the Kyoto City New Artist Award (2007).

Miyanaga Aiko

Born in 1974 in Kyoto, Japan, where she is currently based. Received her MA in Intermedia Art from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2008.

Known for her sculptures of everyday objects cast in naphthalene, as well as installations employing materials such as salt, leaf veins, and the sound of glaze cracking on freshly fired ceramics. She visualises time by tracing signs of its presence and expresses the idea that, “the world continues to exist through constant change.”

Recent exhibitions include the solo show “1900 – 2025 : souffle de lumière” (Le Clézio Gallery, Paris, 2025); the solo exhibition “MIYANAGA Aiko -Wrapping a verse” (Toyama Glass Art Museum, 2023); “WORLD CLASSROOM: Contemporary Art through School Subjects” (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2023); and “Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art 1st Anniversary Exhibition “Dialogues with the Collection: 6 Rooms” (Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, 2021), among others.

In 2020, she was awarded both the 70^th Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the 33^rd Kyoto Art and Culture Award.