Jun Kaneko

Locks Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of freestanding and wall-bound ceramic sculptures by Omaha-based artist Jun Kaneko. There will be an opening reception celebrating the artist’s sixth solo show with the gallery on Friday, June 1st, from 5:30-7:30 pm. 

On view will be a collection of dangos and wall slabs created in the last decade. Many of the dangos feature a blue indigo low-fire glaze, one that Kaneko has crafted and developed over 20 years since his discovery of the process on a residency in the Netherlands. Several of these works were shown in a site-specific installation at the David and Gladys Wright House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Phoenix, Arizona in March. 

Kaneko’s complex raku firing and glazing process gives each wall slab and dango a unique personality. Part of the allure of the raku technique is the unpredictability of the end product, resulting in beautiful asymmetric and accidental surfaces. Strokes of color wash over the surface like rain, or, are punctuated with dots while others are saturated in deep heavy hues, all with an orchestra of intricate geometric patterns in color, line, and texture. At times minimalist and severe, at others playful and vibrant, this series of works expand on Kaneko’s exploration of ceramic materials, drawing on his lifelong search for harmonies and dissonances, spatial relations, and the emotional scale of the work of art.

Jun Kaneko (born in 1942 in Nagoya, Japan) has shown extensively in the U.S. for over fifty years and had one-person exhibits in Finland, Norway, Japan, South Korea and Canada. Kaneko’s work is in numerous museum collections throughout the world including Arabia Museum, Helsinki, Finland; Detroit Institute of Arts; Gardiner Museum, Toronto; Los Angeles County Art Museum; Museum of Art and Design, NY; The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Phoenix Art Museum and Smithsonian American Art Museum. In addition to his sculptures and installations, the artist has been commissioned to design costumes and sets for leading productions by the Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera and the Philadelphia Opera Company.