Catalog: Artists: Ceramics (46)

A Rare and Important Early Work by Korea's Leading Ceramic Artist, Shin Sang Ho (born 1947). The unique form is exquisite and the design sublime on this painted porcelain work of art. You will never find another like this. Signed and Dated 1979. Shin Sang Ho was Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Hongik University, and his work is in the permanent collections of many major museums, including the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Royal Ontario Museum, and many other museums throughout Korea, Asia, and the world. From Ronald Reagan and Queen Elizabeth to Charles and Diana's wedding gift, when the presidents of Korea wish to present heads of state with a Korean work of art at first meetings and other important events, it is often a piece by Shin Sang Ho they choose for the occasion. There is a Shin Sang Ho Museum in Korea devoted to exhibiting the works of this artist's sixty-year career. Height: 11.25 inches, 28.5 cm; Circumference: 43 inches, 109 cm.

Just about every major museum in the world with a Korean gallery collects the work of Young Sook Park. And now you have a rare opportunity to acquire one of her beautiful masterworks for much less than the gallery prices. Width: 21 inches (53 cm), Height: 4.5 inches (11.5 cm).

Just about every major museum in the world with a Korean gallery collects the work of Young Sook Park. And now you have a rare opportunity to acquire one of her beautiful masterworks for much less than the gallery prices. Width: 5.5 inches (14 cm), Height: 3.5 inches (9 cm).

Just about every major museum in the world with a Korean gallery collects the work of Young Sook Park. And now you have a rare opportunity to acquire one of her beautiful masterworks for much less than the gallery prices. Width of each plate: Plate 1 is 12.5 inches (31.75 cm), Plate 2 is part of a set of seven and is 10 inches (25.5 cm), Plate 3 is part of a set of seven and is 11 inches (28 cm).

Choi Sung Jae (born 1962) is the most widely exhibited Korean ceramic artist, in international galleries and in the permanent collections of major museums, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, the Peabody Essex Museum, and many others. He is a master of white slip buncheong ceramics, a style revered and imitated by Japanese artists for centuries. This lovely Pond with Geese and Reeds is a fine example of his work. This is an ancient subject in Korean art and is called "noando." The literal meaning of "noando" is reed and geese painting, but it is a play on words, as "no" is a homonym that can mean either "reed" or "old", and "an" is a homonym that means either "geese" or "comfort" ("do" means "painting"). So "noan" can mean either "reed and geese" or "old comfort", therefore a painting of geese and reeds symbolizes a wish for a comfortable and peaceful old age. 12.5 inches, 32 cm.

Roe Kyung Jo (born 1951) is one of the most well-known of Korean contemporary ceramic artists, renowned for his mastery of the thousand-year-old yeollimun technique of marbleized ceramics. This beautiful bottle is a fine example. Studies on Roe's works have been published in a variety of international scholarly publications. His pieces are in the permanent collections of many museums, including the British Museum the Asian art Museum, the Cleveland Art Museum, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, among others, and has been exhibited at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yale University Art Gallery, Freer/Sackler Gallery of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Harvard University Art Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Saint Louis Museum of Art, Newark Museum, American Craft Museum, Portland Art Museum, Society for Contemporary Crafts, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Vancouver Art Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, and many others. 7.5 x 5.25 x 2.75 inches, 19 x 13.5 x 7 cm.

Rare Buncheong Vessel by Shin Sang Ho from 1993, during his buncheong period, with the original signed box. A piece that is both beautiful and important in the history of Korean contemporary ceramics. Shin Sang Ho was Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Hongik University, and his work is in the permanent collections of many major museums, including the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, and many other museums throughout Korea, Asia, and the world. This very fine example is probably the only work from Shin Sang Ho's buncheong period that is available for purchase, and that is not already in a museum or private collection. 8.5w x 7.5h inches, 21.5 x 19 cm.

Slip-Cast Sculpture by Kang Suk Young, Professor, Department of Ceramic Art, College of Art and Design, Ewha Womans University. Kang says, "I gain satisfaction and pleasure from the infinite colors created by the genuineness of white." Kang Suk Young is regarded as the pioneer of the slip-casting movement in Korean contemporary ceramics, and he continues to be in the forefront of introducing new ideas and creative expressions in contemporary Korean Ceramics. His work is in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum, and is on display in their Korean gallery. 19.5h x 15w inches, 50 x 38 cm.

Incised and Inlaid Stoneware Vessel by Cho Chung Hyun (born 1940), a retired professor and Dean of Fine Arts at Ehwa Womans University. This piece was recently featured in an exhibition at the Korea Society. Cho Chung Hyun's work is inspired by Korea’s onggi pots. This piece tells a 3,000 year-long story of Korean ceramics, from red-bodied Neolithic pottery, the triangle patterns of Silla ware, the inlaid work of Goryeo ceramics, the form of onggi pots from the Joseon Dynasty, right up to today with a modern sensibility and contemporary rendering. Cho Chung Hyun’s works are in the permanent collections of the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, the National Museum of Scotland, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, among other museums. She has curated numerous exhibitions of contemporary ceramics, including the first exhibition of Korean contemporary ceramics to travel to major museums around the world, From the Fire: A Survey of Contemporary Korean Ceramics. Cho Chung Hyun is a leading figure in the world of contemporary ceramics, as an artist, educator, curator, and author. 15h x 9w inches, 38 x 23 cm.

Joo Ji Wan's meditative groups of celadon cubes reference Korea’s ancient tradition of geometric patterns in a contemporary form. Her work was recently displayed at the Korea Society exhibition, Korean Contemporary Ceramics, and it was her work alone that was chosen for the cover of the exhibition catalogue. This fine set of 13 cubes is the very last set of cubes that Joo Ji Wan will offer for sale, as she is moving on to other projects, and there are no more cubes in her inventory or in the inventory of any gallery. She has saved this grand set of cubes, her very best, for last. Joo Ji Wan's work was also in From The Fire: Contemporary Korean Ceramics, an historic traveling exhibition of works by 54 of Korea’s best contemporary ceramic artists. It has traveled to major museums all over the world, and is the most important exhibition ever mounted on Korean contemporary ceramics. The artist given the very prestigious honor of having her work chosen for the front and back covers of the beautiful hardcover exhibition catalogue was Joo Ji Wan. In fact, her work alone was also chosen for the cover of all brochures and literature related to this most important exhibition, and so has become the symbol of contemporary Korean ceramics. Joo Ji Wan's work has been exhibited at a long list of major museums, including the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Yale University Art Gallery, Freer/Sackler Gallery of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Harvard University Art Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Saint Louis Museum of Art, Newark Museum, American Craft Museum, Portland Art Museum, Society for Contemporary Crafts, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Vancouver Art Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, and many others. It is appropriate that Joo offers her work in sets that are described with musical terms, such as Duo, Trio, Quartet, Ensemble, etc. Musical metaphor is almost required in describing Joo’s inlaid celadon and porcelain cube sets. Consider the melodic interplay of the pieces within a set, the rhythm of the patterns that are inlaid in each piece, and the harmony of the set as a whole. Just as music is mathematical but should not be predictable, Joo’s forms are simple, mathematically fundamental cubes that are inlaid with labyrinthine surprises rooted in Korea’s ancient tradition of geometric patterns imbued with centuries of meaning. Artistic innovation deeply rooted in Korea’s long celadon tradition is what puts Joo Ji Wan at the vanguard of Korean art today. Each cube: 5.25 inches, 13.25 cm. Entire Display: 31w x 21d x 26.5h inches, 78.75w x 53.25d x 67.25h cm.

Kim Young Mi Celadon. The color of this organic form is stunning, and upholds a long tradition of beautiful Korean celadons. Kim Young Mi says, "My ceramic works are a form of meditation - my humble attempts to live in grace like an open vessel, empty and yet full, of giving and receiving." Kim Young Mi's ceramics, with her inner thoughts woven into the clay, are the end results of her meditation. They quietly stir the human heart. They transform ordinary clay into the extraordinary. This piece was recently displayed in the exhibition, Korean Contemporary Ceramics at the Korea Society. This was an historic exhibition, as it was the first group exhibition of Korean contemporary ceramics in New York. 12w x 9.5h inches, 30.5w x 24h cm.

Kim Young Mi Unglazed Wood-Fired Stoneware. Kim Young Mi subjects these pieces to eight wood-firings, until the ash from the firing has performed all of its organic magic on the surfaces of these living, breathing works of art, giving incomparable texture and color to her nature-loving forms. Kim Young Mi renews the pristine artistic intention of humanity. She says, "My ceramic works are a form of meditation - my humble attempts to live in grace like an open vessel, empty and yet full, of giving and receiving." Kim Young Mi's ceramics, with her inner thoughts woven into the clay, are the end results of her meditation. They quietly stir the human heart. They transform ordinary clay into the extraordinary. This piece was recently displayed in the exhibition, Korean Contemporary Ceramics at the Korea Society. This was an historic exhibition, as it was the first group exhibition of Korean contemporary ceramics in New York. 20w x 11h inches, 51w x 28h cm.

This piece was just recently displayed at the Korea Society exhibition, Korean Contemporary Ceramics, the first exhibition on this subject in New York. Kang Jong Sook is easily the most ubiquitous Korean ceramic artist in America. She has been at the forefront of the contemporary ceramic art scene in New York for two decades now. Kang has had solo exhibitions at the Hammond Museum, Montclair State University Museum, Bratislava Museum, Dai Ichi Gallery, and Tong In Gallery, among others. She is a founding member of the biannual East & West Clay Works Exhibition. She is the owner of a successful ceramic studio and school. Height: 17 inches (43 cm), Width: 18 inches (45.75 cm).

Kim Young Mi, Wood-Fired Unglazed Porcelain One. Kim Young Mi subjects these pieces to eight wood-firings, until the ash from the firing has performed all of its organic magic on the surfaces of these living, breathing works of art, giving incomparable texture and color to her nature-loving forms. Kim Young Mi renews the pristine artistic intention of humanity. She says, "My ceramic works are a form of meditation - my humble attempts to live in grace like an open vessel, empty and yet full, of giving and receiving." Kim Young Mi's ceramics, with her inner thoughts woven into the clay, are the end results of her meditation. They quietly stir the human heart. They transform ordinary clay into the extraordinary. 18w x 14.5h x 16d inches, 46w x 37h x 40.5d cm.

Kim Young Mi, Wood-Fired Unglazed Porcelain Two. Kim Young Mi subjects these pieces to eight wood-firings, until the ash from the firing has performed all of its organic magic on the surfaces of these living, breathing works of art, giving incomparable texture and color to her nature-loving forms. Kim Young Mi renews the pristine artistic intention of humanity. She says, "My ceramic works are a form of meditation - my humble attempts to live in grace like an open vessel, empty and yet full, of giving and receiving." Kim Young Mi's ceramics, with her inner thoughts woven into the clay, are the end results of her meditation. They quietly stir the human heart. They transform ordinary clay into the extraordinary. 14h x 10w x 8.5d inches, 35.5h x 25.5w x 21.5d cm.

White Celadon Jar Number Two by Kim Young Mi. This beautiful and unusual shade of celadon is achieved by the artist's skillful manipulation of the glaze. 7.5h x 7w inches, 19h x 18w cm.

Seo Byung Ho was the recipient of the top prize in the 2009 World Ceramic Biennale, the highest paid ceramic art prize in the world. With this lovely pair of sculptural vases, Seo has combined the shape of a traditional vessel with the form of a fish, a symbol of eternal vigilance because the fish never closes its eyes. For the same reason, the fish is also a symbol of diligence that has long been a source of inspiration for Korean scholars, and is a common motif employed in scholar's implements. In the surface, color, and form of this delightful work, the Korean ceramic artist Seo Byung Ho shows why he is deserving of such top acclaim. 14.25 x 7.75 inches, 36 x 20 cm.

Porcelain Cube Bowl in the signature geometric style of Korean contemporary ceramic artist, Lee Min Kyu. The sides of the bowl seem to rise up straight, yet they flare outward ever so slightly. This bowl makes a great set when combined with the Lee Min Kyu Porcelain Vase (Stock #0387), as seen in the last photo here. Width: 9.5 inches, 24 cm; Height: 4.5 inches, 11.25 cm.