Shiryū Morita / Machiko Ogawa: in collaboration with Shibunkaku

Morita Shiryū

Born in 1912 in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Died in 1998 in Kyoto, Japan. 
Morita Shiryū is a predominate figure in Japanese contemporary calligraphy. Shiryū revolutionized the conventional thinking of traditional Japanese calligraphy, fronted the development of avant-garde calligraphy, and spread it to the international audience. In 1952, Shiryū co-founded the Bokujin-kai group with other like-minded calligraphers including Inoue Yūichi. Moreover, Shiryū initiated and edited the Bokubi journal, which was considerably influential in and out of Japan and had attracted extensive attention to the Japanese avant-garde calligraphy.

galerie frank elbaz is pleased to present an exhibition including works by Shiryū Morita and Machiko Ogawa. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Shibunkaku.

Machiko Ogawa

Born in 1946, Sapporo, the largest city of the Hokkaido Prefecture of Japan, Ogawa studied crafts at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music where she was a student of Fujimoto Yoshimichi (1919-1992), Kato Hajime (1900-1968) and Tamura Koichi (1918-1987). Graduating in 1969, she then went on to study ceramics at l’École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d’Art in Paris until 1971, and then in Burkina Faso, West Africa until 1975 where she studied local ceramic techniques. Applying this to her understanding of Africa’s geological forms, Ogawa developed her own unique style creating objects that appear to have emerged from the earth as if hewn from its very depths.