Shozo Michikawa (b. 1953, Japan) is a ceramic artist based in Seto, Japan, where he has maintained a studio since 1975. Michikawa creates expressionist gestural sculptures inspired by nature and his native landscape. His hand-thrown ceramics twist in dynamic spirals along a central axis. The works’ materials and complex silhouettes exist in a harmonic balance between destructive force and stability: distortion, scored surfaces, and fault lines appear across their rough-hewn faces, which glint and shimmer upon close inspection like igneous stones encasing mineral deposits.
Working from Seto, the ancient center of Japanese pottery production, Michikawa employs techniques from the region’s thousand-year-old traditions. He often fires his ceramics in an anagama, an outdoor, wood-stoked kiln which requires constant tending over three or more days of firing. The chance textures of wood ash, pine sap, charcoal, and mineral glazes combine to produce subtle, earth-toned variegations on the ceramics’ surfaces. Often, dark clay bodies combine with satiny, feldspar-rich Shino and white Kohiki glazes to produce stark contrasts in the sculptures’ twisting forms. Elsewhere, Michikawa creates sculptures using rough, unglazed stoneware formed from volcanic Usu earth. The resulting ceramics’ forms and textures recall the seismic forces and volcanic eruptions that have defined much of the Pacific Rim’s geology.
Shozo Michikawa has exhibited widely in Japan as well as internationally. His work is included in many important public and private collections including the Shimada City Museum, Japan; International Museum of Ceramics, Italy; Victoria and Albert Museum, UK; Ashmolean Museum, UK; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; and Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania. He is the recipient of a gold medal at the Internationale Handwerksmesse Munich and was a finalist for the Loewe Craft Prize in 2019.
SHOZO MICHIKAWA
b.1953, Hokkaido, Japan
EDUCATION
1971-1975 Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 THE INBETWEEN, HB381, New York, NY
2023 Tazutazushi: Peering beyond the tradition, Sokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2022 Haiku in Clay, Silverlens Gallery, Manila, Philippines
2021 Shozo Michikawa, Hostler Burrows, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Shozo Michikawa, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
Shozo Michikawa, Galerie Friedrich Müller, Frankfurt, Germany
2020 Shozo Michikawa: Sasama, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
2019 Power of passion, GALERIE hu, Nagoya, Japan
40th Anniversary Exhibition, Shozo Michikawa, Sokyo Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
2018 40ans de Shozo Michikawa, Mizen Fine Art International, Paris, France
40th anniversary Exhibition, Galerie Friedrich Müller, Frankfurt, Germany
40th anniversary Exhibition, Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy
2017 40years 40pots, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
Shozo Michikawa, Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA, USA
Nature into Art, Silverlens Gallery, Manila, Philippines
2016 Shozo Michikawa, Centro Cultural Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
Shozo Michikawa, Galerie Friedrich Müller, Frankfurt, Germany
Nature into Art, Seto Ceramics and Glass Art Center, Seto, Japan
Shozo Michikawa, Museo Carlo Zauli, Faenza, Italy
2015 The Forbidden City, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
Ballades en Terres, Mizen Fine Art, Paris, France
Shozo Michikawa, Puls Contemporary Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2014 Shozo Michikawa, Galerie Friedrich Müller, Frankfurt, Germany
Shozo Michikawa, Hélène Aziza, Paris, France
Nature into Art, GALERIE hu, Nagoya, Japan
2013 Shozo Michikawa, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
Shozo Michikawa, Peter Kummermann, Geneva, Switzerland
Shozo Michikawa, Mitsukoshi Contemporary Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2012 Nature into Art, Centre MATERIA, Quebec, Canada
Shozo Michikawa, Galerie Helene Poree, Paris, France
2011 Shozo Michikawa, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
The Nature of Clay, Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Shozo Michikawa, Puls Contemporary Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Shozo Michikawa, Terra Rossa, Leipzig, Germany
Nature into Art, GALERIE hu, Nagoya, Japan
2009 Nature into Art, Galerie Besson, London, UK
Shozo Michikawa, Art Gallery Oyama, Osaka, Japan
2008 Shozo Michikawa, Clara Scremini Gallery, Paris, France
Shozo Michikawa, GALERIE hu, Nagoya, Japan
2007 30 years 30 pots, Galerie Besson, London, UK
30 years 30 pots, IZUKAN GALLERY, Manila, Philippines
Shozo Michikawa, Gallery Tokyo Eizo, Tokyo, Japan
2006 Shozo Michikawa, Puls Contemporary Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2005 Shozo Michikawa, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC, USA
Returning to Nature’s Simplicity and Truth, Shandong Museum, Shandong, China
Returning to Nature’s Simplicity and Truth, Forbidden City, Beijing, China
Shozo Michikawa, Wa-noi, Shizuoka, Japan
Shozo Michikawa, IZUKAN GALLERY, Manila, Philippines
2004 Shozo Michikawa, Galerie Besson, London, UK
2003 Shozo Michikawa, IZUKAN GALLERY, Manila, Philippines
Shozo Michikawa, Matsuzakaya Department Store Gallery, Shizuoka, Japan
Shozo Michikawa, TOBU Department Store Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2001 Shozo Michikawa, UlaanBaatar Art Gallery, UlaanBaatar, Mongolia
Shozo Michikawa, TOBU Department Store Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2000 Shozo Michikawa, TOBU Department Store Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Shozo Michikawa, Mitsukoshi Department Store Gallery, Kurashiki, Japan
1997 Shozo Michikawa, Hiraya Gallery, Manila, Philippines
Shozo Michikawa, Tokyo Department Store Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Shozo Michikawa, Hiraya Gallery, Manila, Philippines
1995 Shozo Michikawa, Hankyu Department Store Gallery, Osaka, Japan
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Loewe Teapots, Milan Design Week, Palazzo Citterio, Milan, Italy
Shozo Michikawa and Trey Trahan: The Sound of the Mountains, Sokyo Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
Small Works, Great Artists, Erskine Hall & Coe, London, UK
2023 Japanese Ceramics, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
Small Works, Great Artists, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
International Ceramics, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
2022 Small Works, Great Artists, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
Materials of the Earth, Sokyo Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Vessel or Not?, Sokyo Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
2021 Small Works, Great Artists, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
2020 TEA BOWLS BY 9 ARTISTS, Online Exhibition, Erskine Hall & Coe, London, UK
Nomad, Officine Saffi, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Main Dishes, Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy
Collect, GALERIE hu, Tokyo, Japan
Bienal Internacional de Cerámica de Marratxí, Marratxí, Spain
2019 Watchfire, Silverlens Gallery, Manila, Philippines
Manpower, Shozo Michikawa and Hans Vangsø, A. PETERSEN. Collection & Craft,
Copenhagen
Michikawa + Vangsø: Power of Simplicity, Lucy Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA, USA
Small Works, Great Artists, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
Design Miami / Pierre Marie Giraud, Miami, FL, USA
TEFAF / Pierre Marie Giraud, Maastricht, the Netherlands
Art Fair Tokyo / Sokyo gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2018 Glass, Textiles, Lacquer & Ceramic, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
60th edition of the Faenza prize, Faenza, Italy
Design Basel/ Pierre Marie Giraud, Basel, Switzerland
About a Vase, Museo Montelupo, Montelupo, Italy
NIHON NOW, Galerie Du Don, Le Fel, France
International Craft Fair. Modern Masters, Munich, Germany
Masterpieces - 400 Years of Japanese Ceramics, KKAM Höganäs, Höganäs, Sweden
2017 Design Basel/ Pierre Marie Giraud, Basel, Switzerland
Art Fair Philippines, Silverlens Gallery, Manila, Philippines
Love and Violence, Mizen Fine Arts, Padova, Italy
2016 Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy
Singapore Contemporary Art Show, Di Legno, Singapore
2015 International Ceramics, Shimada City Museum, Shimada, Japan
International Ceramics, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
2014 Art Ceram, Sèvres, France
Japanese Ceramics, Erskine, Hall & Coe, London, UK
The Tea Bowl Show, The Oxford Ceramics Gallery, Oxford, UK
ICC Delhi 2014 Art Fair, Delhi, India
2012 International Trade Fair. Modern Masters, Munich, Germany
The World in a Cup, NCECA, Seattle, USA
SOFA, New York, USA
COLLECT, London, UK
Han Hyang Lim Onggi Museum, Korea
2011 Pots from Seven Countries, Galerie Besson, London, UK
Art of Pacific Asia show, New York, NY, USA
2010 SOFA, New York, USA
COLLECT, London, UK
Pots & Paper, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
Summer Exhibition, Galerie Besson, London, UK
Keramicos Collection, Harlem, The Netherlands
2009 The Art of Japanese Craft 1870 to the Present, Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Pennsylvania, USA
Soft Beauty of Traditional Shinos, Concord University, WV, USA
SOFA Chicago, USA
2008 A Japanese Dialogue, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
Tutor Exhibition, Sussex Barn Gallery, Chichester, UK
The Great North Art Show, Ripon, UK
Twenty Years, Twenty Pots, Galerie Besson, London, UK
International Ceramics, Giroussens, France
SOFA New York, USA
2006 Japanese Crafts, Galerie Besson, London, UK
2005 Ceramica Mosaico, Ravenna, Italy
Summer Exhibition, Galerie Besson, London, UK
The Signature Shop & Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
2004 Maiden Bridge Exhibition, Maiden Bridge Farm, Lancaster, UK
Japanese Ceramics, Galerie Besson, London, UK
SOFA, Chicago, USA
2003 Summer Exhibition, Galerie Besson, London, UK
2002 Accompaniments of Tea, Daiichi Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1999 Gallery Pots, Galerie Besson, London, UK
1996 101 Pitcher Exhibition, Terres de Provence, Paris, France
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Musee Cernuschi, Paris, France
Faenza International Museum of Ceramic, Faenza, Italy
Crocker Art Museum Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, USA
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, USA
Ashmolean Museum of Art, Oxford, UK
Museo Carlo Zauli, Faenza, Italy
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK
The Museum in Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Shimada City Museum, Shimada, Japan
Modern Glass & Ceramic Museum of Coburg, Germany
Los Angels County Museum of Art, CA, USA
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK
University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK
Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA, USA
China-Japan Exchange Center, Beijing, China
Qinglingsi, Temple, Xi’an, China
SELECTED AWARDS
2019 LOEWE Craft Prize 2019, Finalist, LOEWE FOUNDATION, Madrid, Spain
2018 International Craft Fair, Gold medal, Munich, Germany
2005 CERAM ICAM OSAICO, Grand Prix, Ravenna, Italy
1991 “Shinpei Asai Prize,” Design Forum in Seto, Japan
