58. Akiyama Yō   秋山陽

Yō Akiyama was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in 1953. He studied ceramics at Kyoto City University of the Arts, where Kazuo Yagi, one of the founders of the influential Sōdeisha group, was his mentor. Sōdeisha was founded in 1948 in response to the then-dominant ceramic style and philosophy of Mingei (or Folkcraft Movement) and the aesthetics of traditional ceramics for the tea ceremony. Instead, the artisans of Sōdeisha focused on considering ceramics as an independent art form, non-functional and not intended for domestic use or for the tea ceremony. Yō Akiyama succeeded his teacher Kazuo Yagi as one of the leading figures of Sōdeisha and as a professor at the Kyoto Univerity of Arts.

Yō Akiyama mainly makes very large sculptures inspired by Shino and Bizen ceramics of the Momoyama Revival of just after World War II, which are only suitable for display in large spaces. He specializes in a technique in which he covers the black-brown clay he uses for his sculptures with iron powder after firing, giving the surface a special hue. The cracked texture of his sculptures is characteristic of his work: it must leave traces of the creation process. He achieves this by firing clay of low plasticity at a relatively low temperature and then heating it with a gas burner. This creates a form with a soft core and a hard, outer shell that can be partially or completely torn and peeled off. The duality of creating and destroying is part of what he wants to show in his work.  Yō Akiyama also deviates from traditional ceramic processes by not using a glaze to show the fired clay in its most natural form. Yō Akiyama has realized very diverse series over the years with titles such as "Oscillation," "Geological Age" and "Metavoid." What is consistent in all the series is the earthy, almost prehistoric feeling that besets the viewer because of the expression of texture and volume of his sculptures.  Occasionally he also makes smaller work, but even a small work is about 50 large, and a large work is several meters long, up to six meters.  This already makes it clear that Yō Akiyama's scupltures are far removed from traditional ceramics. He is a true artist with a longing for something primary and rare, like a philosopher in search of the roots and principles of existence itself. His sculptures, which contain the latent power of destruction and creation, are highly regarded both nationally and internationally. His work is regularly exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world and is in a number of international collections, including the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art in Gifu, the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Faenza International Ceramic Museum in Italy, the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Boston and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.