untitled (Dango 89-5-10), Jun Kaneko

Artwork Overview

Jun Kaneko, untitled (Dango 89-5-10)
Jun Kaneko, untitled (Dango 89-5-10)
Jun Kaneko
untitled (Dango 89-5-10)
1989
Jun Kaneko
born 1942
untitled (Dango 89-5-10), 1989
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: glaze; stoneware
Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 89.9 x 55.9 x 30.5 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 35 3/8 x 22 1/2 x 12 1/2 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Friends of the Art Museum
Accession number: 1990.0023
Not on display
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Images

Label texts

Nature/Natural
Born in Japan, Kaneko Jun studied in California during the 1960s, where radical experimentation opened his mind to many possibilities. His most famous ceramic series named dango, or a Japanese sweet dumpling made of rice, was the result of these creative decades. Kaneko’s dango series are sculptures that transcend space and time. Kaneko challenged the conventional notion of ceramics as a material for the production of small-scale daily objects, bringing a monumental form and scale to his sculpture. Kaneko combines a rock-like organic shape with an abstract geometric design, making his work a hybrid object that exists at the border of traditional ceramics and contemporary art. For this work, the artist incorporates a spiral design reminiscent of ancient Japanese animistic veneration called iwakura 磐座. This practice of venerating gigantic rocks is often considered to be the embodiment of Shinto practice, which values these as sites for kami—spirits and forces that populate nature.
Born in Japan, Kaneko Jun studied in California during the 1960s, where radical experimentation opened his mind to many possibilities. His most famous ceramic series named dango, or a Japanese sweet dumpling made of rice, was the result of these creative decades. Kaneko’s dango series are sculptures that transcend space and time. Kaneko challenged the conventional notion of ceramics as a material for the production of small-scale daily objects, bringing a monumental form and scale to his sculpture. Kaneko combines a rock-like organic shape with an abstract geometric design, making his work a hybrid object that exists at the border of traditional ceramics and contemporary art. For this work, the artist incorporates a spiral design reminiscent of ancient Japanese animistic veneration called iwakura ??. This practice of venerating gigantic rocks is often considered to be the embodiment of Shinto practice, which values these as sites for kami-spirits and forces that populate nature.
Exhibition Label: "Nature/Natural," Feb-2011, Kris Ercums Born in Japan, Kaneko Jun studied in California during the 1960s, where radical experimentation opened his mind to many possibilities. His most famous ceramic series named dango, or a Japanese sweet dumpling made of rice, was the result of these creative decades. Kaneko’s dango series are sculptures that transcend space and time. Kaneko challenged the conventional notion of ceramics as a material for the production of small-scale daily objects, bringing a monumental form and scale to his sculpture. Kaneko combines a rock-like organic shape with an abstract geometric design, making his work a hybrid object that exists at the border of traditional ceramics and contemporary art. For this work, the artist incorporates a spiral design reminiscent of ancient Japanese animistic veneration called iwakura 磐座. This practice of venerating gigantic rocks is often considered to be the embodiment of Shinto practice, which values these as sites for kami—spirits and forces that populate nature.

Exhibitions

Nature/Natural
Kris Ercums, curator
2011–2014
Japan Re-imagined/Post-war Art
Kris Ercums, curator
2008
Art Into Art: Inspired Responses
2006–2007

Citations

Schultz, Elizabeth. Conversations: Art into Poetry at the Spencer Museum of Art. Kansas City, MO: Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, 2006.