Lecture by Louise Allison Cort

Although Isamu Noguchi interacted with a wide range of artists during his episodes of making ceramics in Japan, his bold experiments with clay had the greatest impact on a group of young potters just starting their careers. Rather than relying on historical models, these artists looked outward across national traditions and boundaries in order to connect their own work to trends in international modernist art. The exhibition Isamu Noguchi and Modern Japanese Ceramics introduces 18 works by Sodeisha, "Crawling Through Mud Association" founding artists, as the first significant presentation of their work in the United States.

Louise Allison Cort, curator of Isamu Noguchi and Modern Japanese Ceramics, will elaborate on the significance of these ceramic artists. She is curator for ceramics at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, and co-author of the exhibition catalogue.