Installation view of Sawada’s exhibition at Venus Over Manhattan
The New York Times
3 Art Gallery Shows to See Right Now: Shinichi Sawada
Jillian Steinhauer Highlights Shinichi Sawada at Venus Over Manhattan
"This is what makes Sawada’s works so compelling: They evoke other things while being unlike anything else. “Untitled (126)” (2010) reminds me of a tree, a fire hydrant and a bird, but ultimately it’s none of those — only an object of carefully wrought mystery. Like much so-called outsider art, Sawada’s sculptures are made in isolation, but they gain resonance and meaning in the wider world."
Jerry Saltz shares guided video tour of "Shinichi Sawada"
Jerry Saltz
Exhibition Tour of Shinichi Sawada at Venus Over Manhattan
Critic Jerry Saltz shares an exhibition tour via his Instagram.
Saltz calls Sawada's work "extraordinary, visionary, almost shamanic work." Watch the full video below.
Shinichi Sawada’s “Untitled (117)” (2006-10) and “Untitled (128)” (2010)
The New York Times Style Magazine
The Mythological Figures of Shinichi Sawada
The Editors of T Magazine recommend Shinichi Sawada's new solo exhibition at Venus Over Manhattan.
For the past 20 years, the self-taught Japanese artist Shinichi Sawada has sculpted ghoulish ceramic beasts that grimace, glare and gawk. The unglazed works, reminiscent of both Jomon pottery and anime, first garnered international attention at the 2013 Venice Biennale, and this week they make their long-anticipated U.S. debut with an exhibition at Venus Over Manhattan.
Shinichi Sawada, Georg Kolbe Museum, 2020
Georg Kolbe Museum
Shinichi Sawada
The filigree objects by the Japanese artist Shinichi Sawada (born 1982) are reminiscent of fantastic hybrids of humans and animals, of demonic masks, totems, medieval monsters or artistic pre-Columbian artifacts - and yet come from their very own world.
Defying art-historical conventions as well as criteria of the contemporary market, Sawada's ceramic creatures testify to creative freedom and immense imagination. While they seem to be an expression of an inner dialogue that is extremely peculiar and yet universal in its emotional presence, the artist himself rarely speaks.
The Encyclopedic Palace, 55th Venice Biennale, 2013
55th Venice Biennale
The Encyclopedic Palace
Shinichi Sawada is featured in The Encyclopedic Palace exhibition of the Venice Biennale, curated by Massimiliano Gioni
"Blurring the line between professional artists and amateurs, outsiders and insiders, the exhibition takes an anthropological approach to the study of images, focusing in particular on the realms of the imaginary and the functions of the imagination. What room is left for internal images—for dreams, hallucinations and visions—in an era besieged by external ones? And what is the point of creating an image of the world when the world itself has become increasingly like an image?"
Sculpture by Shinichi Sawada
Raw Vision
Shinichi Sawada
Mizue Kobayashi, director of the social welfare institution Aiseikai in Japan and recently involved in the Art Brut Japonais II show at the Halle Saint Pierre in Paris, discusses Shinichi Sawada's work and technique.
No-one knows who or what Sawada’s spiky creatures represent; due to the nature of his autism, the artist barely communicates verbally. He demonstrates such confidence and assuredness when he works that it seems that he has envisioned exactly how his final piece will look, despite having no visual references in front of him. He replicates one of around 15 different creature motifs each time, but, as each piece is created entirely from memory, there are subtle differences that make each finished piece unique.
Shinichi Sawada
Untitled (127), c. 2014
Wood fired ceramic
14 5/8 x 7 1/8 x 6 1/4 in
37 x 18 x 16 cm
Shinichi Sawada
Untitled (115), 2006-2010
Wood fired ceramic
9 1/8 x 9 1/8 x 7 1/8 in
23 x 23 x 18 cm
Shinichi Sawada
Untitled (117), 2006-2010
Wood fired ceramic
11 3/8 x 9 7/8 x 9 7/8 in
29 x 25 x 25 cm
Shinichi Sawada
Untitled (121), 2006-2010
Wood fired ceramic
9 7/8 x 9 7/8 x 17 3/4 in
25 x 25 x 45 cm
Shinichi Sawada
Untitled (125), 2006-2010
Wood fired ceramic
21 1/4 x 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 in
54 x 24 x 24 cm
Shinichi Sawada
Untitled (137), 2019
Wood fired ceramic
8 5/8 x 6 1/4 x 5 1/2 in
22 x 16 x 14 cm
Portrait of Shinichi Sawada
Shinichi Sawada (b. 1982) lives and works in Japan’s Shiga prefecture. Since 2000, he has attended Nakayoshi Fukushikai, a social welfare facility that supports people with intellectual disabilities. In 2020, a solo exhibition of his work traveled from the Museum Lothar Fischer in Neumarkt, to the George Kolbe Museum in Berlin. His work has featured prominently in major group exhibitions around the world, including “The Encyclopedic Palace” at the 55th Venice Biennale, curated by Massimiliano Gioni, and “The Doors of Perception” at Frieze New York in 2019. His work is held in the permanent collections of numerous public institutions, including the Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne; the abcd collection, Paris; and Halle Saint Pierre, Paris.
