Keigo Kamide was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1981. In 2006, he graduated from the Department of Oil Painting at Tokyo University of the Arts with a B.A. in Fine Arts. As the sixth-generation successor of Kutani Pottery KAMIDE CHOEMON, a team of highly skilled artisans with exceptional craftsmanship in porcelain forming and hand-painting, Kamide is pursuing and presenting his own artistic practice as an independent artist, while also overseeing the kiln.

His solo shows include “Isolated” (2011), “Floating” (2013), “Quiet Storm” (2014) at Yoshimi Arts, and “αM Project 2013: The Earthly Paradise, vol. 3 Keigo Kamide” (2013) at gallery αM. Throughout these shows, Kamide has attempted to view Kutani ware—his own artistic origin—from a comprehensive perspective. Utilising the historical backdrop of porcelain that began in East Asia, he has used what could be described as ‘mythical’ methods to explore the time and place embodied within porcelain.

In the subsequent series of solo exhibitions, “BEAR MOUNTAIN or MOUNTAIN BEAR” (Matsuzakaya Nagoya Art Gallery, 2015), and “Bears Live In The Hollow” (Yoshimi Arts, 2016), Kamide expressed his own circumstances and inner reflections through a bear motif. In “Forgotten banáns” (Tokyo Nihombashi Takashimaya Art Gallery X, 2017), he further developed his Banana series, which he has been working on since his graduation project at Tokyo University of the Arts. By applying sculptural methods learned in his childhood to porcelain, he devoted himself to looking inwards in “Porcelain Sculpture” (Yokohama Takashimaya Art Gallery in 2018/Matsuzakaya Nagoya Art Gallery in 2019), confronting himself in an attempt to make contact with the depths of memory.

In his following exhibition in 2019, (“The 14th Ceramic Art Grand Prize Exhibition” at Paramita Museum and in his solo show “Still Life” at Yoshimi Arts), Kamide showcased this series of work created by firing porcelain clay with a highly precise temperature control, and drawing on vessels such as teacups and rice bowls produced by the 150-year-old KAMIDE CHOEMON kiln as motifs. In 2020, when it was difficult to meet people during the pandemic, he responded to the times through his solo exhibition, “0years” (Yoshimi Arts) by having a dialogue with various materials in an attempt to regain a sense of physicality.

Since 2018, Kamide has been presenting works created by painting on porcelain panels. Known as jibanga, or porcelain plague paintings, this ongoing series, each with its own theme—“Voice” (2018), “THE HOUSE OUTSIDE THE HOUSE” (2020), “Under | Over” (2022), and “SYNERGY” (2024, all presented at t.gallery)—continues to feature in his exhibitions. In 2024, Kamide began working seriously on oil paintings, despite only occasionally producing them since his graduation. Recent exhibitions, featuring these paintings, include “IZURA” (Geidai Art Plaza, Tokyo University of the Arts, 2024), and group exhibitions at Zuiho-in in Daitokuji Temple in 2024 and 2025. For “GO FOR KOGEI 2025,” held in Kanazawa and Toyama City, he presented Utatsuyama Hilltop, a large-scale work developed through a careful investigation of the history surrounding Mt. Utatsu.

This exhibition, “B-P-F,” will showcase Kamide’s new sculptural works created by stacking products from his kiln, applying glaze, and firing them to form a unified whole. The works build upon an approach rooted in sculptural thinking that can also be linked to his earlier series, “Porcelaing Sculpture” and “Still Life.”

 
Artist Statement:
B-P-F is a series of sculptural works created using porcelain tableware ‘blanks’ that were produced and distributed in the production region of Kutani-ware, a traditional craft of Ishikawa Prefecture. During the irreversible processes of glazing and firing, these stacked tableware pieces undergo changes in color, texture, form, dimension, and strength. The exhibition title, “B-P-F,” was derived from the initials of Building (stacking), Processing (glazing), and Firing (kiln firing).

 
(Translated by Penguin Translation)