Onishi Gallery is pleased to host, Yuji Obata: Sakura, Grace of Nature, a stunning exhibition of porcelain masterpieces by Japanese artist Yuji Obata. With this being his second solo exhibition in New York, Obata revisits the theme of sakura (cherry blossoms) as depicting grace and beauty; and aspires to understand a deeper meaning of this concept, which he has featured on his porcelain works for more than 30 years.

By liberating the "Hakuji" canvas from its previous limitations, the artist challenges himself to a new form of expression. The touch of Obata’s brush becomes more delicate and the blossoms become more alive than ever before. The distinctive pink color, called “Obata Pink” shines through and is a shade that hardly any other artist can successfully master when working at such a refined level of porcelain ware. Obata’s work balances bold and graceful beauty, intense color and pure white, and is not to be forgotten.

Hailing from Arita, Saga Prefecture, Obata was born in 1961 and graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University in 1984, and Saga Prefectural Arita College of Ceramics in 1987. Obata has won prizes at the Japan Traditional Arts and Crafts Exhibition, Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition, as well as the Issui-kai Exhibition.

Obata’s work in Arita-yaki porcelain carries with it over 400 years of history and tradition yet expresses a fresh originality that signals a future for this ancient art. Self-taught along each step of his creative process, from turning the potter’s wheel and kiln firing, to decorating the surfaces of his pieces with delicate drawings, Obata departs from common practice in the Arita-yaki industry to carve out a special place for himself in this traditional porcelain art world.