An intriguing exhibition featuring selections of tea ceremony utensils from its collection combined with recently created tea-related artworks is scheduled from May 15 – September 11 at the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Included in Shape of Tea are examples of tea bowls, tea whisks, tea caddies, fresh water containers, vases, incense containers, tea scoops, and calligraphy.
The unusual exhibition will consist of five tea stations, each with objects suitable for one of the four seasons. Tea Master Glenn Sorei Pereira has assisted museum curators to create these “tea rooms” within one gallery. In addition, groups of a single type of object, such as tea bowls, will be presented. The mixing of "old" and "new”, a dynamic aspect of the tea ceremony, will be highlighted in this exhibition.
Works exhibited from the collection include items made by Chojiro, Japan, 1516-1592, the original maker of Raku bowls; Sonyu Raku, Japan, 1664-1716 and Shimaoka Tatsuzo, Japan, b.1919. Recent works are by such well-known artists as Peter Voulkos, Richard Bresnahan, Kazuaki Tanahashi, Chris Gustin, Mary Roehm and Malcolm Wright. Wright also has work exhibited from the collection.
The Asian collection is one of the great strengths of the museum. The recent return of 118 twentieth century Japanese ceramics from their national tour inspired curators to plan Shape of Tea. The museum last presented an exhibition on this subject in 1985 - The Way of Tea: American Art for the Japanese Tea Ceremony which explored the responses of American artists to Japanese culture.
The museum has had a long connection with the tea ceremony. Once a month during the summer, public tea ceremonies are presented in Shofuan, the Wind-in-the-Pines Tea Hut, on the museum grounds. Last summer, the museum instituted a tea program specifically for families. In addition, the important cultural tradition of Tea is introduced to area schools, culminating in a series of tea ceremonies held at the museum, each spring.
An opening reception is scheduled for May 22, 1:30-3:30 PM.
index
home