八木明／Yagi Akira

八木明（1955～）は、清新な青白磁でよく知られる陶芸家であり、京焼の本場である五条坂を拠点に活躍しています。

赤土（せきど）社を創設し新陶芸運動を展開した八木一艸（1894～1973）を祖父に、走泥社の設立者であり「オブジェ焼き」という新しい分野を切り拓いた八木一夫（1918～1979）を父に持つという、まさに陶芸一家に生まれ育った八木は、1977年より父のもとで陶芸の道を歩み始めます。1985年以降は各地で個展を多数開催しており、1993年には京都市芸術新人賞を、1999年には、その年の最も優秀な作家が選ばれる日本陶磁協会賞を受賞するなど、作家としての地位を確立していきました。一連の作品は、国内はもちろんのこと海外でも注目を集め、大英博物館やメトロポリタン美術館、ボストン美術館などに所蔵されています。

滑らかな器肌や優美な曲線、釉薬の層に移ろう光、流れるように刻まれた稜線を持つ八木の青白磁は、卓越したろくろの技術と磁土に対する細やかな感性によって生み出されてきました。とりわけ八木の名を国内外に知らしめたのは、寸法の異なる同型の器で作りあげた「入れ子」構造の空間表現です。たとえば、代表作の一つである「青白磁入れ子球蓋物」シリーズは、マトリョーシカのように少しずつ大きさの異なる、いくつもの球体形の蓋物で構成されており、それらが弧を描くように整列したさまは、謎めいた美しさと張りつめた緊張感に包まれています。八木一艸、一夫という偉大な先達に学びながら、絶えず自己探求を繰り返してきた彼ならではの造形美と言えるでしょう。このほかにも、ざらざらとした手ざわりの粗土（あらつち）と滑らかな質感の青白磁を用いた二重構造の器や、電気系統以外のすべてが青白磁で作られたランプなど、創意に富んだ斬新な作品群を通して、磁器が持つ新たな可能性を提示しました。

こうした長年の芸術活動とその功績が認められ、2008年には京都府文化賞功労賞を、その翌年には京都美術文化賞を受賞しました。現在は京都芸術大学の客員教授を務め、後進の育成にも尽力しています。

Akira Yagi (1955-) is a ceramic artist well known for his fresh celadon porcelain, based in Gojōzaka, the home of Kyoto ware.

Born into a family deeply rooted in ceramics, with his grandfather, Issō Yagi (1894-1973), founder of Sekidosha and pioneer of the new ceramic movement, and his father, Kazuo Yagi (1918-1979), founder of Sodeisha and innovator in the field of “object firing”, Yagi embarked on his journey in pottery under his father’s guidance in 1977. Since 1985, he has held numerous solo exhibitions across various locations. In 1993, he was awarded the Kyoto City Arts Newcomer Award, and in 1999, he received the Japan Ceramics Association Award, given to the most outstanding artist of the year, establishing his position as an artist. His works have garnered attention both domestically and internationally, with pieces housed in institutions such as the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Yagi’s celadon porcelain, with its smooth vessel surfaces, elegant curves, layers of glaze reflecting shifting light, and finely carved ridgelines, is a testament to his exceptional wheel-throwing skills and delicate sensibility towards porcelain. Particularly notable is his “nested” spatial expression created by crafting sets of nested vessels of varying dimensions. For instance, one of his representative works, the “Celadon-glazed porcelain nested ball with lids” series, is composed of multiple spherical lidded containers of slightly different sizes, like Matryoshka dolls, arranged in such a way that they draw arcs, enveloped in mysterious beauty and tense suspense. While learning from the great predecessors, Issō and Kazuo Yagi, and continuously engaging in self-exploration, he has developed his unique aesthetic. Through innovative works such as vessels with a double structure using both rough-textured clay and smooth celadon porcelain, and lamps made entirely of celadon porcelain except for the electrical components, he has presented new possibilities for porcelain.

Recognized for his years of artistic contributions, in 2008, he was awarded the Kyoto Prefecture Cultural Award for Distinguished Service, followed by the Kyoto Arts and Culture Award the following year. Currently serving as a visiting professor at Kyoto University of the Arts, he is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of artists.