Shinichi Sawada

Shinichi Sawada was born in 1982 in the Shiga district near Kyoto and began his artistic training at the Nakayoshi Fukushikai Welfare Association, where he has lived since 2000. Rooted in the traditional techniques of wood-burning Shigaraki kilns, Sawada’s spiny, animalistic sculptures are fired for three days and three nights in an oven ranging from 1,200 to 800 °C. The varying temperatures, as well as the placement of the sculpture in the oven, result in the variety of earth tones that characterize Sawada’s work, ranging from red to brown to charcoal black. The ash settling on the unglazed surface of the piece also contributes to these colors as it fuses with the firing clay.

Sawada’s totemic sculptures often portray multiple faces stacked on top of one another or gazing outwards from different sides of the piece. Horns, teeth, scales, and talons protrude from the creatures at every angle. Individually applied clay spines form dense rows that delineate faces and form complex geometric patterns on each piece. Sawada, who is a nonspeaking and diagnosed with autism, is a prolific artist, creating series of sculptures in as few as four days and repeatedly returning to certain characters. The works reference Japanese figuration and mythology, contextualizing Sawada’s imaginative, fantastical creatures in the cultural influences of the region he inhabits.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024, Shinichi Sawada: Agents of Clay, Mint Museum Randolph, Charlotte, NC, traveling to
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St, Louis, MO
2023, Shinichi Sawada: Messengers, James Cohan, New York, NY
2021, Shinichi Sawada, Venus over Manhattan, New York, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024, Animism, Shamanism, And Art Brut, Cavin Morris Gallery, New York
2024, Inaugural Exhibition, organized by Timo Kappeller, The Campus, Hudson, NY
2023, Aux Frontières de l’art brut, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, FR
2023, Why We Linger, Jennifer Lauren Gallery, London, UK
2023, Outsider Art Fair, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York
2022, Conjure, Arusha Gallery, Somerset, UK
2022, Espirits Libres, Fondation Bernardaud, Limoges, France
2022, Outsider Art Fair (with Jennifer Lauren Gallery), Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
2022, To all the Kings who have no Crowns, Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate, UK
2022, À Traves, James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY
2022, Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
2021, Cracked, Tristan Hoare Gallery, London, UK
2020, Innen Leben, Museum Lothar Fischer and Georg Kolbe Museum, Germany
2020, Outsider Art Fair (with Jennifer Lauren Gallery), Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
2019, 日本の陶芸家三人展 SAWADA | KONTANI | SASAKI, Sway Gallery, London, UK
2019, Frieze Art Fair New York, Curated booth on Outsider Art, Randall’s Island, NY
2018, Art Brut Japonais II, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, France
2018, Clay Today, The Hole, New York, NY
2018, Outsider Art Fair (with Jennifer Lauren Gallery), Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
2017, Art Brut in Thailand and Japan, Chulalongkorn University Museum, Bangkok, Thailand
2014, Intuitive Folk, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK
2013, Souzou: Outsider Art from Japan, Wellcome Collection, London, UK
2013, 55th International Art Exhibition at Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2012, Outsider Art from Japan, Het Dolhuys National Museum of Psychiatry, the Netherlands
2010, Art Brut Japonais, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, France
2008, Japon, Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, France

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
ART BRUT/collection ABCD, Paris, France Centre
Pompidou, Paris, France

Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, France Halle Saint
Pierre, Paris, France
Shiga Museum of Art, Japan

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beirne, Aodhan, “A Guide of American Museums to Visit This Year,” The New York Times, April 23,
2024.
Porterfield, Carlie, “Female cult leaders, clay creatures and pink rooms: highlights from this year’s
Outsider Art Fair in New York,” The Art Newspaper, March 3, 2023. Chan, Dawn, “What to
See in N.Y.C Galleries in March,” The New York Times, March 24, 2023.
Hickman Ring, Madelia, “Outsider Art Fair, Celebrating 30 Years, Is Back & Better Than Ever,”
Antiques and the Arts, March 22, 2022.
Davis, Ben, “5 Outstanding Artists From ‘Super-Rough,’ the Experimental Exhibition Takashi
Murakami Curated for the Outsider Art Fair,” Artnet News, June 17, 2021.
“3 Art Gallery Shows to See Right Now,” The New York Times, March 10, 2021.
Schultz, Abby, “Shinichi Sawada’s Mythical Ceramic Creatures at Venus Over Manhattan,”
Barron’s, March 1, 2021.
Tramuta, Lindsey, “The T List: Five Things We Recommend This Week,” The New York Times, February
25, 2021.
Baker, Tora, “Spiky ceramic creatures and demons, painstakingly crafted by hand,” Creative Boom, June
21, 2019.

PUBLICATIONS
2021 Shinichi Sawada, Jennifer Lauren Gallery, Manchester, UK