Tampa Museum of Art: Through August 23, 2026
For the past six decades, Jun Kaneko has defied what is possible with clay. Admired across the globe for his creative achievements, Kaneko is described as a pioneer—a trailblazing artist who continues to experiment in a range of media. His story begins in Nagoya, Japan, where Kaneko’s mother recognized his artistic talents. In the early 1960s, his desire to be an artist led him to Southern California. Through serendipitous encounters, Kaneko befriended the artists who collectively forged new directions in ceramics and were described as the California Clay Movement. After this influential time in Los Angeles, Kaneko traveled extensively, teaching and making art, before laying roots in Omaha, Nebraska.
Kaneko is revered for his innovative ability to push the boundaries of scale and form—blurring the lines of ceramics, sculpture, and painting. He continues to build the largest freestanding ceramic sculptures that exist today. Time is not rushed in his studio; however, each project is carefully planned, as large-scale works may take up to three years to make from start to finish. This includes phases of building, drying, sanding, glazing, and a 30-day continuous firing in the kiln. Built to his specifications, Kaneko’s kiln reigns as one of the biggest private kilns in the world.
The exhibition Jun Kaneko: Silence Before Sound surveys the artist’s prolific career. With nearly fifty works spanning Kaneko’s sixty-year career, the exhibition presents a mere snapshot of his extensive catalog that has expanded to glass and opera set designs. Here, his large-scale ceramics are placed in dialogue with his paintings and drawings to highlight the unifying relationship between pattern, color, and brushwork. The title of the exhibition, Silence Before Sound, refers to the Japanese concept of Ma, a principle inherent to Kaneko’s practice that emphasizes the importance of space, quiet—even stillness—between gestures and objects.
About the Artist
Born in 1942, Kaneko studied painting and drawing with Satoshi Ogawa in Nagoya, Japan. After his arrival in California in 1963, the artist enrolled at the Chouinard Art Institute. Kaneko taught at Rhode Island School of Design, Scripps College, and Cranbrook Academy of Art. The artist has received invitations to participate in renowned international residencies including the European Ceramic Work Centre, The Netherlands; Otsuka Ohmi Ceramics Company, Shigaraki, Japan; The Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia; and Aguacate, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, and his art resides in prestigious public and private collections across the globe. Today, Kaneko continues to work every day in his studios in Omaha, Nebraska. •
