Across the Sea: Onishi Gallery with Homo Faber: Asia Week New York Autumn 2026 | Text by Xiaohan Du

“Homo faber suae quisque fortunae.” (Every man is the artisan of his own fortune.)

—Appius Claudius Caecus, 3^rd century BC

In celebration of its twentieth anniversary, Onishi Gallery presents an exhibition of ten artists, four of whom will be participating in the 2026 Venice Homo Faber on San Giorgio Maggiore Island this September. Homo Faber—man the maker—in many ways epitomizes that creative spirit which drives the creation of these works of art that span ceramic, metal, lacquer, each a unique medium speaking to its maker.

As an art historian who spends time looking at and thinking about art, over the years I’ve arrived at iterations of an answer to the same question: why do humans make art. The crux of the answer points to a trait that is shared by artists who become artists not by volition, but by necessity—that is, they have an almost existential need to interact with medium—Kaneshige Kosuke (b. 1943) talks to the iron rich Bizen clay even as he manipulates it into a flower vase; Rusu Aki (b. 1976) wields the torch that welds the brittle metal bits together as Prometheus wields the proverbial fire; Konno Tomoko (b. 1967) stacks the myriad of follicles one on top of another illustrating ad infinitum in its ceramic form; Onihira Keiji (b. 1973) uses gold, silver, crushed quail eggshell, white-lipped oyster shells, South Sea abalone and other materials to reenact the cosmos on his lacquerware; Noguchi Ken (b. 1982) builds sinuous concentric circles of waves onto the curvaceous and voluptuous lacquer body, with its multitude of glistening black shades entirely evocative of the depth of sea in Japanese cultural psyche. Each of these artists quietly asserts in their chosen medium that in the making of art humans make themselves, and this is perhaps why Homo Faber—man the maker—stands in productive tension with Homo Sapiens—man the knower. 

Participation in this year’s Homo Faber marks a milestone moment in Onishi Gallery’s twenty years history as it brings its mission of promoting and supporting kōgei (Japanese traditional artisan crafts) to the next stage. Just as many of the artists in the exhibition encountered alternative aesthetic worldviews which in turn stimulated their recasting of the Japanese artistic traditions into contemporary forms, their works will be crossing the sea to be enjoyed by a global audience this fall, in New York and in Venice.

(Text by Xiaohan Du)

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Exhibition Venue

Onishi Gallery

16 E 79th Street, Ground Floor, New York, NY 10075

Exhibition Dates and Hours

September 10 – 30, 2026

Tue – Fri, 10am – 5pm / Sat, 11am – 5pm

Special Hours: Asia Week New York Autum 2026

September 10 – 18, 2026

Open daily, 10am – 5pm

Opening Reception

Thursday, September 10, 2026, 5pm – 8pm

Gallery Talk by Xiaohan Du

Saturday, September 12, at 3pm

About Xiaohan Du      

Xiaohan holds a PhD in Art History from Columbia University. Her research examines Sino-Japanese exchanges from the eighth to the fourteenth centuries. Xiaohan currently serves as the John H. Foster Assistant Curator of Pre-Modern Asian Art at the Asia Society Museum.   

Gallery Contact

Nana Onishi / 212.695.8035 / nana@onishigallery.com