From the Sea: Summer Group Show

SAVE THE DATE: From The SeA

Opening Reception on July 23, 2026, 6-8pm

Text by Xiaohan Du

Summer is the season defined by the desire to go to the sea, an entity that is an amalgam of so many senses: the sound of waves brushing against the shore, the granularity of the sand on the skin, the brininess of the breeze, and most importantly, the kaleidoscope of life in all its colors and forms. Onishi Gallery’s summer group show From the Sea presents works from nine artists that bring these senses of the sea into an elegant space on the Upper East Side, featuring ceramics, metalwork, and a felt piece.

Kaneshige Kōsuke (b. 1943, Japanese) reinterprets the ancient Bizen tradition with a sense of humor and imagination; Ōsumi Yukie (b. 1945, Japanese) and Nakagawa Mamoru (b. 1947, Japanese) each in their own way merges the metallic touch with the calming pattern of the ocean waves, reminiscent of the dreamy realms of silver-plated screens from the Momoyama period; Tokuda Yasokichi IV (b. 1961, Japanese) and Shōmura Ken (b. 1949, Japanese) capture the blue serenity of the sea and materialize it into a smooth tactility further enhanced by the elegance of shapes. Konno Tomoko (b. 1967, Japanese) makes ceramics that celebrate the glory of life and its many forms in the deep sea, a veritable sculptural equivalent of the best of Joan Miró’s biomorphic paintings. Inoue Manji’s (1929-2025, Japanese) white porcelain on the other hand commemorates the profound silence of the sea, as the starting point of life where everything came from nothingness.

The Japanese ceramics and metalworks are accompanied by three metal wall pieces by Jeffrey Maron (b. 1949, American), whose exposure to animism during his time in Japan continues to manifest in the infinite dynamism of his geometric compositions. Liam Lee (b. 1993, American)’s felt piece stands in complete tactile contrast to the other works in the show as he exploits the suppleness of felt as a metaphor for the malleability of life and growth. 

The show starts on Friday July 24, with opening reception the evening before. Works by Kaneshige Kōsuke and Konno Tomoko will be participating in Homo Faber this September in Venice, Italy, as Onishi Gallery celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year.

From the Sea

Opeing Reception: Thursday July 23, 6-8pm

Exhibition Dates: July 24 - August 21, 2026

Text by Xiaohan Du

About Xiaohan Du

Xiaohan Du holds a PhD in Art History from Columbia University, where her work centers on premodern Chinese and Japanese art. Her research examines Sino-Japanese exchanges within the context of Chan/Zen Buddhism during the 13th and 14th centuries. She currently serves as the John H. Foster Assistant Curator of Pre-Modern Asian Art at the Asia Society Museum.

Onishi Gallery

16 East 79th Street, Ground Floor, NYC 1075

Hours: Tue - Fri, 10am - 5pm / Sat, 11am - 5pm

Contact: Nana Onishi / 212.695.8035 / nana@onishigallery.com