Kondo Takahiro (b.1958)

Kondo Takahiro is a third generation artist of the Kondo family. His grandfather, Kondo Yuzo (1902-1985) was designated a Living National Treasure in 1977 for his contribution to Japanese ceramics. Takahiro's father, Kondo Hiroshi, also a renowned artist, followed Yuzo's tradition of incorporating traditional Japanese elements such as mountains, clouds, pine, bamboo and plum into his work.

Takahiro on the other hand, although continuing the use of sometsuke [underglaze blue], extricated himself from the tradition of realistic interpretation of the natural world and focused on bold, abstract designs incorporating geometric shapes. He has exhibited internationally and in Great Britain at the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (1995), the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (1993) and has also exhibited in Brazil, France and Russia.