Portland Japanese Garden is a natural vehicle through which to explore Japanese art and design. Art exhibitions explore ideas and aesthetics integral to the fabric of life in Japan. Introducing a wide array of artists and art forms, these exhibitions reflect on ways we experience peace through connections to art, nature, and one another.

Art exhibitions at Portland Japanese Garden began with Diane Durston, Curator Emerita (former Arlene Schnitzer Curator of Culture, Art and Education from 2007-2018). It launched with a series of four special exhibitions a year— one for each of the four seasons—that would reflect the intersection of art and nature and introduce the importance of seasonality in Japanese art and gardens. The exhibitions would celebrate work influenced by the aesthetics of Japan or created in response to the Garden itself.

Aki Nakanishi, Portland Japanese Garden’s current Arlene Schnitzer Curator of Culture, Art, and Education explains, “Traditionally, the role of Japanese gardens is to offer a place of quiet contemplation detached from the noise of modern society. But at the same time, Japanese gardens have always embraced, if not strived for a sense of symbiosis created at the intersection of architecture, art, and nature, which demonstrates the balance that can be achieved when nature and human ingenuity converge.”

Now more than a decade later, Portland Japanese Garden has successfully introduced the work of more than 75 artists representing Japan and its unique artistic traditions. The works come from internationally known artists—some of whom have been recognized as Living National Treasures in Japan, as well as rising young artists and artisans from all parts of the country.

Earthen Elegance: The Ceramic Art of Bizen

February 8 – June 9, 2025

This February, Portland Japanese Garden is pleased to present Earthen Elegance: The Ceramic Art of Bizen in the Pavilion Gallery. On loan from the Collection of David Sneider and Naomi Pollock, this exhibition celebrates contemporary ceramic art and vessels that preserve a time-honored collaboration of earth, fire, and the artist’s hand. Recognized as one of the Rokkoyō (六古窯) Six Ancient Kilns of Japan, Bizen is a ceramic center that has continued its unique form of pottery for over 900 years. Notable for their rustic, textured, and unglazed forms, the ceramics featured in Earthen Elegance reveal the depths of the Bizen pottery tradition. Today the town of Bizen hosts nearly 300 active kilns with artists continuing to use local materials and an ancient wood-firing process. Featuring work by many of Bizen’s leading potters including Jun Isezaki and Ryuichi Kakurezaki, the exhibition presents both functional vessels and innovative sculptural forms that expand the frontier of Bizen ware. 

About the collection:

David Sneider, an international lawyer, and Naomi Pollock, an architect and author, lived and worked in Japan for 30 years. Deeply moved by the artistry and craftsmanship of Japanese pottery, they assembled an extensive collection which spans the full horizon of contemporary Japanese ceramics.  Within Bizen ceramics, they marvel at how a particularly large number of innovative artists are applying local materials and time-honored techniques to create work that respects tradition and yet is truly modern.  

Pollock has written numerous books on Japanese architecture and design, including her most recent books Japanese Design Since 1945: A Complete Sourcebook and The Japanese House Since 1945. For these collectors, the rough, powerful, and unglazed surface of Bizen pottery resonates with the natural setting of a Japanese garden, especially as the warm, earthen tones on the vessels’ surfaces create an inviting contrast to the colder winter months. Showcasing these unique expressions in clay born from centuries of tradition, Earthen Elegance: The Ceramic Art of Bizen will be on display from February 8, 2025 – June 9, 2025.

Explore Previous Art Exhibitions