When I can hear what a form has to say, I start seeing marks and colors on the surface.
Jun Kaneko
We are honored to present works from the Collection of Arthur J. Williams (1936–2021), a man who lived a life dedicated to, and surrounded by, the arts.
Williams began his career in the mailroom at CBS before working in production and editing TV advertisements. He founded Editing Concepts Inc. in 1970, of which he became Chairman of the Board, and was instrumental in expanding the company to six divisions all related to the film and video industry. He was a founding member of the Association of Independent Creative Editors and served as its president for a time. Williams’s success in the media world afforded him the freedom to follow his passion for the arts, and he became a respected member of the International Academy of Ceramics (Geneva, Switzerland) and the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (Newcastle, Maine). Additionally, he was on the board of the Craft Alliance of the 52nd St. YWCA, where he curated a number of exhibits for the Elsa Mott Gallery, and he conceptualized the Museum of Ceramic Art - New York, an important virtual platform which celebrates the art of ceramics.
“I am a clay addict. My fixes come in big and small, bright and demure and always quench my need temporarily. Or should I call it a sweet tooth that has a constant craving?...As a collector of clay objects, I am at once picky and open to what shares my home. An artwork has to show creativity, sparks of ingenuity and passion.”
A passionate collector and voracious reader, Williams remarked in a 2000 interview: “Educating oneself is the most exciting thing if not the most important aspect of collecting. Without knowledge, you can’t grow.” His genuine curiosity about art led him to acquire a diverse range of works from Chinese Export Ware and Pennsylvania Red Ware to sculptures by Chakaia Booker and contemporary ceramics from artists around the world. He found great joy in seeking out new pieces and in a note from his personal archive, we are given a wonderful glimpse into his thought process as a collector: “I am a clay addict. My fixes come in big and small, bright and demure and always quench my need temporarily. Or should I call it a sweet tooth that has a constant craving?...As a collector of clay objects, I am at once picky and open to what shares my home. An artwork has to show creativity, sparks of ingenuity and passion.” Williams had a prescient eye for art, especially of the clay variety, and assembled what became one of the most important, and comprehensive, contemporary ceramics collections of the present day.
Jun Kaneko b. 1942
Born and raised in Japan, Jun Kaneko arrived in Los Angeles in 1963 as an aspiring painter. He first stayed at the home of collector Fred Marer, where he was exposed to the then revolutionary work of Peter Voulkos, Ken Price, John Mason, and others. Kaneko was immediately drawn to ceramics and began studying the medium and would go on to apprentice with Voulkos and other artists in the California Clay Movement.
Kaneko developed a unique style that explores the interrelationship between space, volume, color, and pattern, and is particularly well-known for his monumental works which often push the technical boundaries of ceramics. Perhaps his most famous form, the “dango” (Japanese for “dumpling”), are enormous, rounded monoliths that can reach upwards of eleven feet tall. In addition to painting, sculpture, and ceramics, Kaneko has realized many installations and public commissions, including the Phoenix Airport, a station for the Boston Subway, the Detroit People Mover, and the Waikiki Aquarium.
Kaneko primarily works out of his studio in Omaha, Nebraska and has taught at many of the leading art schools in the country, among them Scripps College, Rhode Island School of Design and Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is also the co-founder of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and in 1998 he and his wife, Ree, founded KANEKO, a non-profit cultural organization in Omaha. His work can be found in many public collections worldwide, including Arabia Museum, Helsinki; Detroit Institute of Arts; Los Angeles County Art Museum; Museum of Art and Design, NY; The National Museum of Art, Osaka; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Phoenix Art Museum and Smithsonian American Art Museum.
For more about Jun Kaneko’s story, listen to this 2005 oral history interview from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.
Auction Results Jun Kaneko
