Opening Reception: Saturday, March 4th, 6:30 - 8:30pm
Homage to Henry celebrates the ceramic work of Clay Art Center’s co-founder Henry Okamoto (1923-1988). A selection of works has been loaned from private collections highlighting Henry’s work as an artist and teacher at Clay Art Center from 1957 until his death in 1988.
Henry Okamoto, a classic potter, founded Clay Art Center with Katherine Choy in Port Chester, NY in 1957. Katherine and Henry imagined - and created - a place “to promote the art of clay–ceramics and sculpture–as culture on an advanced level... To encourage clay artists–potters and sculptors–... in advanced research in the art of clay, and to provide promising young clay artists ...a period of time to study independently in order to cultivate themselves into more mature artists.” Located in Port Chester, at 49 Beech Street, a few doors down from Clay Art Center’s present day location at 40 Beech Street, Choy and Okamoto provided the opportunity for ceramic artists to come together and share their resources and passion for clay.
With Choy's untimely death in 1958, Okamoto pursued Choy’s legacy for the rest of his life. At one time a lone beacon of clay artistry on the east coast, CAC become a haven for clay artists, many of whom pursued significant careers in ceramics and influenced contemporary ceramic practice.
“Henry was beloved,” said Reena Kashyap, Director Emeritus of Clay Art Center. “He did his best. He was more concerned about the soul of the place than collecting rent from the artists. People who were there in those days remember it as an incredible environment.”
Henry Okamoto's work was the extension of a childhood steeped in a rural farm upbringing in Lodi, California, where everything had a function and was closely connected to the community. His ceramic work was made in the after-hours of running Clay Art Center, often in the evenings when all his administration and practical work was done. Henry typified the traditional "village potter" of his parent's ancestral home in Japan - he worked on a kick-wheel, turning out functional pottery that encompassed everyday use pieces such as plates, bowls, and cups.
Studio artists from the early years of Clay Art Center remember Henry's skill at everything from woodwork to pottery, and that he was masterful at throwing his pieces in almost one sitting. His glazes were often in quiet, iron-rich earthy tones with subtle surfaces, over forms that demanded use rather than admiration. Henry's work was meant to become a part of everyday life with a particular function. The work in this exhibition has formed a part of the daily lives of the people who use it - a testament to Henry's understanding of what matters in the rhythms of the everyday.
In 1999, Jeff Schlanger wrote a short essay on Henry, whom he knew personally in the earliest days of Clay Art Center. Read Jeff’s essay here.
View a transcript of a historical document outlining Clay Art Center’s Statement of Purpose and Founding Principles
Learn more about Our Founders
Thank you to Jeff Schlanger for lending works included in this exhibition, and to Rene Murray who donated the Small Temmoku Bowl in this exhibition. Rene states, “There isn’t any special story behind this particular bowl. Just that Henry made so few things — that each item is a treasure. I’m glad to donate this piece to the Clay Art Center— so others can see the beauty in Henry’s work — but also as a reminder that Henry is responsible for the survival of CAC. He dedicated his life to CAC . Thank you Henry"
Artist Member Signatures on document outlining the goals and principles of Clay Art Center circa. 1957
