Blum & Poe is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by Japanese-born, Los Angeles-based artist Shio Kusaka. This is Kusaka’s first solo-exhibition with the gallery.

For this exhibition, Kusaka has created some of her largest works to date. The vessels are plain, carved, or patterned and rest together on an approximately 50-foot oblong pedestal. Various recurring motifs from Kusaka’s practice, including stripes, dots, squares, and grids, overlay the pots, stretching or compressing with the form. Black, white, blue, green, and pink comprise a palate of carefully chosen colors for these understated objects. Kusaka’s subjective determination of when a work is complete ensures no two vessels are alike. The result is sculpture that is both universal and distinctively unique.

Shio Kusaka (b. 1972, Japan) received her B.F.A. from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Kusaka has had solo exhibitions at greengrassi, London (2011); Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY (2010); Susanne Hilberry Gallery, Ferndale, MI (2009); Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, IL (2009); and Tortoise, Venice, CA (2005).  Notable group exhibitions include Paul Clay, Salon 94, New York, NY (2011); Dwelling, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY (2011); Banquet of the Jackal, The Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex, California State University, Los Angeles, CA (2011); Not Extractions, but Abstractions (Part 2), Clifton Benevento, New York, NY (2010); Multiple Pleasures: Functional Objects in Contemporary Art, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, NY (2010); Not Extractions, but Abstractions, Karma International, Zurich, Switzerland (2010); Objects, Furniture & Patterns, Art Since the Summer of ’69, New York, NY (2009); Friends and Family, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY (2008); FAITH, Champion Fine Art, Culver City, CA (2004); and164 ½ Group Show, Los Angeles, CA (2004).

Selected Works