Jun Kaneko has always pushed the boundaries of ceramics. He came to prominence in the California Ceramic Revolution of 1960s and 1970s, becoming an international pioneer in the ceramics world. Kaneko’s signature monumental dangos which can measure more than 6 feet tall and weigh nearly 1,500 pounds are technically deft as well as visually compelling, displaying a profound understanding of the material.

In his current body of high-fire ceramic dangos, Kaneko features his Raining Blue Indigo Glaze. Developed over two decades of experimentation, the glaze grew from Kaneko’s desire to capture the color of sixth- and seventh-century Chinese porcelain, adopted by the Dutch and incorporated in their Delftware during the seventeenth century. These original glazes were lead-based, and were therefore discontinued shortly after Kaneko began working with them in the mid-1990s. Now, twenty years later, Kaneko has re-invented this historically significant glaze.

Jun Kaneko was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1942. He studied painting with Satoshi Ogawa during his adolescence – working in his studio during the day and attending high school in the evening. He came to the United States in 1963 to continue his studies at Chouinard Institute of Art where his introduction to Fred Marer drew him to sculptural ceramics.

Based in Omaha since 1986, his artwork appears in numerous international and national solo and group exhibitions annually, and is included in more than seventy museum collections. He has realized over thirty public art commissions in the United States and Japan and is the recipient of national, state and organization fellowships. Kaneko holds honorary doctorates from the University of Nebraska, the Massachusetts College of Art & Design and the Royal College of Art in London