Tetsuya Yamada: Listening

With a steadfast commitment to materiality, Yamada’s ceramic-based multimedia works evoke the “readymades” of the 20th century

From ceramic objects that reflect an extraordinary level of technical and aesthetic sophistication to dynamic sculptures and video installations, the interdisciplinary practice of Twin Cities–based artist Tetsuya Yamada (born 1968) blurs the lines between art, design and craft. Yamada’s influences include the ancient Japanese forms of Noh theater and the traditional tea ceremony, the modernism of Constantin Brâncusi and Isamu Noguchi, and the democracy of the found object espoused by Marcel Duchamp. Foregrounding found materials including plywood and shards of glass, Yamada characterizes his process as “listening” to the quality of his materials. The design of the catalog for the first United States museum presentation of his work regards these influences not as tensions but as complementary facets of a grounded, holistic practice. Listening features more than 60 works from 2005 to the present, including sculptures, paintings, drawings, photographs, videos and an environmental installation.