This summer Omaha has had a fabulous outdoor art show at the Lauritzen Botanical Gardens. A week ago, I attended a wine and cheese (my favorite) tour of the show led by the Curator of the exhibit. It was a beautiful (although humid) night for a tour of the gardens. 
Jun Kaneko (金子 潤 Kaneko Jun?, born 1942) is a Japanese ceramic artist living in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. In 1942 he was born in Nagoya, Japan, where he studied painting during his high school years. He came to the United States in 1963 to continue those studies at Chouinard Institute of Art when his focus was drawn to sculptural ceramics through his introduction to Fred Marer. He studied with Peter Voulkos, Paul Soldner, and Jerry Rothman in California during the time now defined as the contemporary ceramics movement. The following decade, Kaneko taught at various U.S. art schools, including Scripps College, Cranbrook Academy of Art and Rhode Island School of Design.
A Pair of Large Ceramic Heads
Jun established his third studio in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1990 where he primarily works. He has also created work in several experimental studios including European Ceramic Work Center, Otsuka Omi Ceramic Company, Fabric Workshop, Bullseye Glass and A.S.A.P. He created series of large-scale sculptures from 1982-1983 at his Omaha Project, from 1992-1994 at his Fremont Project in California and currently at his Mission Clay Project in Kansas. He produced a large ‘Dango’ series of ceramic pieces resembling vases without openings. (Dango means ‘dumpling’ or ‘closed form’ in Japanese.) His prolific roster of diverse work appears in numerous international solo and group exhibitions annually. He designed the sets and costumes for the Opera Omaha’s spring 2006 performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
A Horizontal Piece a top a Bed of Rocks
All of his pieces are large and most are ceramic (2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches thick). They take months to do and are built from the bottom up. At least one of the large heads we saw was cast bronze and it weighed less than its clay counterpart. You can go to his website, www.junkaneko.com and click Links to see a great picture of the heads under construction. All in all, there are probably 25 pieces placed strategically through out the gardens.
I think my favorite was in the newly completed Reflection Garden, dedicated to those who have gone before us. There is a wonderful reflecting pool with benches all around that has been anchored by one of Jun’s most colorful pieces in the entire exhibit.
The Reflection Garden
