Jun Kaneko

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.

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 also designed sets and costumes for opera performances: Opera Omaha's Madama Butterfly (2006); San Francisco Opera's The Magic Flute (2012).

His work is included in more than forty museum collections including the Hawaii State Art Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Museum of Nebraska Art, Scripps College, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. His most recent collected works is Water Plaza at Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Missouri. He has realized over twenty-five public art commissions around the world. He has been honored with national, state and organization fellowships and an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London.

Learn more about Jun Kaneko at his website,