The Movement of Genius marks the return of Japanese artist Kodai Ujiie to The Stratford Gallery with a powerful new body of work. This, his second solo exhibition with us, offers a refined yet uncompromising glimpse into the evolution of one of contemporary ceramics’ most instinctive and compelling voices.

Ujiie is a first-generation artist working entirely outside traditional inheritance. His practice is driven by intuition, risk, and a remarkable sensitivity to material. Watching him work is to witness a kind of trance—a surrender to gesture and form that results in pieces pulsing with energy, tension, and resilience. His glazes, thick and unruly, resist control and conceal their final transformation until the kiln completes their volatile journey.

This exhibition explores themes of emergence, beauty through resistance, and the space between collapse and clarity. The forms—bold, scarred, and animate—echo traditions only to subvert them, and speak to a wider contemporary narrative of freedom, disruption, and invention.

The Movement of Genius is a celebration of Kodai Ujiie’s unique path: a singular vision forged not by inheritance, but by instinct, courage, and a tireless pursuit of expression.

All works will be released online at 7pm BST on Friday 8th August 2025

The exhibtion will open in the gallery on Saturday 9th August at 2pm.