Jun Kaneko was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1942. He studied painting with Satoshi Ogawa during his adolescence. In 1963, he came to the United States to continue his studies at Chouinard Institute of Art when his introduction to Fred Marer drew him to sculptural ceramics. He proceeded to study with Peter Voulkos, Paul Soldner, and Jerry Rothman in California during the time now defined as the American Contemporary Ceramics Movement. The following decade, Kaneko taught at some of the nation’s leading art schools, including Scripps College, Rhode Island School of Design and Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Based in Omaha since 1986, Kaneko has worked at several experimental studios including European Ceramic Work Center in The Netherlands, Otsuka Omi Ceramic Co. in Japan, Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia PA, Bullseye Glass in Portland OR, Acadia Summer Arts Program in Bar Harbor ME, Aguacate in Puerto Vallarta and Cuernavaca MX. Over the course of his career he has partnered with industrial facilities to realize large-scale, hand-built sculptures. These include his 1982-1983 Omaha Project at Omaha Brickworks, 1992-1994 Fremont Project and Pittsburg Project which ran from 2004-2007. In 2011 he realized the design and build of the largest non-commercial kiln in the United States; allowing him to create ceramic sculptures up to 12 feet tall at his Studio in Omaha NE.
Kaneko is increasingly drawn to installations that promote civic interaction; completing over sixty public art commissions, including but not limited to: Dream a 12 foot tall bronze Head at Gene Leahy Mall in Omaha NE (2025), an 80 foot tall Glass Tower at the Buffett Cancer Center in Omaha NE (2017), two 350 foot long Tile Walls at Aquarium Station in Boston MA (2000), a three-story high wall in the Biology library at The University of Connecticut (1997). A few of the many other large scale permanent installations can be seen at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville AK 2025), Kilroy Oyster Point in South San Francisco CA (2025), SHAPE Lougheed in British Columbia CN (2025), Umekita Park in Osaka JP (2024), Principal Riverwalk in Des Moines IA (2013), Shanghai World Financial Center in Shanghai China (2012), Bartle Hall in Kansas City, MO (2006), Grand Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo JP (2005), The National Museum of Art in Osaka JP (1994) and The Museum of Oriental Ceramics Osaka JP (2016).
Kaneko’s artwork appears in numerous international and national exhibitions annually, and is included in more than eighty museum collections. Kaneko holds honorary doctorates from the University of Nebraska, the Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Royal College of Art in London, and the University of Pécs in Hungary.
Jun Kaneko has designed the sets, costumes and lighting for three operas: Puccini’s Madame Butterfly (2006), Beethoven’s Fidelio (2008), and Mozart’s The Magic Flute (2012). All three tour throughout the United States. Kaneko recently collaborated with award winning composer Andy Akiho on the symphony “Sculptures”, nominated for four 2023 Grammy nominations.
In 1998, Jun Kaneko and his wife Ree formed The Ree & Jun Kaneko Foundation, www.reeandjunkanekofoundation.org, a non profit support organization with a collection of over 1500 Jun Kaneko artworks that span his 70 year career. This Collection and Artist’s Archive is housed in the Collection Building, abutting the Foundation’s support organization KANEKO. KANEKO, www.thekaneko.org, is a non-profit cultural organization created to serve the community as an open space for creativity with year round public programming in the arts, sciences and philosophy.