Ceramics Now Magazine

Interview with Kimberly Cook - Artist of the month, May 2012

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:49:17 +0300

ARTIST OF THE MONTH, May 2012: Kimberly Cook

/ Read the full interview in Ceramics Now - Issue Two

Ceramics Now Magazine: Do you remember your first encounter with ceramics? What made you choose this particular way of expressing yourself?

Kimberly Cook: My first encounter with ceramics was when I was a child. During my family’s summer holiday, my parents would take my sister and I on a very long drive from Texas to Ohio, to visit my father’s family. I remember being so excited when we arrived in Ohio, because it meant that I was going to be able to visit my aunt Coby’s ceramic studio. She had an incredible ceramic studio set up in her basement, where she taught workshops. I remember loving the smell of the wet clay, being surrounded by an endless array of colorful glazes, china paints, gold, silver, and pearl lusters, and tools that enabled her students to create anything they wanted out of this wondrous natural material that was easy to form and smelled sweetly of the earth. I was enthralled with the medium, and wanted to learn the techniques of creating both my own sculptural and functional forms.

Another vivid childhood memory of being exposed to ceramics was seeing the traveling King Tut exhibit. I was drawn to the ceramic Bes deity pots and their use in the home as a protector of women and children. For the first time, even in mynaiveté, I realized that there could exist a “conceptual” aspect to creating these forms. What also intrigued me were the marl ceramics of the second Naqada period, which were decorated with reddish-brown drawings that developed from the early geometric forms to less abstract images. Among some of my favorite are those that depicted oared boats transporting what has been interpreted as deities, and the decorations that included people and animals.

Working in clay has become a cathartic way of expressing myself, and because of this, I will never stop using it as my primary mode of self-expression. From these early childhood memories and tangible encounters, I found a palpable love of ceramic materials, which sustain me to this day.

[…]

Trophy, 2011, Ceramic, mason stain, gold luster, 35” x 23” x 20” - View her works

Your works are figurative and often have a narrative quality. But trying to convey a certain message without using words can be difficult for an artist. Do you sometimes fear that people will fail to understand the meaning of your works? How outspoken should a work of art be?

I use to be concerned that viewers would fail to understand my work, but not anymore. After your work has been censored and removed from a gallery, you start to understand that that is actually a compliment. You have struck a nerve; a message got across to a viewer, understood or misunderstood, doesn’t matter. What created that shift in thought for me was the fact that I realized that everyone is going to have their own experience viewing my work, their own perception, and their own opinions. I am okay with that – to me that is what good art is about. If it moves someone, great; if it disturbs someone, great – I want my work to encourage people to go inside of themselves and ponder and reflect before reaching any hard and fast conclusions.
[…]

Looking at your works, words such as surreal, eerie and puzzling come to mind. Their appearance and the motifs used could remind one of Hieronymus Bosch paintings, or medieval iconography and bestiaries. Can you tell us more about your sources of inspiration?

You have hit the nail on the head. Hieronymus Bosch has been one of my biggest inspirations, he and Pieter Bruegel. Both artists had a “rebel” quality about them, which is something I feel akin to. Bosch’s work was inspired by heretical points of view as well as of obscure hermetic practices. Bruegel was similar in that his work depicted acute social protest, even though he faced political persecution as a possible outcome. I see my work and myself in a similar vein, similar in that I was raised Catholic, but have always questioned the whole idea of religion and social conformity. The idea of conforming to anything throws me into bouts of tantrum-like resistance. This aspect of my personality also affects the work I do in ceramics. I am not what the ceramic community refers to as a “purist”. I was rakuing porcelain, applying cold finishes, and adding textile work to my ceramic pieces as an undergraduate in the field.

One aspect of Catholicism that I took away was the attraction to the iconography. Being exposed to these depictions of suffering by both humans and animals both traumatized me and intrigued me as a child. Stories of a female saint having her eyes removed with a fork, or another that was stabbed in the throat with a sword (who by the way was transformed into an animal figure, the lamb) were not my favorite childhood bedtime stories. Being such a sensitive child surrounded by images of humans nailed to crosses and saints being martyred both traumatized me and intrigued me as a child. It was like being a sociopathic voyeur surrounded by ornate objects that depicted cruel imagery, but a voyeur who questioned, “do I reallywant to look at this?”, “will this saint who served as a martyr really protect me from psychosis?”

The surrealistic quality of these deities and saints sparked my interest not only in medieval iconography, but also in psychology. The psychological aspects of instilling guilt, shame, and fear via violent imagery are burned in my conscience, and unconscious for that matter. While I do not agree with this method of didacticism, I have realized that the images are unforgettable, which is an indisputable motivator in my creating realistic representations of dream-like states that incorporate facets of religious/medieval iconography.

[…]

Tropophobia, 2011, Installation, Ceramic, glaze, chair, wool, Variable dimensions - View her works

Tropophobia is a very interesting piece of art, static by definition, yet full of tension. While contemplating it, the viewer experiences mixed feelings such as anguish and tranquility, and it’s filled both with awe and uneasiness. Where did the idea for this installation come from?

So much of my work comes from a very personal, intuitive place. These mixed feelings that you have proposed to describe Tropophobia – “anguish/tranquility, awe/uneasiness”, are indicative of both human and animals’ personalities. We all have varying degrees of moodiness, some of us more mercurial than others. I am very in tune with my own neurosis, which inspires and propels my creative process. With a background that includes an undergraduate degree in Psychology, I have studied human behavior, and as a result I am sensitive to the diversity of individual personalities in various social environments. This increased sensitivity is beneficial in the creative process, but it can also be a hindrance in day-to-day situations.
At the time that I came up with the idea for the Tropohobia installation, I was going through many anxiety-producing transitions, including moving from California to Michigan for an artist/teaching residency. Relationships felt like they were dissipating, friends became insecure about my departure, I had a “fear of the unknown” – yet I proceeded, with what felt like all the weight of the world dragging behind me. Moving is not easy for everyone. Change is not easy for everyone, yet we are all faced with it at different times in our lives. It was also at this point that I came to the realization that I owned too much “stuff”. How was I supposed to move and bring all of the “things” that I “needed”? Hence Tropophobia, by definition the “fear of moving and change”, was created.

Divided Kingdom, 2011, Porcelain, copper, electrical wire, Variable dimensions - View her works

Some of your sculptures could be described as satirical, others relate to a darker side of the human psyche. Do you see them simply as results of an artistic exploration, or is creating controversy a purpose for you as an artist?

My intent is not to create controversy, although some of my work has. One of my pieces (not featured in this issue) was censored and removed from a show because a viewer was offended by the imagery. My work is extremely personal. The satire comes from mocking my own vulnerabilities, not in a way that is destructive, but cathartic. I am extremely self-aware in this sense. I have a dark sense of humor, one that is not easily disclosed in conversation, or in my interactions with others, but instead in that “quiet intensity”, via my work.

[…]

Interview by Ileana Surducan - ileana@ceramicsnow.org

/ Read the full interview in Ceramics Now Magazine - Issue Two

Kimberly Cook’s profile on Ceramics Now Magazine - View her works

Visit Kimberly Cook’s website.

© The interview is subject to copyright and belongs to Ceramics Now and Kimberly Cook. Cannot be used without permission and original link.

Interview with Jill Beute Koverman, McKissick Museum - Walter Stephen's work / Review

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:49:00 +0300

REVIEW, May 2012:

/ Read more reviews in Ceramics Now - Issue Two

Interview with Jill Beute Koverman, Chief Curator of Collections and Research, McKissick Museum - Walter B. Stephen’s work
by Vasi Hîrdo

You have been working at the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum for over ten years. What are the main responsibilities and attributes of being the Chief Curator of Collections & Research?

Jill Beute Koverman: As Chief Curator of Collections and Research, my responsibilities include overseeing the research and care for the permanent collections. The permanent collections include natural science collections (rocks, minerals, fossils, meteorites and shells) and material culture collections which include fine art, furniture, textiles (clothing, quilts, other domestic textiles, baskets, shoes, accessories), ceramics, glass, metal objects, political materials, silver and objects relating to the history of the University of South Carolina. I guide and implement the collecting activities of the museum in terms of new acquisitions and research, identify long-term care needs of the collections in terms of conservation and storage, and work with my colleagues on various exhibition projects. My research focus is on Southern pottery but I’m knowledgeable about traditional basket traditions of the South, South Carolina history and politics, and University history. In a mid-size institution like McKissick Museum, and particularly at a University, it is important to constantly learn about the various types of museum collections.

During the 26th of May and the 27th of July, USC’s McKissick Museum will host a very important exhibition of rare 20th century ceramics made by Walter B. Stephen. Tell us about the heritage of Walter’s work.

/ Read the press release of the exhibition.
Walter Stephen was born in Nebraska in 1876. His family moved to 100 acres of land in Shelby County, Tennessee in 1897. It was on this property where he discovered layers of pink, white and yellow clay. His intellectual and creative curiosity was fostered by his mother. Nellie Stephen was an amateur artist who taught blackboard art and painting. Walter did not begin working with clay until he was twenty-seven years old (1903). Together, Walter and his mother began experimenting with the clay and the decorating process. It is also possible that the two had seen George Ohr, “the Mad Potter of Biloxi,” demonstrating his pottery skills at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. Originally named, “Stephen and Son,” they renamed their pottery “Nonconnah” after the local creek. The forms were typical decorative vases and pitchers of the period. The decoration was different as Mrs. Stephen’s painted layers of porcelain slip onto the wares, often adding colored oxides for leaves and branches. This paste on paste, or cameo, technique was similar to the original method employed by Josiah Wedgwood for his Jasperwares. In 1910, Walter’s parents died and he continued to operate the Nonconnah pottery in Tennessee until 1912. A year later, he moved to the Skyland community of North Carolina, south of Asheville, and established the Nonconnah Pottery in partnership with Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Pine Ryman. At this iteration of the Nonconnah Pottery, Stephen continued to work at the potter’s wheel, creating matte glazed cameo wares until 1916. The Ryman’s operated the Nonconnah until 1918, producing molded and slab constructed wares with simple blue and brown glazes.

Walter B. Stephen, Three stoneware vases with crackle glaze. Courtesy McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.

It would be almost a decade after Stephen’s departure from Nonconnah before he established the Pisgah Forest Pottery. During this period, he became closely associated with Oscar L. Bachelder of the Omar Khayyam Pottery. Walter worked for a short time with Bachelder but did not want to make utilitarian pottery. It was also during the early 1920s, that he was experimenting with local clay,glazes and firing techniques. Fragments from his Arden home indicate his interest in the Chinese celadon and red glazes.

The Pisgah Forest Pottery, which officially opened in 1926, had a good sized pottery shop where one room was a work area with his wheel, and a second which was the sales and kiln room. A large updraft, bottle kiln was built a few feet south of the shop. As the years progressed, Stephen expanded the pottery and hired additional men to help with clay preparation and the firing. The forms and glazes show the heavy influence of Chinese ceramics, particularly the Han and Ming dynasties. Glossy greens and copper red glazes were produced as well as beautiful “Persian turquoise” and “Aubergine Wine.” These colors were exceptionally vibrant over the white porcelaneous body. The crystalline glaze was another area of interest for Stephen. His undertakings were aided by his step-son Herman Case. According to Grady Ledbetter, who began working at Pisgah Forest in 1929, Herman Case helped Walter develop the finest crystalline glazes from 1931 until his death in 1936. Rodney Leftwich states, “Case experimented by adding various oxides, such as copper, iron, cobalt, manganese and uranium to the formulas, and thereby developed a wide variety of crystal colors, which included white, yellow, blue, green, brown, gold, silver, and violet.” The results were exceptional.

Many others worked with Stephen over the years. In the early 20th century china painting tradition, women such as local artist Nancy Jones, who would take the green ware from Pisgah Forest and decorate it. She and her students would carve the unfired pottery or apply underglaze decoration. The decorative motifs, similar to those of Nellie Stephen, included rhododenrons, roses, dogwoods, irises and local landscapes. Grady Ledbetter became a potter in his own right. Thomas Case, Stephen’s step grandson, joined the pottery in 1948. These two men worked with Stephen until his death in 1961. They operated the pottery as a partnership until Ledbetter’s death in 1998. Case operates the pottery on a very limited basis today and is assisted by his wife Dorothy.

This is a very brief overview of Stephen’s work. A more definitive explanation can be found in Rodney Leftwich’s book, “Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah: The Potteries of Walter B. Stephen” which was published in 2006. It details the different glazes, production marks, values of the pottery, and Stephen’s marketing strategies. Black and white historic photographs of Stephen working in his shop are accompanied by beautiful studio photographs of the pottery.

Walter B. Stephen, Pisgah Forest stoneware teapot with slip decoration and gloss and crackle glazes, 1947. Courtesy McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.

The exhibition, titled “Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah: The Potteries of Walter B. Stephen”, presents 76 works, from the first pots that he fired near Nonconnah Creek in Tennessee to crystalline vessels produced at Pisgah Forest near Asheville. Do you find yourself connected to a particular stage of Walter’s outstanding career?

I became familiar with Pisgah Forest Pottery after learning about Asian porcelains and English ceramics while working with Nancy Lester, who was the Decorative Arts Curator for the Phillip Trammel Shutze collection at the Atlanta History Center. The cameo works are the pieces that I was first drawn to many years ago due to similarity of technique to Wedgwood’s Jasperware. Stephen’s regional scenes made it very American. Aesthetically, I appreciate the gracefulness of the Asian forms with the glossy and crackle glazes. The combination of the turquoise blue with the wine is a favorite. It is exciting to make connections between Asian ceramics and the Arts and Crafts traditions found in the South. Potters are always looking at the work of other potters; some share ideas and collaborate. Many potters are able to travel to other countries to share and create; others like Stephen travelled through books and visits to museums and expositions. He was constantly learning, working and exploring.

Where was the exhibition first exhibited at and what was the public’s reaction to the pieces? How do you think the McKissick Museum’s public will respond to the exhibition?

The exhibition was organized by Stanton Thomas, Curator of European and Decorative Art at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis, Tennessee. According to Stanton, “I’m fascinated that we have an exhibition by a largely undiscovered and incredibly innovative art potter who began working in Shelby County around 1900. Stephen is a little idiosyncratic and very much an individualist, and at the same time, he’s part of the larger Arts and Crafts movement, when artists were getting away from mechanization and focusing on the handmade.”

McKissick Museum’s audience will be excited to see these beautiful works. I think many of our visitors know about North Carolina’s pottery traditions as they relate to folk art, but might not be aware of the wide ranging ceramics being made outside of Asheville during most of the 20th century. Many generations of South Carolinians have travelled to the North Carolina Mountains; I think this exhibition will have them think back onto those experiences. Do they have one of these beautiful pieces of “America’s Finest Pottery” at home? Did their grandmother buy a piece during a summer or fall trip to the mountains? We hope that the visitor will appreciate Stephen’s creativity and his place as an important American potter/ceramic artist.

What events are planned in connection with the exhibition?

On Thursday, June 21st we will have an exhibition reception along with a gallery talk and book signing with Rodney Leftwich, ceramicist and author of “Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah.” The time is 5:30 – 7:30 at McKissick Museum.

On Friday, June 22nd, McKissick Museum will present an all-day ceramic symposium, “The Art of Collecting Southern Pottery: Curiosity and Inspiration.” The program begins at 10:00 a.m. and concludes at 4:00 p.m. I will moderate the symposium and our presenters include Rodney Leftwich, Karen Swager of Brunk Auctions, Frank Neef, crystalline potter, Winton and Rosa Eugene of Pottery by Eugene, and Barbara S. Perry, Ph.D., noted author on American Ceramics. Dr. Perry’s keynote is titled, “Beyond the Pale: Southern Pottery in Context.” Rodney will speak about his experiences collecting Pisgah Forest pottery and his interactions with Grady Ledbetter and Thomas Case, who continues to operate Pisgah Forest Pottery on a limited basis. Karen Swager will speak to the ins and outs of working at an Auction House that specializes in North Carolina ceramics. The mid-day keynote by Dr. Barbara S. Perry will provide the art historical context for Nonconnah and Pisgah Forest Pottery along with the work of other Southern potters, past and present. Potters Winton and Rosa Eugene and Frank Neef will discuss and demonstrate the techniques associated with their works. Neef will focus on the crystalline glaze and its origins in the United States. The symposium will end with closing remarks about the presentations and how the ceramic symposium functions within McKissick Museum’s collections and exhibition goals.

Walter B. Stephen, Pisgah Forest stoneware bowl with molded elements, 1950. Courtesy McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.

What will be the biggest challenges of organizing the exhibition? Tell us about the organizational process; how many people are and how many will be involved in the making of?

The biggest challenge in organizing the exhibition at McKissick Museum was where to store the pottery while our galleries and storage areas are undergoing environmental upgrades. The pottery will arrive from off-site storage in mid-May and it will take a few hours to bring the boxes inside. Later, a team of four people (myself, the Curator of Exhibitions and Collections Management, the Curator of Exhibitions and a Graduate Assistant) will unpack and check the condition of the pottery and then install the pieces in the gallery. The Curator of Exhibitions will print out the labels and light the cases once everything is in place. Three to four staff members have been involved with the programming, public relations and marketing efforts. Postcards and advertisements have been created to promote the exhibition, the opening and the symposium.

Do you think that the modern society is doing enough to research and preserve its artistic heritage, like Walter B. Stephen’s work? You have published a number of remarkable publications that enrich and give value to the pottery of the 19th and 20th century.

There are so many topics and ideas that bombard our modern society – from the wars and conflicts to the lifestyles of the rich and famous. I do think that more could be done to support the collective arts and cultural heritage. Additionally, artists of all types along with museum and historic preservation professionals are doing more to advocate for their programs and research. The “creative class” does much to increase the quality of life for our communities. That said there are many artists whose work would benefit from additional research and examination. Stephen did much to promote his pottery when he was living. Tourists to the Asheville area bought Pisgah Forest Pottery and took it home with them, taking North Carolina pottery to all parts of the country. It is often a focused individual, or community/specialized group, who provide the initial spark and research that will then lead to an article, a book, and/or museum exhibition. In many museums, there are artists, objects, and subjects that would benefit from additional research of a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation. With funding challenges and the shrinking of curatorial staff, museums are turning to alternate methods for having research conducted on the collections. “Crowdsourcing” is a recent buzz word for engaging and utilizing outside experts or even volunteers to research objects or even to conduct transcriptions of diaries and primary documents.

Walter B. Stephen, Pisgah Forest stoneware vase with two handles. Slip decoration on matte glaze with crackle, gloss, and crystalline glazes below, 1934. Courtesy McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.

The University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum is undergoing major upgrades and renovations. What are the future plans of the museum and what are its main goals for the next years?

The improvements to McKissick Museum include upgraded HVAC systems for our gallery spaces and new HVAC systems for our storage areas. The “horseshoe” of the University of South Carolina campus is a designated historic district, as it dates to 1801. The museum is situated at the top of the horseshoe. Because of this designation, the exterior windows are being refurbished. The original metal frames are being sand-blasted and repaired. New thermal glass will replace the old single panes. Together, these changes will improve the long-term, environmental conditions of our galleries and storage areas. They should also improve our energy efficiency. The galleries had to be closed for these upgrades to take place.

McKissick Museum will reopen with the exhibit “Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah” in the second floor North Gallery. Our annual fundraiser exhibition will open a few weeks later. In the fall, the exhibition, “The Ultimate Vacation:” is a result of several years of collaboration between Dr. Allison Marsh of the Public History department, research conducted by graduate students in Public History and the University’s Museum Management courses, under the direction of Dr. Lana Burgess. Another fall exhibit will focus on the dynamic relationship of Students and the Athletic Programs at the University of South Carolina. The title “Get Cocky” is a word play upon the University’s beloved mascot.

2013 will bring exhibitions drawn from graduate student research into the history of the Mitchellville community after the Civil War, along with another exhibition that looks into Sideshows and the related communities surrounding circuses and fairs. The year will also see the opening of a permanent folklife gallery which will allow the Museum to continually present objects from our strongest collections, those developed from original research and fieldwork about traditional arts of the South. Communities of potters to be featured include those working in Edgefield, South Carolina, the North Georgia mountains, part of Alabama and Kentucky, and the many areas of North Carolina including Buncombe County, the Catawba Valley and Seagrove. Some of the featured artists and subjects can be found on the website www.digitaltraditions.net

Review by Vasi Hîrdo, Editor-in-Chief - office@ceramicsnow.org, vasi@vasihirdo.com

Vasi Hîrdo is the young editor and founder of Ceramics Now, and a cultural manager based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He is the curator of Ceramics Now Exhibition and coordinator of the first International Ceramics Biennale in Romania (Cluj-Napoca, May 2013).

© This review is subject to copyright and belongs to Ceramics Now, McKissick Museum (University of South Carolina) and Jill Beute Koverman. Cannot be used without written permission and original link. Contact us.

Interview with Teresa & Helena Jané - Spotlight, May 2012

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:33:46 +0300

SPOTLIGHT, May 2012: Teresa & Helena Jané

/ Read the full interview in Ceramics Now - Issue Two

Ceramics Now Magazine: You have been working with ceramic jewelry and knobs for over 10 years. How did you discover the passion for beautifully crafted objects?

THJane: I suppose it comes from our childhood. We grew up surrounded by photographs, books, stamps and original objects. Some had been brought up from the place where we’re born, Angola, in Africa.

Our dad was an architect, and mum was a teacher of arts and crafts. They invested strongly in our education for the discovery and exploration of unique artistic sensibilities, and we always felt responsible for giving them a well deserved response. We studied piano for several years and used to go to classical music concerts every weekend.
We also had the opportunity to learn and practice woodwork and woodcut, ceramics and basketry, weaving and dressmaking, bookbinding, painting and engraving, and so many other useful things.

Years later, we set up THJané project and, until today, we still live with the feeling of achievement that comes with creating things of beauty, you say, with our own hands.

060710, 2011, Ceramic and soutache, carved and hand-painted, H 4,5 x 2,4 x 2,4” - View their works

Working as a group has plenty of advantages, but sometimes it may be challenging. How do you divide your work? Who is responsible for what part of the constructing process?

After 10 years of intense activity, Teresa usually comes to be responsible by the development of ideas and by the exploration of painting techniques. Also drawing and sculpture. And I (Helena), by the choice of materials and techniques of production, studies of color and by the preparation and application of glazes.
Sure it can bring some comfort. Yet, new works often requires us to change roles and also to work together. Breaking routines and try new things have always encouraged us. Therefore, any of us can accomplish any task at any time.
Besides, it also reduces uncertainty about the capabilities of each other, allowing to have a greater respect for individuality and free expression. This is very important, specially when we seek the necessary consensus in our work.

[…]

In 2002 you created the THJané project. What are the main values and characteristics of THJane and how did the project start?

It seemed to be the right time. Teresa was between jobs and I had a flexible schedule as a teaching trainer. We gathered the minimum conditions, which actually have changed little, and took the project forward.
It was a great opportunity to fully exploit capabilities, be a decision maker and be able to choose topics and timings, breaking rules or go around them, to do things we had never thought of doing. Also, to get a life with no retirement age, operating in the niche of contemporary ceramics.
Similar needs had been already experienced by different generations in family, in areas as different as the manufacture of puddings, the planting of cotton or the design of contemporary author tiles.
We made our opening with cabinet knobs collection - actually, art objects pretending to be knobs -, based in conical forms, exploring geometric and organic motifs. At that time, in Portugal there was little offer in ceramic knobs and a growing tendency to re-use and recycling of old furniture in architecture and interior design area.

We concern a great deal with the lastingness of the objects that we make. So, nothing trendy that might be out of date tomorrow, and also have a special attention to detail and perfect finishings, even if not to be seen with naked eye, be it a series of 5 or 50 pieces.

You have established a recognized and creative brand. Does this brand give you more exposure than working as individual artists?

I’m not sure. So far, we have never had the opportunity, neither the need to introduce ourselves individually.
We are about “cooking” together, for four hands. Uniting our talents into a single brand seemed to be the best strategy. Besides, since the very beginning, we’ve been investing in trade channels in which we think it’s much easy to succeed as a mark - we’ve been asked before “But how many are you?!”, as if we were a company instead of a micro project. We interpret this as a compliment and, perhaps a sign that THJané is the right choice.

[…]

Um tigre, dois tigres, três tigres [1+2+3=6], 2010, ceramic, produced and painted by hand, H 0,8 x 3,8” - View their works

Where can we see your works in the near future? Tell us about your current and future projects.

I suppose there’s always one thing that we concentrate on with other projects around it. Right now, we’re focused in sculpture.
In Portugal, some of the best contemporary design traders used to have full responsibility for the presentation and commercialization of our products. Though it was our bet, it became dangerous in the past few years, specially when you make your art your livelihood. You know, at the Modern Art museum store we already find author objects, side by side, with a wide range of products that easily can be found in drug stores and supermarkets. At the same time, design shops have been replaced with other spaces, in our opinion, obsessively homogenized and sterile.

Today, we know how difficult it’s to get work, trying to do things you’re not embarrassed about. So, we’ll just have to find new ways to keep moving forward.
Our main concern is to provide greater exposure to the team and also to spread out our “store front” par excellence, our LookBook blog. It’s also very important to continue to fight for Ad space in mags such as yours, fresh, with a new dynamic approach. Finally, we hope to open up a store & studio in Lisbon during next year, where everything will be possible, even teaching.

Interview by Vasi Hîrdo, Editor-in-Chief
office@ceramicsnow.org, vasi@vasihirdo.com

/ Read the full interview in Ceramics Now Magazine - Issue Two

Teresa & Helena Jané’s profile on Ceramics Now Magazine - View their works

Visit Teresa & Helena Jané’s website.

Above (Third image): Cónicos (series), 2002, ceramic, handmade top in low relief.

© The interview is subject to copyright and belongs to Ceramics Now and Teresa & Helena Jané. Cannot be used without permission and original link.

Interview with Debra Fleury - New artist, May 2012

Wed, 23 May 2012 01:21:27 +0300

NEW ARTISTS, May 2012: Debra Fleury

/ Read the full interview in Ceramics Now - Issue Two

Ceramics Now Magazine: Growing up near the ocean around natural diversity and continuous change, you have developed a very finite line of work. Do you visualize your work from the very beginning?

Debra Fleury: I spend a lot of time sketching and planning. My sketches can be very specific and architectural, or very loose and gestural. But ultimately, I am an intuitive thinker. I rely on feeling and instinct in my artwork. When I sit down with clay the careful preparation is put aside in favor of the moment. Once I have the clay in my hands, I am often swept away by the possibilities I encounter as the clay begins to express its properties.

Do you remember the first ceramic piece that you created? How did it look like and how do you feel about your evolution as a ceramic artist?

I remember the first piece I created that had an impact on me. It was a little pinch pot, a half sphere and nicely formed. It was so perfect, likely the best I had made to date. I wondered what would happen if I dropped it while it was still malleable. I decided to indulge this impulse and I let my little pinch pot fall. The perfectly round rim became this very interesting, offset elliptical shape in response to the force of the impact. After it was fired it retained the mark of that force. It looked plastic, but it was solid.

This experience helped me recognize the approach that I wanted to take with this medium — to enjoy the process and avoid feeling that the work is precious. The visual aspect of the work is compelling to me, but the process is the lure.

Tidal, 2011, Dark Stoneware, Porcelain and glass. Fired to cone 6, wall installation. Dimensions variable, average size per individual piece is approximately 10x10x8 cm - View her works

When constructing a new piece, you are using different materials such as clay, glass and glaze. What challenges you the most by combining these materials?

I love the unknown. I love being surprised by the materials and I love experimenting. Combining clay bodies with different shrink rates, adding glass, or using glaze in an unconventional way are a few of the methods I use when courting disaster or looking for insight. I push the materials toward something that I think will be interesting, but I never really know what will happen. Opening the kiln after a firing can be like meeting the work for the first time.

One of the challenges I encounter when mixing mediums is riding the line between something that doesn’t work and something that does. I enjoy a good bit of failure in my work in this regard. The other challenge is repeatability. I take a lot of notes and process photographs so I can go back and understand exactly what caused a particular, interesting result.

[…]

Exopool, 2010. Porcelain, glass and glazes. Multiple firings to cone 10 (reduction atmosphere) and cone 6 (neutral atmosphere). Dimensions 18 x 11 x 15 cm - View her works

You have been working since 2005 at the Mudflat Studio, a modern facility for ceramic arts. Tell us about what you learned there and how is the atmosphere between the 30+ ceramic artists working in the same building.

I have learned most of what I know about ceramic technique at Mudflat Studio. I started as a student, joined the technical staff, and I am now a resident artist.

We moved into a new facility in August of last year. Lynn Gervens, the Executive Director, and her husband Richard worked tirelessly during the 10+ years it took to acquire, design and renovate the new facility. The new open-format building is an inspiring place to work, but the people are the real treasure. Everyone is always milling about, checking out what others are making and sharing feedback. It is a welcoming, collaborative atmosphere.

There is a strong volunteer component to Mudflat, too. We all donate our time to help raise funds, run events and participate in everything from general construction to kiln firing. I think this aspect of the studio helps to make it feel like a large, extended family.

Barnacle, 2011. Dark Stoneware hollow forms fired to cone 6 (neutral atmosphere), wall installation. Dimensions variable, average size per individual piece is approximately 12 x 11 x 8 cm - View her works

Recently you’ve been working on wall forms. Tell us about your new project.

I traveled to the Oregon coast last August and spent several days wandering the rocky shores, discovering small pockets of life relying on a little splashes of tidal water to survive. It was shocking to imagine living one’s life at the whim of a splash of water. These little creatures had a big impact on me.

Since returning from this trip, I’ve found myself making a multitude of small forms with various clay bodies. Some of these objects remind me of little creatures, others seem like small fossils or bits of shell. They are beginning to line up in jars on my studio shelving like a naturalist’s collection. I like how glass brings life to the clay by attracting light. I am experimenting with the kiln-forged glass, looking for ways to capture even more light by trying new colors, adding bits of porcelain, encouraging cracks and the like. My sketchbook is filling up with larger forms that will pull all of these elements together, but I draw them knowing that new possibilities will emerge when my hands touch the clay.

Interview by Cora Pojaru and Vasi Hîrdo - office@ceramicsnow.org

/ Read the full interview in Ceramics Now Magazine - Issue Two

Debra Fleury’s profile on Ceramics Now Magazine - View her works

Visit Debra Fleury’s website.

© The interview is subject to copyright and belongs to Ceramics Now and Debra Fleury. Cannot be used without permission and original link.

Interview with Max Cheprack, Clay extrusion - Techniques, May 2012

Wed, 23 May 2012 01:15:07 +0300

TECHNIQUES, May 2012: Max Cheprack

/ Read more articles in Ceramics Now - Issue Two

Ceramics Now Magazine: You are studying Industrial Design at the Holon Institute of Technology, Israel, and recently you underwent a research project on clay extrusion. What are its concepts? Tell us about the technical process.

Max Cheprack: The extruding clay project started in the third year of my studies, for B.design in industrial design, when I first met the manual extruder in ceramics course. After learning various techniques in the field of ceramic design, I was fascinated by the option to create clay objects using replication. The Semi-industrial process of extruding clay enables the creation of precise and complex objects easily and quickly. Extrusion allows me to design the inside of the object, something that the rest of the techniques do not allow. Extruding technology allows to produce a closed and complex object, and therefore very strong. This allows the expansion of production beyond the products we know today. In addition, this technology brings new aesthetic to the ceramic field.

As an Industrial designer who is interested in manufacturing technologies, I moved away from the dies that come with the manual extruder Kit, and I began to assemble a set of basic dies with complex shapes. Later, I have built an extruder which works on pneumatic piston, in order to free both of my hands. This allows me to make variety of manipulations on the objects like bending and cutting.
In order to explore the limits of this technology, I decided to make a stool. The stool is a challenging product for extruding clay process because it is a relatively big product, which must be strong enough to bear persons weight, and should be able to connect with other materials.

My inspiration is taken from a local element of the Middle East - Mashrabiya. Though the project ended as part of my design studies, for me he is a starting point to new possibilities in ceramic design.

Max Cheprack, Chairs made with the extruding machine

What was the most difficult part in creating the necessary tools for the project? Did you get any help?

The hardest part in this project was to understand the size relation between the size of the die and the amount of power that needed to push the clay. First I played with the manual extruder that we have in our workshop and then I made different dies to check how complex things can be. After realizing clearly how things are working I wanted to make the next step towards an extruder that will free both my hands to make manipulations on the objects while it is being extruded. I consulted with an engineer who just gave me a headache with schemes numbers and stuff that I couldn’t understand, so I decided to use a pneumatic piston as my base for the machine and after many trails with different pistons and die sizes I made one small extruder and one big extruder.

Do you see the potential of the clay extruding technique you created? How did the people react to your project; the professors, friends?

I think that most of the potential in the technique of extruding clay is not in the big industries field but as another medium for the ceramic artist. All the manipulation on the object are done by hand, the strongest part in this project is in the shapes that look like they created by a machine but the general shape (bending and cutting) are done by hand at the moment of the extruding, so this is a great combination of man and machine - the artist that putting his emotions into a object that came out of a machine.

Max Cheprack, Extruding machine

Apart from this research project you are also passionate about cycling, or more precisely - about building and reconditioning bikes. When did you discover this interest?

My passion about machines began at younger age. When I was fourteen I got my first true mountain bike, been in a cycling competition a month later, finished with leg crumbs and full of adrenaline. From that point I felt in love with cycling. As a kid I rode every spare moment, worked in a bicycle shop as a mechanic on weekends and holidays and got my abilities there. Later I thought ridding skills and mechanical skills at a mountain bike school. I always had a passion for the old bicycle. they are simple, very functional and usually hand crafted and that is what makes them into unique objects.

How does reconstructing bicycles helps the local community and the youth? Recently, teaching bike building skills became part of the curriculum at a local school in Haifa, the Hewar Democratic School.

A year ago we (Yossi Levin and I) established Nisnas cycles. Nisnas cycle is a small workshop dedicated to bicycle commuters. We build custom lugged steel frames, leather bags and wooden fenders. Every Thursday we teach the children at the Hewar Democratic school in Haifa pragmatic tools for building bikes and throughout the process we teach neighborhood history which is really important given the messy history of the occupation, immigration and general mayhem here. Every kid gets a set of tubes that were cut away from an old bicycle. They learn how to build a bicycle and how to navigate through in the neighborhoods in and around Haifa. Basically this is a living history lesson.

Max Cheprack, Extruded clay forms, 2011

You are currently traveling through India. Which one of your passions got you there?

My passion for traveling, seeing new places, meeting new people, exploring different cultures and the feeling of complete freedom got me to India. This is my second time in India; I have been here 5 years ago for five months and I have chosen to go back to India again so I can explore this country from a mature perspective. India is an extreme country in the sense of the diversity of experience - amazing nature, colorful culture, spirituality, interesting people and many many more.

Being a very creative person means that you will always work on something more. Share with us your future plans.

My sketchbook is getting full with some new ideas from wire jewelry to laminated furniture. I am really enthusiastic to go back to my extrusion research and to expand the research. During my time in India I am trying to collect inspiration for future projects, so I am taking many pictures and I sketch a lot.

Interview by Vasi Hîrdo, Editor-in-Chief
office@ceramicsnow.org, vasi@vasihirdo.com

/ Read more interviews and articles in Ceramics Now Magazine - Issue Two

View all the posts tagged with Max Cheprack.

Visit Max Cheprack’s profile on Vimeo and Behance.

© The interview is subject to copyright and belongs to Ceramics Now and Max Cheprack. Cannot be used without permission and original link.

Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah: The Potteries of Walter B. Stephen / McKissick Museum

Wed, 23 May 2012 01:14:00 +0300

Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah: The Potteries of Walter B. Stephen / University of South Carolina McKissick Museum, Columbia, SC, USA
May 26 – July 27, 2012

Some of the most imaginative and beautiful ceramics of the 20th century will be on display in an exhibition of Walter B. Stephen’s pottery May 26 – July 27 at the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum.

Titled “Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah: The Potteries of Walter B. Stephen,” the exhibition will feature 76 rare examples of Stephen’s works, from the first pots that he fired near Nonconnah Creek in Tennessee to crystalline vessels produced at Pisgah Forest near Asheville.

Stephen, born in 1876 in Clinton, Iowa, was heavily influenced by his mother, but he soon began exploring and developing his own creative talents. In 1904, he established the Nonconnah Pottery in Tennessee, where he and his mother produced “paste on paste” cameo wares similar to Wedgwood’s Jasperwares. In 1913, he moved to the Asheville area, where he produced a variety of pottery until his death in1961.

The early Nonconnah pieces are dominated by matte-green glazes with floral designs. The later works made at the Pisgah Forest Pottery range from small, brightly glazed teapots and cups to monumental baptismal fonts. Cameo depictions of the American West include covered wagons, Indians hunting Buffalo and portraits of Bill Cody. Stephen also used imagery of the South such as mountain cabins, fiddlers and Gen. Robert E. Lee. His forms and glazes, particularly the crystalline glaze, were inspired by Asian ceramics.

Two events are planned in connection with the exhibition:

On June 21, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. the museum will host a reception, a gallery talk and a book signing featuring Rodney Leftwich, author of “Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah: The Potteries of Walter B. Stephen.”

From 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Friday, June 22, McKissick will host a symposium, “The Art of Collecting Southern Pottery.” Leftwich, Karen Swager of Brunk Auctions, crystalline potter Frank Neef, Winton Eugene and Rosa Eugene of Pottery by Eugene, and Barbara S. Perry, who writes about American ceramics, will participate.

The symposium is $40 for museum members and $50 for non-members.

Museum Hours: Monday-Friday: 8:30 am - 5 pm. Saturday: 11 am - 3 pm. Closed Sundays and all University and State holidays.
Open to the public free of charge.

McKissick Museum is located at the heart of the historic Horseshoe on the Columbia campus of the University of South Carolina. It was established in 1976 by the University Board of Trustees to bring together under one roof the many object collections housed in various departments and colleges across campus. These collections date to 1801 and provide insight into the long and illustrious history of the University.

Exhibitions can be found on three floors of the Museum. Permanent installations include the first floor Baruch Silver Gallery, and the third floor exhibition, Natural Curiosity: The University of South Carolina and the Evolution of Scientific Inquiry in the Natural World. Two galleries on the second floor, as well as one on the third, feature changing exhibitions. Additionally, McKissick offers a wide variety of events and programs year-round.

/ Read the interview with Jill Beute Koverman, Chief Curator of Collections and Research of The McKissick Museum (Walter B. Stephen’s work), May 2012 - Vasi Hîrdo.

CONTACT
Frenche Brewer
Broadcast Coordinator and News Writer
brewer4@mailbox.sc.edu
Tel. (803) 777-7251

University of South Carolina McKissick Museum
Second Floor
1300 Wheat Street
Columbia, SC 29208
United States
www.cas.sc.edu/mcks

Above: Walter B. Stephen, Pisgah Forest tall stoneware vase with carved decoration and turquoise blue crackle glaze, 1936. Courtesy McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.

Ehren Tool: Production or Destruction / Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles

Tue, 22 May 2012 01:24:00 +0300

Ehren Tool: Production or Destruction / Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, USA
May 27 – September 9, 2012

Former Marine and ceramist Ehren Tool exhibits war awareness work at CAFAM.

Opening reception: Saturday, May 26, 6 – 9 pm.

“The best way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend.” – Abraham Lincoln

Coinciding with Memorial Day, the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) presents Ehren Tool: Production or Destruction, a solo exhibition of ceramist and former Marine, Ehren Tool. Emblazoned with the haunting imagery of armed conflict, Tool creates handmade ceramic cups as a medium to address war and the violent rhetoric and imagery used to perpetuate it. The exhibition will feature 1,000 handcrafted cups, video, installation, photographs, and printed materials.

Twenty years after his service in the first Gulf War, Tool’s firsthand contact with the reality of war is manifest in the thousands of cups he dutifully produces. The cups will be exhibited at CAFAM in “units” based on military formations of “squads” (13), “platoons” (55), and “companies” (225), serving as a visual reminder of each Marine within a military unit. Each cup is uniquely crafted, decorated with ceramic decals of soldiers’ photos, propaganda, war porn, and sculptural reliefs shaped like bombs, guns, or medals.

Recent events such as the Occupy movements and the incendiary language of current election campaigns figure strongly in his new work, as well as veteran suicides and stories of U.S. Marines desecrating bodies of the deceased. Other imagery alludes to the culpability of video games, toys, and pornography in desensitizing the public to the emotional toll of war.

Tool insists that his art is not anti-war, and prefers to characterize it as “war awareness” work. “It is not my intention to teach or preach. It is not possible to communicate the pain, waste, or intensity of war. My work deals with the uneasy collision, and collusion, between military and civilian cultures,” he says.

By putting people in contact with the imagery of war through an everyday household item, he hopes to make people think more often about war and it’s consequences in a meaningful way. “Letter to President Obama” (2009) is among the several letters he wrote to national and corporate heads urging them to consider the outcome of supporting continued war efforts. He also sent a cup to each of these leaders, which elicited responses from politicians such as Karl Rove.

Though the cups are functional drinking vessels, they are also memory objects that contain unspoken stories about fallen soldiers and wounded survivors. The installation “393” (2004) is a striking display of 393 shattered cups that represent the number of U.S. combat casualties during the first year of the second Gulf War. In the video “1.5 Second War Memorial,” a different cup is shot to pieces every 1.5 seconds, each signifying a soldier or civilian who has died in a war.

Tool will be on-site at CAFAM for an artist residency between June 1 and June 15, where he will set up a ceramic studio in the courtyard to encourage public conversations and share his work in progress. He will be giving away all the cups he makes at CAFAM.

Ehren Tool served with the 1st Marine Division during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He attended Pasadena City College and the University of Southern California on the G.I. Bill and received his Master of Fine Arts in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley, CA in 2004. Tool is a visiting lecturer of ceramics in the Department of Art Practice at UC Berkeley. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including the Bongoüt Showroom, Berlin, Germany; Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA; Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR; College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, OH; and most recently at Project Slogan in Aberdeen, Scotland. Tool is a 2010 United States Artists Fellow in Crafts and Traditional Arts.

CAFAM will host an opening reception for Ehren Tool: Production or Destruction on Saturday, May 26 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by The Antonia and Vladimir Kulaev Cultural Heritage Fund and The Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation.

Public programming:
There will be several exhibition-related programs and workshops during the run of the exhibition, including an artist residency at CAFAM with Ehren Tool.

Friday, June 1 – Friday, June 15 / Artist Residency with Ehren Tool
During museum hours

Thursday, June 7 / Etsy Craft Night with Combat Paper Project
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, June 9 – Sunday, June 10 / Collaborative Papermaking with Combat Paper Project
12:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, August 19 / Artist Talk with Ehren Tool
3:00 p.m.

The Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) engages people through its diverse exhibitions and programs that challenge established ideas about craft and folk art and inspire a sense of inquiry and creativity within all people. Located on Los Angeles’ historic Miracle Mile, it is the city’s only institution exclusively dedicated to celebrating craft, design and folk art. CAFAM works to recognize emerging artists and make art accessible to all audiences, serving as a forum in which art can be presented and described by the artists and communities who create it.

In addition to the exhibitions on view, CAFAM hosts the Shop@CAFAM, an on-site and online shopping experience that features fair-trade art and handicrafts from local and global artists and artisans who are rooted in both traditional and contemporary craft.

Admission: FREE on the first Wednesday of every month. Regularly: $7 for adults; $5 for students and seniors; free for CAFAM members.
Hours: Tuesday – Friday, 11am – 5pm; Saturday/Sunday, 12pm – 6 pm; closed Mondays.
Museum Tours: For group tour information, call 323-937-4230.

CONTACT
Sasha Ali, Exhibitions Coordinator
pr@cafam.org
Tel. 323-937-4230 x25

Craft and Folk Art Museum
5814 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
United States
www.cafam.org

Above: Ehren Tool, 393, Installation view, 2004, Stoneware with glaze and ceramic decals. Photo by Ian Martin. Courtesy of the artist.

Oh la la - Majolica… a Pottery Slam, by Peder Rasmussen and Michael Geertsen / Copenhagen Ceramics

Tue, 22 May 2012 01:05:00 +0300

Oh la la - Majolica … a Pottery Slam, by Peder Rasmussen and Michael Geertsen / Copenhagen Ceramics, Denmark
May 24 - June 16, 2012

Artists talk: Saturday, 26 May at 2 pm.

With their common educational background in the now almost vanished pottery tradition, Danish ceramists Michael Geertsen and Peder Rasmussen are challenging themselves and each other in an exhibition-tour-de-force within a classic ceramics discipline, the Majolica – tradition. Not only have they produced their individual works – but occasionally they have left the decorating of their own pieces to the other.

Michael Geertsen and Peder Rasmussen both belong to the small group of contemporary ceramists, who also apprenticed as potters – in their certificates termed as free-hand-throwers.
As young they found themselves in a world of age-old crafts and were thus among the last links in a very long chain.

Speaking of this, they say: ’We both share great love of classic pottery; of the idea of the vessel and the ceramic figure as artistic medium, even in a world being ever more technological, as far from our starting point as can be imagined. Does this show in our work? Is there any reminiscence of something archetypical still present in our otherwise highly contemporary expression? In our own opinion, yes! We actually insist that our education within a tradition-bound craft has imbued us
with a deep respect for professionalism. It has also provided us with a reservoir of references – possibilities for ’professional quoting’. Anything goes. With the apprenticeship-certificate as baggage, we know that there are lots of unoccupied seats within the space of tradition’.

This time both ceramists work with Majolica, the age-old technique of white-glazed and decorated earthenware, known especially from the Italian renaissance. From the great artists of the Della Robbia dynasty or the Deruta-workshops. Hispano-Mauresque faience, too, has been in their view with its ornamentation, lustres and other metallic effects. The technique itself tempts with a richness of colour unequalled in other techniques, thus offering possibilities for new stories, stylistic approaches and quotes.

The exhibition is resulting from a long dialogue between both ceramists. Not only have they made their individual works , but occasionally they have left the actual decorating of their own pieces to the other. Out of pure curiosity and in full confidence that this kind of “obstruction” will lead to something new.

Both artists have long and comprehensive exhibition-careers behind them in Denmark and internationally. Their works are represented in important museum collections worldwide: Michael Geertsen’s works are in the V&A Museum in London, Metropolitan Museum , New York; Museum of Art and Design, New York and Designmuseum Danmark to mention a few. Peder Rasmussen is represented in the collections of the V&A, London; The National Museum, Stockholm; Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg and many more.

Gallery Hours: Wednesday — Friday: 1–6 pm, Saturday: 12 am – 4 pm.

CONTACT
Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl
Tel: +45 2728 5452
martin@copenhagenceramics.com

Copenhagen Ceramics
Smallegade 46, 2. sal tv
2000 Frederiksberg
Copenhagen
Denmark
www.copenhagenceramics.com

Above: Michael Geertsen, Standing Object. Earthenware with Majolica decoration, 2012. H: 66 cm. Photo by Jeppe Gudmundsen-Holmgreen.

Craft Spoken Here / Philadelphia Museum of Art

Tue, 22 May 2012 01:04:00 +0300

Craft Spoken Here / Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA
May 5 - August 12, 2012

Crafts were prominent among the first works of art to enter the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art when it was founded in 1876, and the Museum has continued to collect and exhibit crafts. Today, thanks in large part to the Women’s Committee and gifts from individuals, the Museum is particularly well-known for its holdings of twentieth-and twenty-first-century American, European, and Asian craft.

With Craft Spoken Here, the Museum seizes the opportunity to experiment with its collection and to understand craft in an international context. Some forty contemporary works from 1960 to the present in ceramic, glass, metal, wood, lacquer, paper, and fiber—some by living, acclaimed artists and others by lesser-known creators—are on view. Representing the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe, the works highlight formal qualities that cross cultures, time, and media.

Craft Spoken Here features an array of engaging education programs and interpretive materials, including on-site artist demonstrations and hands-on craftmaking activities for the public.

The exhibition is divided into three sections. Essential Element looks at continuing importance of line—the graphic gesture—as an expressive and compositional element in the work of artists. Rebecca Medel’s The One (1985) uses a network of lines to form a dense cube of knotted cotton and linen threads, dark on its fringes and progressively lighter towards the center, which creates the illusion of a luminous sphere floating in an atmospheric haze. The second section, Shape Shifting, includes works in clay, glass, wood, metal, paper, and fiber materials that have been fashioned into sculptural forms. Motoko Maio’s Kotodama (2008) is a folding screen in silk and linen that can be adjusted to divide a room, provide privacy, or rest decoratively in a corner. The final section is Gesture, which includes works that offer visual and emotional cues, such as the chaotic, seemingly uncontrollable framework of Jessica Jane Julius’s Static (c. 2008), in which hundreds of black glass flameworked threads combine in a sculptural evocation of the artist’s reoccurring dream.

Curator
Elisabeth Agro, The Nancy M. McNeil Associate Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative Arts

The exhibition is made possible by The Leonard and Norma Klorfine Foundation Fund for Modern and Contemporary Craft. Additional support is provided by the Windgate Charitable Foundation and the Center for American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In-kind support is provided courtesy of Lion Brand Yarn.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States, showcasing more than 2,000 years of exceptional human creativity in masterpieces of painting, sculpture, works on paper, decorative arts and architectural settings from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. An exciting addition is the newly renovated and expanded Perelman Building, which opened its doors in September 2007 with five new exhibition spaces, a soaring skylit galleria, and a café overlooking a landscaped terrace. The Museum offers a wide variety of enriching activities, including programs for children and families, lectures, concerts and films.

CONTACT
Communications Department
Tel. (215) 684-7860

Philadelphia Museum of Art
Exhibition Gallery, Perelman Building
26th Street Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA
United States
www.philamuseum.org

Above: Jon Brooks, 1985, Pair of “Styx” Ladder-back Chairs. Maple, color pencil, lacquer, 96 x 18 x 18 inches (243.8 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Faith Robbins, 2008.

Langenthal retrospective / Musée Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:57:00 +0300

Langenthal retrospective / Musée Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland
May 23 - November 25, 2012

Opening reception: Wednesday, May 22 at 6.30 pm.

#1
The Langenthal porcelain manufactory. From industrial design to Sunday china

The fascinating history of the only 20th century Swiss porcelain factory began in 1906 in the Bernese town of Langenthal. Deeply rooted in the Swiss identity, the porcelain manufactory Langenthal SA – affectionately known by its workers as the “Porzi” – became noted for its cutting-edge technology, the diversity of its products as well as the quality of its porcelain. The artistic output followed the dominant aesthetic currents of the century while still preserving its local character. From Art Nouveau and Art Deco to the deliciously “vintage” designs of the 1950s and 1960s, from pseudo-rustic to avant-garde propositions, from collaborations with artists and designers to the influence of the artistic directors of the manufactory, the history of Langenthal is closely linked to the evolution of taste.

This collaboration with the Langenthal manufactory has been an opportunity to update the rich archives : hand-painted design books, catalogues of forms and motifs, publicity leaflets and brochures, archive photos. Loans from public and private institutions enrich and complete the important collection of the Musée Ariana (over 1000 pieces). All the conditions have been met to allow a portrait to be drawn of 20th century industrial porcelain in Switzerland.

The History of A Courageous Project
When some notables of the Bernese town of Langenthal decided to found a porcelain manufactory in July 1906, they were armed with a good dose of courage and staunch enthusiasm. Indeed, after a century without any porcelain manufacture in Switzerland, there were no raw materials and, more particularly, no specialized local workforce available. They had to start completely from scratch in order to rewrite Switzerland into the porcelain history books.

After a chaotic start, production became more organized and the manufactory began displaying its goods in specialized exhibitions and fairs with encouraging success. The outbreak of the First World War curbed this momentum. In 1937, in order to reduce its dependence on imported coal, the manufactory constructed the first 24-hour electric tunnel kiln. This technological breakthrough allowed the company to increase and diversify its production.
After the Second World War, the manufactory enjoyed a heyday. The remarkable quality of the Swiss-made products enabled it to fight off the competitors. In 1964, the firm recorded the highest number of employees in its history, with 950 workers.

From the 1980s onwards, despite its modernisation efforts, the manufactory struggled to withstand the fierce competition within the sector and developments in tableware. The company was bought out successively by Keramik Holding Laufen AG and then by the Czech group, G. Benedikt. Today, although its name still survives, all Langenthal porcelain is manufactured in Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) in the Czech Republic.

LANGENTHAL, A History of Style
The first years of the manufactory were marked by Heimatstil (Domestic Revival) ornamentation, produced by the painter Rudolf Münger, its artistic advisor. With its floral patterns and garlands and figures of soldiers or people in traditional costumes, this nationalistic style corresponded to the company’s desire to offer products in tune with local taste.

It was with the arrival of Fernand Renfer at the manufactory (he took up the post of artistic director in 1920) that the company embarked on the path of modernity. The flowers on brightly-coloured grounds, reminiscent of Art Nouveau, were replaced by more stylized Art Deco ornamentation, that left much of the immaculate white porcelain apparent. This inter-war period was one of the most brilliant for the production and pieces from that time are much sought after by collectors today. Since 1925, Langenthal has been part of the Swiss work federation, the Werkbund, a movement that aims to combine aesthetic concerns and industrial production by fitting the form to the function.

1956 saw the opening of an artistic studio for forms and decoration, directed by Fernand Renfer and assisted by his son, Pierre. In addition to the creation of original and innovative designs for tableware, the studio developed a high quality artistic section : flambé enamels, pâte-sur-pâte decoration produced by slip painting on porcelain tinted celadon green, as well as surfaces animated with striations or dots that are either painted or in relief.

The studio was also the centre for artistic collaborations with external designers, painters and sculptors. In 1993, in order to revive the market and to adapt to developments in tableware, the company launched the concept Bopla! The principle is a simple one : to produce annual series based on simple forms with brightly-coloured printed motifs by famous designers. The principle of the collection adapted to tableware makes it possible to create composite and evolving series.

Today, the range of products offered by the manufactory and made in the Czech Republic is mainly targeted at hotels and restaurants and responds to the contemporary taste for stylised forms and minimalist designs.

#2
Langenthal revisited

Within the context of the exhibition devoted to the Langenthal porcelain manufactory, the Musée Ariana has invited five ceramists to offer their uninhibited artistic vision of this company, through a piece of work created specially for the occasion : Müller-B, Margareta Daepp, Magdalena Gerber, Michèle Rochat and Paul Scott.

In 1990, the Zurich ceramist Müller-B (1953-) spent a month at the Bernese manufactory. During her stay, she took the traditional forms produced there, in particular the coffee pots, which now belong to a past era (the development of coffee-making machines has rendered this utensil obsolete), in order to reinterpret them and to produce an installation entitled “Heisser Kaffee” (Hot Coffee). The artist will propose a larger-scale vision of this conceptual work.

It is also the form of the coffee pot, in this case, the elegant Landi mocha coffee maker of the 1940s, that Margareta Daepp (1959-) has taken as a basis for her work. Here, the container has disappeared and from this gesture belonging to the past only the content remains, the aromatic coffee that pours in a perfect trajectory from the spout of the pot to fill the cup. The content has become object and everything surrounding it – the social ritual of drinking coffee inpleasant company, just like the Langenthal porcelain – seems to have evaporated.

With “Dschinn”, Magdalena Gerber (1966-), questions in a politico-poetic manner the disappearance of artistic and traditional savoir-faire in Swiss porcelain production. Totemic piles of Langenthal chinaware are covered with a froth of bone china porcelain, which softens the contours of the pieces, recalling the cargoes of Chinese porcelain lost at sea. Oscillating between beauty and ugliness, “Dschinn” associates industrial rigor and random form in sculptures from which a transparent cloud escapes – the spirit of a bottle.

Michèle Rochat (1971-) has worked for several years on ceramic decoration, attempting by different means to bring to light daily objects by taking a fresh look at them. Here, she adapts as her starting point a decorative frieze from a Langenthal service, which she disproportionately enlarges before reproducing it on a set of plates. Each piece bears a random decorative fragment that only makes sense when the whole series is juxtaposed.

The British artist, Paul Scott (1953-) is the only foreign ceramist in the group. For the Musée Ariana, he has recycled plates from a blue and white Langenthal service found at the flea market in Geneva. Onto these, using a transfer-printing process, he has transposed landscapes comprising the four Swiss nuclear power stations : Beznau, Gösgen, Mühleberg and Leibstadt, as well as elements taken from old engravings, in a critical and provocative juxtaposition that combines an idyllic vision of Switzerland and contemporary reality.

Hours: Thursday-Sunday, 10 am – 6 pm. Closed on Mondays.

Curators
Anne-Claire Schumacher, Curator
anne-claire.schumacher@ville-ge.ch

Ana Quintero Chatelanat, Research Assistant
ana.quintero-chatelanat@ville-ge.ch

Exhibition design
Roland Aeschlimann assisted by Jean-Marc Cherix

Cultural Interpretation
Hélène de Ryckel, Head of Cultural Interpretation
adp-ariana@ville-ge.ch

CONTACT
Christine Azconegui Suter
Head of Communication and Promotion
Tel +41 22 418 54 55
Fax +41 22 418 54 51
ariana@ville-ge.ch

Musée Ariana
Avenue de la Paix 10
1202 Geneva
Switzerland
www.ville-geneve.ch/ariana

Above (first): Vases, 1958, 1959. Printed striations in grey enamel and gold. Height 16.5 cm max. Collection Musée Ariana, Geneva. Photo by Mauro Magliani and Barbara Piovan.
Above (second): Margareta Daepp, 2012, Resin, Height 19 cm, Collection of the artist. Photo by Dominique Uldry, Berne.

Mircea Cantor – Special Event at Transilvania International Film...

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:49:00 +0300

Mircea Cantor – Special Event at Transilvania International Film Festival 2012 / Cluj-Napoca, Romania
June 1-10, 2012

The Romanian artist often compared with Marcel Duchamp and scouted by the world’s distinguished galleries and museums, Mircea Cantor, will star in one of TIFF 2012’s special events.

For the first time, a few of his video works will be screened in Romania, outside the space they were initially conceived for – the gallery. The artist will attend the screening, giving the audience in Cluj a chance to meet him and take part in discussions.

„Mircea Cantor is on the gallery of Romanian artists who are far more known and valued abroad than in their home country. (…) The screening of his video short films in a cinema is a special program at TIFF by which we try to fix this abnormality”, says the artistic director of the festival, Mihai Chirilov.

The audience will be able to view at Cluj eight of his video works, already included in the prestigious galleries and museums of the world as part of other exhibitions: 9+1=10? (2003-2005), Dead Time (2003), Departure (2005), Double Heads Matches (2002-2003), Nulle part ailleurs (2000), Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (2012), The Snow and the Man (2005), Tracking Happiness (2009).

Mircea Cantor creates images that are at once crystalline in their clarity, yet deeply paradoxical. They are concerned with issues of memory, history, oppression, and the futility—and necessity—of hope. While his thematic concerns may reflect his identity as a Romanian-born artist, his work is also accessible and universal. As he has said, refusing to be pigeonholed by identification with one nation, “art is my country.”

Mircea Cantor was born in 1977 in Oradea and, at the moment, lives in Paris. After moving to France in 2000, four years later Cantor won the most important award granted to young French artists – the Paul Ricard Award, one of his works being purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. In 2011, the Romanian artist received the prestigious Marcel Duchamp Award and this year he will host his own exhibition at Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is presented by Romanian Film Promotion. Founded in 2002, TIFF is the first international feature film festival in Romania.

During these ten years, TIFF has become a well-known brand in Romania, not only due to the outstanding films screened every year, but also for the effective organization, sparkling atmosphere and density of events, from seminars, workshops and panels to fabulous concerts and crazy all night long parties.

TIFF’s 2007 edition was the first to be presented simultaneously in Cluj and Sibiu, that year’s European Capital of Culture.
The last editions of TIFF have not only been spectacular, but also showcased an extremely generous and diverse offer of films and sensational events. The 2010 edition has broken all the records, with 240 films from 47 countries, screened in the 13 festival locations, attracting over 55.000 spectators during the ten days of the festival.

Over these 10 editions, TIFF was honored to host important personalities of European and worldwide cinema offering Lifetime Achievement Awards to Julie Delpy, Michael Radford, Annie Girardot, Udo Kier, Vanessa Redgrave, Franco Nero, Nicolas Roeg, Catherine Deneuve, Claudia Cardinale and Wim Wenders.

The 11th edition of TIFF will take place from June 1st to June 10th 2012 in Cluj- Napoca. TIFF will also be in Sibiu between June 13th and June 17th 2012 in Sibiu.

Romanian Film Promotion was founded in 2001 and its main goals are to encourage and promote young filmmakers, help distribution and promotion of the European cinema, organize seminars and conferences about film production and distribution, and educate an upcoming generation’s taste in quality cinema.

Transilvania International Film Festival 2012
Cluj-Napoca
Romania
www.tiff.ro/en

David Claerbout. the time that remains / Parasol unit, London

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:47:00 +0300

David Claerbout. the time that remains / Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London
May 30 – August 10, 2012

Preview: 30 May 2012, 6.30 – 9 pm.

On 30 May 2012, Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art will preview a solo exhibition dedicated to the filmic works of the Belgian artist David Claerbout. The exhibition features works spanning Claerbout’s practice from 2000 to the present. The time that remains will be the artist’s first solo exhibition in a London public gallery.

Claerbout situates his striking work between the complex worlds of digital photography and film, investigating this intermediate area in concise and thought-provoking installations. Claerbout’s films often depict everyday activities or events, which once digitally manipulated negate the linear passage of time. His work questions the viewer’s conventional ideas of time and narrative processes.

Filmed in a house designed by contemporary architect Rem Koolhaas and using the same episode shot at ten-minute intervals from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Bordeaux Piece, 2004, lasts nearly fourteen hours. Three actors repeat flat dialogue and use dramatic gestures. They seem to be the protagonists of the work, but as time goes by the narrative slowly collapses into the movement of the sun and the changing light of day. A different sense of time is created and the protagonist is now the natural world. This work contains Claerbout’s first use of dialogue.

The Algiers’ Sections of a Happy Moment, 2008, is set on a small soccer pitch on a roof of the Algiers casbah. Young men, surrounded by a group of elderly people, pause in their game as one of the players feeds a flock of eager seagulls. The succession of images in this ‘happy moment’ provides a reflection on what Claerbout terms ‘the suspicious gaze’. The artist uses the passage of time as a tool for moderating that suspicious gaze, and more generally as a means of reconsidering what we see.

Set within the rigorous architecture of Skywood House, near Denham in the UK, Sunrise, 2009, takes the viewer into near-total darkness. The film depicts a nocturnal scene inside the villa, where a maid goes about her usual routine while the inhabitants sleep. The camera follows her through the course of her work and finally films her as she cycles home along a country road under the rising sun, accompanied by an imposing piece of music by Rachmaninov.

The landscape of The Quiet Shore, 2011, is that of Brittany, where the tides are known to be the strongest in Europe. An empty beach is shown at dusk at low tide. Still soaked in water, the sand, with its silvery shimmer and stillness, functions like a mirror reflecting the world around it.

Finally, Orchestra, 2011, a recent light box work, is about theatrical silence. The viewer enters a darkened room, where the conductor of an orchestra emerges from the dim scene. Both conductor and the audience within the work focus their attention on the gallery viewer, creating a moment of suspended silence.

Born in 1969, David Claerbout is one of the most internationally acclaimed video artists of his generation. Recent years have seen his work honoured with prizes and numerous solo exhibitions in Europe and North America. Recent shows include a retrospective at WIELS Contemporary Art Centre, Belgium, and the touring exhibition The Shape of Time, which travelled between 2007 and 2009 to the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts; the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland; the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; and the De Pont Museum for Contemporary Art, Netherlands. He currently lives and works in Antwerp and Berlin.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive publication, co-produced with WIELS, Brussels, distributed by Ludion.

Gallery hours: Monday by prior arrangement. Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm Sunday, 12–5 pm.
Admission to all exhibitions is free.

CONTACT
Anna Lehmbruck
anna@parasol-unit.org
info@parasol-unit.org
Tel. +44 020 7490 7373

Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art
14 Wharf Road
London N1 7RW
United Kingdom
www.parasol-unit.org

Above: David Claerbout, Sections of A Happy Moment, 2007, Photograph.

Anat Shiftan: Stilled Life / Vessels Gallery, Boston, USA

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:46:00 +0300

Anat Shiftan: Stilled Life / Vessels Gallery, Boston, USA
May 4 – May 27, 2012

Vessels Gallery is pleased to present Stilled Life, a solo exhibition of the new ceramic work of Anat Shiftan. Born in Israel, and with a degree from Hebrew University in English Literature and Philosophy, Shiftan received her MFA in Ceramics from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Design. In 2003, the artist joined the faculty at the State University of New York at New Paltz, School of Fine and Performing Arts, where she finds teaching essential to her creative process. She has participated in group exhibitions both nationally and internationally and was featured in the 3rd, 4th and 5th Biennale for Israeli Ceramicsas well as in the 4th Annual Jingdezhen Contemporary International Ceramics Exhibition, in Jingdezhen, China.

Shiftan is philosophically absorbed by nature and itsre-creation in art. She writes, “Looking at nature is a springboard for my artistic expression…” She is drawn in by the beauty of nature, the fluctuation between its symmetry and imbalance, its order and disarray. More importantly, however, she has become fascinated by the “packaging” of this nature as an art object throughout history. Shiftan is captivated by the human engagement with nature,by man’s desire to artistically capture what has been seen, andfinally by the process of doing it. This conversion from outside to inside, is just as much part of the subject matter as the clay itself.The artist works primarily in porcelain, and her pieces are markedly delicate and alluring, sometimes with sharp edges and coarse surfaces which may invite the viewer to look but not to touch.

Stilled Life continues Shiftan’s exploration of this dual role: nature in its own setting and nature domesticated. In her own words: “I contemplate the role of nature in artistic history, and I wonder if it is at all accessible to us today as a reality.”

CONTACT
rbt@vesselsgallery.com
Tel. 617 426 1950

Vessels Gallery
450 Harrison Avenue #71
Boston MA 02118
United States
www.vesselsgallery.com

Above: Anat Shiftan, Untitled, 2011, Porcelain.

Ceramics Now Exhibition / Galateea Gallery, Bucharest

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:16:04 +0300

Ceramics Now Exhibition / Galateea Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
April 19 - May 7, 2012

Opening Reception: April 19, 6-9 pm.

The second edition of Ceramics Now Exhibition presents at Galateea Gallery, Bucharest, the works of 22 contemporary ceramic artists from 9 countries - Romania, USA, Canada, Israel, Italy, Ireland, United Kingdom, South Korea and Poland. The works of the Romanian artists who are presented in the exhibition are an addition to the 15 works that were exhibited in December 2011 at The Paintbrush Factory, Cluj-Napoca.

Through this exhibition, Ceramics Now Magazine is trying to bring together and open a dialogue between contemporary ceramic artists from all over the world - all working in different techniques and approaching a variety of subjects and motifs.

EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Arina Ailincăi (RO), Chang Hyun Bang (KR), Antonella Cimatti (IT), Patrick Colhoun (UK), Romana Cucu Mateiaş (RO), Carole Epp (CA), Simcha Even-Chen (IL), Shamai Gibsh (IL), Mark Goudy (US), Roxanne Jackson (US), Marta Jakobovits (RO), Margrieta Jeltema (IT), Maciej Kasperski (PL), Jim Kraft (US), Cynthia Lahti (US), Claire Muckian (IE), Connie Norman (US), Aniela Ovadiuc (RO), Oriana Pelladi (RO), Eugenia Pop (RO), Cristina Popescu Russu (RO), Liza Riddle (US).

Curator: Romana Cucu Mateiaş
Coordinator: Vasi Hîrdo

www.ceramicsnow.org/exhibition

The international exhibition “Ceramics Now” is an itinerary exhibition of contemporary ceramics which presents works that are featured in the issues of Ceramics Now Magazine. The goals of the exhibition are to raise visibility of contemporary ceramics in Romania. The exhibition reunites artists from different countries and communities, and facilitates contact between them and the public. Ceramics Now Magazine and Exhibition operate as an exchange platform between artists, galleries, museums, collectors and people passionate about art.

Ceramics Now Magazine is a comprehensive and innovative quarterly publication specialized in contemporary ceramics. Founded in 2011, the magazine features interviews, articles, reviews and works of emerging and world-renowned ceramic artists. It is distributed all over the world in a network of libraries, galleries, museums and institutions.

Reopened at the initiative of the Romanian Fine Arts Union in December 2011, Galateea Gallery is the first gallery of contemporary ceramics in Romania.

Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 12 am - 8 pm. Saturday,11 am - 7 pm.

Organized by Ceramics Now Association and the Romanian Fine Arts Union.

The catalog of the exhibition is available for free download here: www.ceramicsnow.org/mediapack

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/339342859458311/
View photos from the first edition of Ceramics Now Exhibition on Facebook.

CONTACT:
office@ceramicsnow.org
Tel. +4 0748 311 663

Galateea Gallery
132 Calea Victoriei
District 1, 010094
Bucharest
Romania
www.galeriagalateea.blogspot.com

Above: Claire Muckian, Double-Walled Lattice I, II and III, 2011, Stoneware paperclay, 41 x 12 x 12 cm, 50 x 11 x 11 cm, 33 x 12 x 12 cm.

James Tower and Contemporary Ceramics / Gimpel Fils, London

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:15:00 +0300

James Tower and Contemporary Ceramics / Gimpel Fils, London
April 26 - June 9, 2012

Private View: Thursday 26 April, 6-8 pm.

Uniting art, design, sculpture and craft, James Tower holds a unique position in the history of British ceramics. As an artist who consistently challenged the perceived limits of his medium, throughout his career Tower explored the sculptural and painterly potential of ceramic forms. His vessels, plates and sculptures are exhibited here alongside recent works by six contemporary artists in order to demonstrate that the questions he grappled with have yet to be resolved.

This exhibition explores the continuing problem of how artists who work in ceramics are classified: ceramist; sculptor; painter; artist. The relevance of these definitions is actively tested by the artists included in this exhibition, all of whom explore their ideas in multiple mediums. At Brighton Polytechnic Tower was Head of Sculpture, and yet his ceramic works were not regarded as such. Indeed, his sculptures and drawings were overlooked during his lifetime. Displaying objects and drawings together, Nicholas Lees explores what he regards as the porous membrane between ceramics and sculpture in order to demonstrate their reciprocity.

Placed side by side works by Tower, Gordon Baldwin and Ken Eastman encourage a dialogue between sculptural shape, painterly surfaces and, indeed between sculpture and vessel. Like Tower, Baldwin has utilized both sculptural form and abstract marks in his work, while Eastman’s engagement with colour, and Martin Smith’s exploration of light and surface demonstrate that to work in ceramics, is also to be a painter. The scratched designs, the striated lines and dashes over the concave or convex surfaces of Tower’s vessels and plates are indicative of his desire to create a synthesis between the form and surface.

Like his contemporaries, William Scott and Peter Lanyon, Tower sought to refine an abstracted style based on natural forms. The sea and its inhabitants provided motifs and compositional models that Tower adopted and adapted according to his artistic ideals; in Snow Forest, 1982, Tower’s use of textured surface is reminiscent of a shell, mollusc or crustacean. The universality of these natural forms find commonalities in Edith Garcia’s recent body of work Absence and Presence. In a series of pressed clay forms she considers our ability to find the human form in the most minimal of shapes, objects and natural phenomena. Caroline Achaintre has also looked to Lanyon in recent work; but her interest in modern art and its legacies defy categorical boundaries and as such might be understood as uncanny hybrids of utopian ideas and human emotions.

This exhibition coincides with the publication of The Ceramic Art of James Tower, by Timothy Wilcox, with a foreword by Antony Gormley. In association with the publisher Lund Humphries, Gimpel Fils is pleased to host a reception celebrating this outstanding monograph on Thursday 10 May, 6-8pm.

Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 10.00 am - 5.30 pm. Saturday, 11.00 am - 4.00 pm.
/ Ken Eastman is featured on the cover of Ceramics Now Magazine - Issue Two.

CONTACT
info@gimpelfils.com
T. +44 (0)20 7493 2488
F. +44 (0)20 7629 5732

Gimpel Fils
30 Davies Street
London W1K 4NB
United Kingdom
www.gimpelfils.com

Above: Ken Eastman, For all we know, 2010, Stoneware with painted coloured slips and oxides, 43 x 31 x 37 cm High.

Play dice would be nice / Cluj – Paris, Sabot at Gaudel de Stampa

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:14:00 +0300

Play dice would be nice / Cluj – Paris, Sabot at Gaudel de Stampa
April 13 – June 16

My dear Sir,

Art is useless because its aim is simply to create a mood. It is not meant to instruct, or to influence action in any way. It is superbly sterile, and the note of its pleasure is sterility. If the contemplation of a work of art is followed by activity of any kind, the work is either of a very second-rate order, or the spectator has failed to realise the complete artistic impression.

A work of art is useless as a flower is useless. A flower blossoms for its own joy. We gain a moment of joy by looking at it. That is all that is to be said about our relations to flowers. Of course man may sell the flower, and so make it useful to him, but this has nothing to do with the flower. It is not part of its essence. It is accidental. It is a misuse. All this is I fear very obscure. But the subject is a long one.

Truly yours,
Oscar Wilde

As for each facet of our dice:

conceptual bricolage (Mihuţ Boşcu)
CRAFTY AESTHETICS (Stefano Calligaro)
synthesis and simultaneism (Radu Comşa)
Objects of Speculation (Lucie Fontaine)
more reason than rhyme (Florin Maxa)
~~relational~~ SELF-CONTAINED (Alex Mirutziu)
///
THE INVISIBLE DRAGON (Aline Cautis)

Gallery hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 2–7 pm, and by appointment.

CONTACT
Denis Gaudel
denis@gaudeldestampa.com
Tel +33 (0)1 40 213 738

Gaudel de Stampa
3, rue de Vaucouleurs
75011 Paris
M° Couronnes / Belleville / Parmentier
France
www.gaudeldestampa.fr

European Travellers: Art from Cluj Today / Kunsthalle, Budapest

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:01:00 +0300

European Travellers: Art from Cluj Today / Kunsthalle (Műcsarnok), Budapest, Hungary
April 19 - July 01, 2012

Cluj’s contemporary art has for years been the subject of special international attention. The term Cluj School in reference to new figurative painting – which appeared in the mid 2000s and has been the topic of debate ever since – and the Paintbrush Factory – which houses studios and independent cultural institutions – quickly became widely known in Europe. Of the Cluj artists, many have exhibited in such prestigious international venues as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, MoMA in New York, the Kunsthaus of Zurich, and the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein. Their works have been discussed in internationally significant publications and they have collaborated with distinguished galleries. The art institutions of Cluj have notable networks of international connections and continuously host prominent foreign experts.

Artists:
Marius Bercea, Zsolt Berszán, István Betuker, Mihuţ Boşcu, Răzvan Botiş, Mircea Cantor, Radu Comşa, Csaba Csiki, Duo van der Mixt, Oana Fărcaş, Adrian Ghenie, Simon Cantemir Hausi, Mihai Iepure Gorski, István László, Victor Man & Anna-Bella Papp, Szilárd Miklós, Dénes Miklósi, Alex Mirutziu, Nita Mocanu, Ciprian Mureşan, Cristian Opris, Cristi Pogacean, Victor Răcătău, Cristian Rusu, Şerban Savu, Leonardo Silaghi, Mircea Suciu, Péter Szabó, Sergiu Toma, Gabriela Vanga, Szabolcs Veres.

Curator: Judit Angel

The success story of Cluj is no overnight “miracle” however, as it is a continuously growing, multi-layered phenomenon. Its development and evolution have not only required exceptional artistic talent, inspiration and perhaps a bit of luck, but in the background, are also the result of mostly private initiatives, as well as an immense amount of work, an open attitude, persistence and conscious self-positioning on the part of independent art institutions.

The Műcsarnok exhibition aims to offer an authentic representation of the “Cluj phenomenon.” As a special point of interest, in addition to the artworks, the show also familiarizes viewers with the most important institutions of the local art scene, which are of many different types. These include centres that house contemporary art exhibitions and accommodate theatrical and dance productions, studios that experiment with digital media, publishing projects, as well as community and activist platforms. The University of Art and Design Cluj, with its strong emphasis on building international connections, also makes its appearance. The more than thirty artists and seventeen art groups and institutions that are featured in the exhibition have been selected with a focus on the – internationally also significant – developments in Cluj within the past decade.

The international embeddedness of the contemporary art of Cluj is also well indicated by the fact that a considerable portion of the works has been borrowed from collections in Western Europe. The paintings, graphics, objects, photos, videos and installations featured in the exhibition include both newly realised and site specific works. Similarly to the artist generation of the nineties, albeit with less directness, these artists also react with sensitivity to the challenges of the local social and cultural milieu. The displayed works relate to the mechanisms of history and memory, the ambiguities of the transition period, and the changes in ideology with the same reflectiveness as they do to art history and painting traditions. Figurative painting and critical and lyrical conceptual tendencies – the two defining trends of the contemporary art of Cluj – are represented in a mutually complementing manner at the Műcsarnok.

Institutions:
Alergische Platze, Bázis, D Media, IDEA art + society, MindBomb, Paintbrush Factory, Sindan Cultural Center, Tranzit House, Version, Univesity of Art and Design Cluj.

Lenders: Mircea Pinte, Zenoviu Ioan Haiduc, Timotei Nădăşan, Galeria SABOT, Cluj; Galeria Plan B, Cluj / Berlin; Răzvan Bănescu, Ivan Gallery, Andreiana Mihail Gallery, Bucharest; Private collection, Paris; Rodica Seward, Galerie Hussenot, Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris; Private collection, TAJAN SA, Paris; private collection, Switzerland; Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, München; Johnen Galerie, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin; Tim Van Laere, Antwerpen; Michel & Brigitte Verliefden, Brussels; Robert Bosisio, Bolzano; Galeria Zero, Prometeogallery di Ida Pisani, Milan; private collection, Italy; Larm Gallery, Kopenhagen; Melle Hendrikse, Rotterdam.

Exhibition design: Lundi et Demi.

Supported by: Ministry of National Resources, National Cultural Fund, Max City, UNIQA, Romanian Cultural Institute, Galeria Plan B, Bázis, MB Art Agency Amsterdam.

Kunsthalle / Műcsarnok
The Műcsarnok (“art hall”) was founded in 1877 on the initiative of the Hungarian National Fine Arts Association. The original building was situated at 69–71 Andrássy Street, now home to the University of Fine Arts. The exhibition hall on Heroes’ Square was erected in 1896 for the millennium celebrations, and was designed by Albert Schikedanz. Today the hall operates on the pattern of the German Kunsthalle: it is an institution run by artists that does not maintain its own collection. The three-bayed, semi-circular apse houses a roofed exhibition hall that allows in light through the roof. Since the building was renovated in 1995 the Műcsarnok has welcomed visitors and leading Hungarian and international contemporary artists alike, mediating and representing modern artistic tendencies whilst not maintaining its own permanent collection.

CONTACT
mucsarnok@mucsarnok.hu
Tel. +36 1 460 7000
Fax. +36 1 363 7205

Kunsthalle / Műcsarnok
H-1146 Dózsa György út 37. (Hősök tere)
Mailing address: H-1406 Pf. 35.
Budapest
Hungary
www.mucsarnok.hu

Above: Ciprian Mureşan, The End of Five-Year Plan, 2004. Photo: Studio Protokoll, Cluj-Napoca. Courtesy Studio Protokoll, Cluj and Plan B, Cluj/Berlin.

ACGA National Clay & Glass Exhibition: Call for entry

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:19:00 +0300

ACGA National Clay & Glass Exhibition: Call for entry
Entry Deadline: October 31, 2012

Dates: January 26 - March 1, 2013

The ACGA National Clay & Glass Exhibition will take place January 26 – March 1, 2013 near Los Angeles at the City of Brea Art Gallery. The exhibition will showcase a wide range of handmade ceramic and glass artwork from across the United States.

The juror is Carol Sauvion, Executive Director of Craft in America, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting the history, practitioners and techniques of craft in the United States, and their impact on our nation’s cultural heritage. The centerpiece of the Craft in America effort is its production of a nationally broadcast documentary series celebrating American craft and the artists who bring it to life. The Peabody Award winning Craft in America series airs nationwide on PBS.

The competition is open to all forms of handmade clay and glass: functional, decorative and sculptural. The deadline for submission is October 31th. The entry fee is $30 for three pieces of artwork. Awards will be given. The online entry form is available at www.acga.net.

The Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California (ACGA) is a non-profit membership organization begun in 1945. It is dedicated to establishing and maintaining high standards of craftsmanship and design in clay and glass.

Eligibility
This competition is open to artists residing in the United States, 18 years or older. Artwork must be composed of at least 75% clay, glass, or a combination of the two, and may be functional or sculptural. All entries must be original and executed by the artist within the past two years. Works may not have been previously shown at the City of Brea Art Gallery.

Awards: First Place $500, Second Place $300, Third Place $200, People’s Choice $100

The non-refundable entry fee is $30 for up to three artworks. Current ACGA members and Brea residents pay $25 for three artworks.

CONTACT
ACGAnational@gmail.com

Brea Art Gallery
One Civic Center Circle
Brea, CA 92821
United States
www.breagallery.com

Above: Kelly Berning, The Proportionist, 2009, 23” x 28” x 9”, Handbuilt Ceramic, Cone 04.

Figure/Figurine / The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, USA

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:15:45 +0300

Figure/Figurine / The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, USA
April 6 – April 29, 2012

The Clay Studio - Philadelphia’s premier non-profit ceramic arts organization is pleased to present Figure/Figurine. The exhibition, taking place in the Harrison Gallery of The Clay Studio’s Old City home at 137-139 N. Second Street, runs from April 6 – April 29, 2012. The public is cordially invited to attend.

For many contemporary artists working in clay sculpting representations of the human figure, associations with and references to the figurine are natural. Figurines, diminutive tabletop sculptures, representing man and or beast have lived in almost every home globally, regardless of place, culture or time. Early clay examples date back some 30000 years. Throughout time these figures have represented many things. From fertility icons to religious symbols, common man to Kings, from singular figures to ornate and complex compositions, these intimate sculptures commemorate(d) everyday and heroic acts, modern day folk and pop cultural figures, and historically significant events.

Artists participating in Figure/Figurine include Christyl Boger, Ann Agee, Jeremy Brooks, Carole Epp, Anna Noel, and Debbie Kupinsky. Each of these makers uses the history of the figurine to create works that live comfortably in our contemporary world.

The Clay Studio
Founded in 1974, The Clay Studio is a non-profit educational art organization dedicated to the promotion and development of the ceramic arts and the work of new clay artists. The Clay Studio supports the ceramic arts through its artist residencies, gallery, studio space, school, and outreach programs. The Clay Studio believes in promoting broad access to the ceramic arts and gears its programs to all levels of interest and proficiency.

Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11 am - 7 pm, and Sunday, 12 - 6 pm.

CONTACT
Jeff Guido, Artistic Director
jeff@theclaystudio.org
Tel. 215-925-3453 x18

The Clay Studio
139 N. Second Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
United States
www.theclaystudio.org

Above: Jeremy Brooks, Silverweed, 2012, Porcelain, Paint, Flocking, 8”L x 8”W x 4”H.

Frankoma Pottery / Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman, OK

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:15:17 +0300

Oklahoma Clay: Frankoma Pottery / Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Norman, OK, USA
April 20 - September 16, 2012

Opening reception: Friday, April 20, 7-9 pm.

Works of one of Oklahoma’s favorite potters, John Frank, are featured in a new exhibition, Oklahoma Clay: Frankoma Pottery, opening Friday, April 20, at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. The exhibit features a selection of work from Frank’s Oklahoma-based pottery factory that manufactured unique and collectable ceramics for more than 50 years. Highlights include a group of individual pieces made by the potter.

“This exhibit gives the University a great opportunity to honor the pioneer contributions made by John Frank to our School of Art, especially our ceramics program,” said OU President David L. Boren. “He came from the Chicago Arts Institute to start the ceramics program at OU. Using Oklahoma clay, he shaped ceramic pieces that would make him well known across Oklahoma and even around the world. Countless Oklahoma dinner tables were graced with his dinner ware.”

“It is a great pleasure to celebrate the life and works of a true Oklahoma artist,” said Ghislain d’Humières, director of the art museum at OU. “John Frank’s legacy continues both in the artistic integrity and the continued collectivity of works created in his factory nearly 80 years ago.”

In 1927, Frank founded a ceramics program at OU, where he taught for eight years. While teaching at the university, he established Frankoma Pottery, using local clays with colors and designs symbolic of the Southwest and Great Plains.

The April 20 opening for Oklahoma Clay: Frankoma Pottery is preceded by a daylong symposium at the museum. Scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Decorative Arts and the American West – the seventh biennial symposium of the Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West – is free and open to the public, with a nominal charge for an optional luncheon. Noted scholars, museum curators and art historians will discuss such diverse topics as ranch-style furniture, regionally inspired pottery and silver-mounted saddles.

The exhibition is curated by Jane Ford Aebersold, curator emeritus of ceramics at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art and retired professor at the OU School of Art and Art History.

“Oklahoma Clay: Frankoma Pottery is a celebration of the vision of John Frank and his wife, Grace Lee, and of the talented designers, artisans and engineers who were part of the larger Frankoma family,” said Aebersold. “Their goal was to provide cheerful and colorful tableware and decorative accents to fit into the modern mode of living, well-crafted but affordable for a family of modest means.”

Although its glory days of the Frankoma company ended in the 1980s, Frankoma Pottery works continue to rise in popularity among collectors. Frank’s works have appeared in exhibitions at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and are included in the International Ceramics Museum’s permanent collection in Faenza, Italy.

The museum will offer a free tour of the exhibition at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, led by Susan Baley, museum director of education.

CONTACT
Michael Bendure, Director of Communication
mbendure@ou.edu
museuminfo@ou.edu
Tel. (405) 325-4938

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
Arts District of the University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
555 Elm Avenue
Norman, OK 73019-3003
United States
www.ou.edu/fjjma

Above: Frankoma Pottery, Wagon Wheel Dinnerware, introduced in 1948. John Frank, designer (U.S., 1905–1973), Sapulpa Clay, Prairie Green Glaze (this grouping). Courtesy President David L. and Molly Shi Boren.