» The Month in Clay: April 2009

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March 30, 2009

The Month in Clay: April 2009

by Jennifer Harnetty Read Comments (0)

This sculpture by Erin Furimsky will be on view at The Icehouse in Phoenix, Arizona.

Spring is in the air and that means it’s time to come out of hibernation and treat yourself to seeing some ceramic art. There is a lot going on out there. If you live in the southwest, ceramic activity is particularly fruitful with the 2009 NCECA conference taking place in Phoenix, Arizona. If you’re going to NCECA, be sure to visit Ceramic Arts Daily, Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated, Potters Council, and Ceramic Arts Books at booths 416-421.

But Phoenix is not the only exciting locale in terms of clay. There’s pottery in Port Chester, clay “monsters” in Minneapolis, a great art auction in Tennessee (and online for those who can’t make it in person), and much more.

And if you don’t find something in your area below, head over to the Ceramics Monthly calendar for a more complete listing.

	Port Chester, New York The Clay Art Center will present Matthew Metz & Linda Sikora: RECENT WORKS, a duo exhibition featuring the utilitarian pottery of these nationally recognized clay artists April 4 - 25, 2009. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, April 4 from 6-8pm. There will also be a one-day workshop on Saturday, April 4 from 10am-5pm, in which the pair will simultaneously demonstrate the methods they use to make their signature works. For more information, or to register, visit www.clayartcenter.org. Left: Vase by Matthew Metz Right: Casserole by Linda Sikora
	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “Making Arrangements,” an exhibition of new work by ceramic artist Dirk Staschke will be on display at the Wexler Gallery (www.wexlergallery.com) through April 25, 2009. Dirk Staschke is a ceramic artist and sculptor who weaves subtle allegory into a timeless art form. According to the artist much of his work is “based in human figuration and at times references sculptural history as well as contemporary culture. Often, the work combines these incongruent elements in a manner that asserts larger questions with anthropological undertones…the end result is an odd symbiosis of past and present.”
	Decatur, Georgia “Potters of the Roan,” a guild exhibition highlighting the incredibly diverse work of sixteen professional potters and sculptors living and working in the mountains of Western North Carolina, opens at MudFire Gallery (www.mudfire.com) on April 4, 2009. The Potters of the Roan exhibition features decorative and figurative works by nationally prominent American potters and ceramic artists. The artist reception and exhibition opening will be held Saturday, April 4, from 5-9 pm. The exhibition and sale will be on display through May 3, 2009.
	The Potters of the Roan collective describe themselves as a group of emerging and nationally recognized potters who “have banded together for promotional and professional purposes”. The shared experience of the sixteen ceramicists living in a beautiful corner of Western North Carolina imparts, however, only a hint of correlation to their work. Truly, the only thing in common is the collective’s shared competence and richness of diversity. Figurative sculpture by Melisa Cadell (bottom left) and functional pottery by Michael Kline (top left) will be part of the Potters of the Roan.
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	Phoenix, Arizona The 2009 National Conference on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference takes place April 8-11. There is a plethora of ceramics-related activity in conjunction with the conference, but here are just a couple of highlights:

	The “NCECA 2009 Regional Student Juried Exhibition” is on view at the Tempe Center for the Arts through April 11, 2009. Juried by Geoffrey Wheeler and Michaelene Walsh, the exhibition showcases excellence in undergraduate and graduate ceramic art from the ten-state region of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska. David Eichelberger’s work (top left) is part of this year’s Regional Juried Student Exhibition. The Margins, an exhibition curated by Brian Gillis and Nathan Betschart that features work from 39 national and international artists, will take place April 8-11 at the Icehouse, 429 W. Jackson St., in Phoenix. An opening reception will be held on Friday April 10, 2009 from 6-8p.m., and is free to the public. This exhibition highlights artists who make work that is unfettered by genre specificity and in favor of such that is intended to be seen for its own merit within the tradition of Art, not necessarily judged within the scope of a Ceramic-specific tradition. Erin Furimsky (bottom left) is one of the artists exhibiting in The Margins.
	Delft, The Netherlands “Tulip Vases from Twelve Designers,” a group exhibition of tulip vases will be on view through June 3 at Gallery Terra Delft (www.terra-delft.nl) in Delft, The Netherlands. Lotte van Laatum, whose work is shown at left, is one of the artist/designers included in the exhibition. Van Laatum specializes in the social-cultural and ecological aspects of design, and says, “Around 1600 Dutch diplomats brought the tulip, which has its origin in Central-Asia, from Turkey to The Netherlands. The tulip was very popular in Turkey since it was a symbol for life and fertility. It was therefore commonly used in textile patterns for the Kaftans of the Sultans and as a pattern in different ceramic objects. Not long after the tulip was introduced in The Netherlands it became a much loved flower as well and a true tulip fever came into being. Finally this fever collapsed in 1637, leaving many people bankrupt. Today the tulip is still the symbol of The Netherlands.”
	Gatlinburg, Tennessee Open the door to a creative experience for someone to attend Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts! Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is hosting “Art 4 Art’s Sake,” a series of auctions on four upcoming Fridays. The proceeds of the auctions will go to the Arrowmont Scholarship Program. For those who are unable to attend in person, absentee bidding is available through the website. Visit http://arrowmont.org/art4artssakeauction.html for more information and to view work available , such as the cream and sugar set at left by Annette Gates.
	Minneapolis, Minnesota Contemporary Monsters is on display at Northern Clay Center (www.northernclaycenter.org) through May 3. Guest-curated by ceramic artist Edith Garcia (London), this dark and dreamlike exhibition features the work of six artists who work within the realms of the surreal, yet with unique sensibilities. Participants include the curator along with Wesley Anderegg, Tom Bartel (see an interview with Tom in the Ceramic Arts Daily Feature Archives), Cynthia Consentino (work shown at left), John de Fazio, Arthur González, and Michael Lucero. All of these artists translate everyday monsters into sublime sculptural works, offering original voices in an expressive and overwhelmingly physical manner.
	Dallas, Texas The Second Annual Dallas Pottery Invitational will take place on April 3-5, 2009 at the Janette Kennedy Gallery at Southside on Lamar. It will feature the functional ceramics of eleven nationally recognized artists. Explore the diversity of contemporary styles crafted using earthenware, stoneware and porcelain clays. This year five new artists are featured: Charity Davis-Woodard from Edwardsville, IL, Brenda Lichman from Denton, TX, Robbie Lobell from Coupeville, WA, and Diane Rosenmiller and Nick Seidner from Middletown Springs, VT.
	Also featured is our core group of Texans: Daphne and Gary Hatcher, Lisa Orr (work shown bottom left), Amy Halko (work shown top left), Louise Rosenfield and Liz Lurie. Visit www.dallaspotteryinvitational.com and browse the individual artist pages for more information on each artist and their work. See a clip from “Pottery of Mexico: The Pineapples of Patamban,” a doumentary film produced by potter Lisa Orr, who is featured in the Dallas Pottery Invitational.