The Clay Dojo

Salem Art Works / Jordan Becker

2011-12-31T21:59:00.002-05:00

One of the highlights of the late summer/early fall was getting to travel upstate to see Jordan's show of recent pots and visit his woofire kiln at Salem Art Works in upstate New York

John Chamberlain

2011-12-31T21:27:00.002-05:00

The last weeks of 2011 saw the passing of the sculptor John Chamberlain, whose welded sculptures made from scrap parts of automobiles never fail to seduce with their world-weary abraded surfaces and paint colors that speak of long useful lives spent going and going more, until going no more. I think when I first saw Chamberlain's work as an art student, I may have romanticized the idea of the possible back-story of a high-speed car smash-up; " Leader Of The Pack " kind of stuff. These images from a recent show had me jazzed more by the fluidity of shapes in space, almost brushstroke-like in many instances. And this time I was the one traveling: forward, backward, around the perimeter, looking into the nooks and crannies, then doing the step-out and reverse to get the big picture again. Just the way I like to experience sculpture.

Just One Of Those Things

2011-12-31T20:54:00.002-05:00

Sittin' on the street. A cardboard box, minding its own bizness. Bustin' out all over.

some Street Art

2011-12-31T19:41:00.003-05:00

Quickly after the passing of Steve Jobs this fall, I happened upon this two-sided tribute on Bond Street between Bowery & Lafayette in my neighborhood. With cut strips of photos attached to opposing sides of an iron fence, one sees separate images from early and late in the life of Jobs.

be chill

2011-07-08T11:58:00.001-04:00

MAKING MY DAY, part 1

2011-05-22T20:04:00.001-04:00

avenue A, Sunday

might as well be spring

2011-02-27T23:06:00.002-05:00

Only a short time ago, I was finding frozen tree branch ice sculptures on this street. Today, for some reason, a trio of dirt-colored flip-flops. ?

fish cup, part 2

2011-02-14T18:59:00.002-05:00

The last post showed a cup I said reminded me of a fish. I decided to make a companion cup, and I show them together here. The head of the fish is the new cup's handle.

little fish

2011-02-07T22:51:00.002-05:00

this recent small cup has a shape that reminds me of a fish in motion.

ice readymade

2011-02-05T02:59:00.004-05:00

Messy weather, even unpleasantly so. Ice-encased branches. but still pretty cool when the warmer softening moment lets you lift off a perfectly formed cast of delicate twig. amazing that even the texture of the bark is perfectly preserved. for a minute.

2010-12-05T21:30:00.001-05:00

These two unusual double-handled pieces were said to be found together. A nice set.

handle

2010-12-05T21:27:00.003-05:00

This cup is identified as a tankard, although it is too curvy and diminutive to approach what I consider a tankard, but the thin strap handle is kind of mod-feeling.

Footsie

2010-12-05T21:14:00.003-05:00

2010-12-05T21:07:00.002-05:00

a bronze foot and a marble hand that have become separated from their owners.

The Daily Grind

2010-12-05T21:00:00.003-05:00

I love finding clay figurines, from any time and culture, that depict people at work. Here we see grinding and baking in what appears to be a clay oven.

Wild Kingdom

2010-12-05T20:17:00.006-05:00

Pyxis

2010-12-05T19:41:00.004-05:00

When I saw these at the Met, I thought of the similar type things I've seen lately made by Julie Knight or Deb Reed. I have always loved these cutaway-style feet.

There's No Stoppin' the Cretans from Hoppin'

2010-12-05T17:49:00.006-05:00

A very early cup from Minoan Crete is unglazed except for the iron-rich slip decoration over a calcium-rich lowfire clay body.

Barbotine

2010-12-05T16:40:00.006-05:00

Some evidence of the longstanding preoccupation we here at the Dojo have had with pinecones. It was nice to stumble upon this second century A.D. roman terracotta jar, said to have been found in Gaul, and described as having "barbotine decoration". A little digging leads me to state that barbotine is the same technique I would call slip trailing, namely, piping a semi-liquid slurry onto a leatherhard pot to produce a raised texture ( not the way my vase shape was decorated ).

2010-12-05T15:57:00.002-05:00

Alongside the decorative, the breathtaking, and the puzzling ancient artifacts it is also fun to see this comparison of unglazed, strictly functional jars which present minor variations on the same container. The ability to easily seal up the top for efficient transport, the double handles to enable two people to off-load and carry, and the tapering base that may have helped them nest together better when laid on their sides were the considerations that dictated these shapes. Clays from different locales show a range of color and texture.
Excavations which describe finding literal hill-sized castoffs of similar jars give a perspective onto their discardability, however surprising that may seem to us now.

2010-12-05T15:50:00.004-05:00

This lineup of utilitarian large vessels made me think of of a project arraying oversize narrow-necked bottles made by GHP resident artist Will Coggin last year.

More Met Museum

2010-12-05T15:13:00.004-05:00

Here is a roundup of some pottery shapes that caught my eye on my last visit to the Greek & Roman study collection at the Met. I found that lots of things reminded me of work being done by some of the potters I know from GHP.

Ai Weiwei @ TateModern

2010-10-27T13:25:00.007-04:00

I was intrigued by the sudden decision to change the terms of exhibition of this large installation piece, which involved 100 million sunflower seed replicas hand-crafted from clay and slips over the course of several years by the inhabitants of the "porcelain city" of Jingdezhen, China. Being unable to see the actual clay units, I relied on Roberta Smith's New York Times article, as well as the Tate Modern's video presentation of the work's making to help me envision the sight and sound of what it must have been like to traipse through the space and pick up handfuls of the realistic-seeming seeds which, nonetheless, did fall short of being truly lifelike, for my money, from what the video shows. Still, it must have been lovely... . In the documentary video, the artist is shown walking through a large room filled with the seeds. He speculates that viewers will initially take them for the real thing, since the scale of such an undertaking is too mind-boggling. He imagines they might pick up a seed to test it in their mouth ( which I wouldn't urge doing if the slips get some of their color from manganese ). My hunch is that they didn't have a glaze coating over the slips, and perhaps if the units were done all in a once-firing, that the surface was being abraded a great deal thus kicking up what was reported to be visible clouds of dust when viewers came into contact with the piece. With raw clay, or even underfired clay, dust will be an issue. And of course, where there's visible dust, that means that there must also be a quite high amount of the never-visible sub-micron particles that pose the threat of lung damage. The articles I saw about the curtailment of the audience-participation aspect of Weiwei's piece spoke of concern for viewer's health, but failed to mention the more sustained danger that museum staff would be subject to. Walking through a dustcloud, especially if you are asthmatic, is a bad idea, but to be subject to days, even months-long exposure through no choice of your own, well that's another matter. In a post re: Zhang Huan's piece at PaceWildenstein in June of 2008, you can see a Clay Dojo entry addressing similar concerns. That said, thanks for all the writing on clay-related artwork and pots that you have contributed of late, Roberta. We here at the Dojo appreciate .. . .. . . .. .http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/arts/design/19sunflower.html

signs

2010-10-16T03:25:00.000-04:00

2010-10-15T12:30:00.003-04:00

This mug shape is hard to translate into a successful photo. It is one where I went perhaps slightly overboard in the number of ring protrusions I attached, and they even impinge into the interior of the cup, which makes it funky but trickier to drink out of. Not good for a left-handed sipper. I kind of wanted to push the idea though, to see what would happen. This glaze is called Val's Green at my studio, named after its formulator, the potter Val Cushing.

Work In Progress

2010-10-13T11:14:00.002-04:00

This tall vase-type shape is made using a very coarse, forgiving sculpture clay that allows for a prolonged period of work on the piece without its drying out. I was relieved when it successfully came through the bisque firing without any of the rings cracking or falling off. Right now I am debating a couple of ideas of how to glaze it.

Life On Mars

2010-10-03T23:43:00.003-04:00

This grouping of four very small cups were made from a white stoneware clay body then fired to cone 10 reduction in a gas kiln after being glazed with a White Shino glaze. The mottled, grey-to-black coloration is due to carbon trapping, which occurs during the firing.

County Fair

2010-09-26T23:43:00.001-04:00

Getting out of the city was great. Seeing lots of amazingly patterned poultry was inspiring.

Betty Woodman @ Max Protech

2010-05-18T00:23:00.004-04:00

Anna Sew Hoy, "Holes", @ Sikkema Jenkins Gallery

2010-05-17T23:04:00.005-04:00

This New Zealand native works now in Los Angeles, and her show was an installation of nine or so pieces.

2010-05-17T22:56:00.001-04:00

My favorite was this floor piece that really seemed to set up some sort of dialogue between the massive, lumpy clay part and the stripped-away jeans, reminding me of what perhaps could remain after a gazillion trips up and down the mountain by Sisyphus and the rock, finally turning them into one thing.

2010-05-17T22:42:00.002-04:00

From some angles this piece looked like it was wearing a thong, or maybe that the clay boulder had given the jeans a good thrashing, perhaps eroding the greater part of the threads in endlessly tumbling around.

2010-05-17T22:37:00.002-04:00

This clay multi-hedron was wearing black jeans, and seemed comfortable on cinderblocks. Closer inspection revealed a cache of trashy plastic shades.

Truck

2010-05-11T00:12:00.001-04:00

couple new cups

2010-05-03T23:15:00.003-04:00

Here are a few more results with the small cups.

...and then there's this...

2010-05-03T23:01:00.002-04:00

One of the significant lessons from this off-balancing act with these small cups is that they will display greater imbalance after the final glaze firing. Good to know. I thought I was firing this small cup on top of this kiln shelf shard so it could catch a drip or two that might flow out from the downward-tilting handle. Rather than catching a stray glaze drip or two, what I ended up with was a crazy cup that fused itself completely. Somehow, though, I like it.

Michele Quan @ BowmanBloom

2010-05-03T22:32:00.003-04:00

Some nice work in the east village this past weekend. Michele makes garlands of clay balls that are combined with fabric and rope and decorated with slips and underglazes. Great drawing style. I loved the shell shapes as well. Upcoming work from her will feature tusk shapes. Look forward to seeing more.

Clay Pigeons

2010-05-03T22:17:00.003-04:00

I'm not quite sure what it is that makes these clay pigeons so amazingly delightful, but I just love them. It could be the immediacy of the way he is working; a real sketch-like feeling. Or it could be the "personality" of their attitudes. They are made by studio manager Albert Pfarr, who is known for his expertise in all areas of clay, glazes, kilns, etc. Here are a few shots that chronicle the method he uses to produce the flock. A loosely thrown jug or bottle type shape is then tilted onto a base, given a beak and face, then glazed with a shino glaze that is heavily reduced in the kiln firing. Wax resist prevents some areas from the effects of the carbon trapping, which is what gives the deep black.

Recycling

2010-04-27T00:57:00.001-04:00

Airborne Glaze Event

2010-04-19T19:23:00.001-04:00

This is some footage of the currently exploding Icelandic Volcano, which in addition to lava and rocks, spews a cloud of ash dust. As we all know by now, it is terribly disruptive to travel because of the harm it will do to jet engines. I am not an expert in vulcanology, but it seems to me that a superheated coating of fine ash dust would actually, well, be glazing the engine of the jet. Volcanigama, anyone?

Michael Connelly @ NCECA

2010-04-12T22:30:00.004-04:00

I found this pot at the Artstream Gallery, which had a booth for selling at the NCECA conference, but which is also known for being a roving caravan of ceramic excellentness operating out of, yes, a genuine Airstream trailer. Michael Connelly, who made it, is based in Philadelphia, and makes functional stoneware that is exactly the kind of work that will get lots of use, and has beautiful, but understated details that don't distract.

Rings

2010-04-09T12:54:00.001-04:00

This is a new thing just out of the kiln. Kind of a complicated cup.

Joe Singewald at NCECA

2010-04-09T12:44:00.002-04:00

This is another new piece I brought back from Philly, a beauty of a woodfired container; makes me happy.

Shay Church @ NCECA, Philadelphia

2010-04-05T00:10:00.002-04:00

In an empty lot on S. Broad Street, a trio of beached whales made from unfired clay over a wood and chickenwire armature by Shay Church, who is a visiting artist at the University of the Arts.

Ruth Borgenicht @ Snyderman/Works Gallery, Philadelphia

2010-04-04T20:34:00.004-04:00

Ruth Borgenicht is someone whose work in clay has interested me, and this trip to Philly provided me with a chance to see some work in person, as well as to meet and talk briefly with her. I first came across photos of her elegant chain-mail wall pieces and found their soft, light-absorbing surfaces and limited, white-gray-black palette to be pretty seductive. She slipcasts these ring shaped elements, then builds other forms and volumes from their combination. Up close, more traces of the making are apparent. As she shifted around a basket-like piece, I realized there was a sound element too: something along the lines of strolling the pebble-lined path of the Tuileries, or lazing around in a beanbag chair in your parents' basement, or maybe swirling dry chickpeas around in a big pot of water. Not a fragile or glassy sound, kind of grating, but in a soothing way. From her website, I learned that she has also used pieces in collaborations with dance performance.

There were some smaller things, and I was pretty happy about getting a light gray circle of interlocking hourglass / drumlike shapes that she called a study.

2010-04-04T20:21:00.002-04:00

This is a small study for a sculpture that I brought home from the Ruth Borgenicht show.

End of Winter

2010-04-04T20:16:00.000-04:00

Tyler Speicher @ Greenwich House Pottery's Made In Clay

2010-03-31T12:05:00.003-04:00

I brought these cups home with me from the annual GHP benefit sale. Their maker lives in Iowa. What attracted me to them instantly was the very blocky shapes that really reminded me of grain elevators and other architectural forms of the wide open spaces. They are fired electrically to cone 6, and the glazes are commercially prepared - both facts I found surprising. He also had some neat small plates and canister-type vessels that I was pining for. Great work.

2010-03-30T01:33:00.000-04:00

Ken Price @ Nyehaus

2010-03-30T00:19:00.002-04:00

This gallery is in a funky brownstone ( 358 W. 20th St. ) and had the walls painted vibrant Pricean hues for this cool show of things from the 1960's and 70's

2010-03-30T00:16:00.000-04:00

These cups rock!!

2010-03-30T00:03:00.002-04:00

These hard-to-classify shapes were viscerally creepy/compelling.

2010-03-29T03:49:00.003-04:00

Here we see a ceramic piece that shows a nesting group of sausage-link, snake-like forms. In a New York Times article, Nick Stillman refers to Price's surfaces as emitting a "paranormal glow". Numerous layers of paint are laid down in carefully determined sequence and then abraded to achieve this surface. There is an incredible uniformity to this manufactured weathering, and something tells me that it is the sanding that is the trickiest part of making these.

2010-03-29T03:29:00.003-04:00

These were among the smaller pieces at Matthew Marks, but were some of my favorites. The comico-phalllic, balloon animal quality makes me smile, but I think that at least some of them relate to the wave forms that can repeatedly be seen in sculptures and drawings by Price. My feeling is that he is reflecting upon the wave experience as a series of segments and thinking about the lift and the curl, of something momentous, but also momentary.

Lest We Forget

2010-03-29T01:56:00.003-04:00

I saw this sidewalk chalk-graffitit when I was walking home from work late on Friday night, and feeling just a bit grouchy & fatigued. Trying to get used to my new contact lenses, scurrying down a blustery cold Great Jones Street, this reminder of the tragic fire that took the lives of 146 mostly very young, immigrant women and injured 70, was a reality check of sorts. The horrific toll of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was a tragedy waiting to happen. The cramped and fabric-strewn sweatshop floors were bolted shut from the outside by supervisors in order to prevent workers taking unauthorized breaks. Many of the victims burned to death, but many others jumped to their deaths from the 9th and 10th floor windows as the fire raced through the loft spaces because fire department ladders weren't tall enough to reach them. It is harrowing to read the accounts of those who watched from the street as these teenaged girls grabbed hold of each other before leaping from the building. We're not talkin' Thelma and Louise, here. In the fire's aftermath, many worker-protection improvements were made possible, and the Ladies' Garment Workers Union gained strength. The former Triangle Factory building on Washington Place now belongs to NYU.

Kukuli Velarde @ Barry Friedman Ltd.

2010-03-27T14:02:00.003-04:00

This Peruvian-born, Philly-based artist had a show a couple years back at Garth Clark that was featured in this blog. Here I had a chance to get a much more expanded idea of what she is about and to meet her and talk a little bit, which was terrific. The ceramic vessels from her series entitled "Plunder Me, Baby" look a bit larger than the ones I had seen before, and their biting wit is still very much in evidence. They are gorgeous, and so technically accomplished. They each feature glass eyes that meet your gaze, seem to follow you. Accompanying each piece is an index-card "label" such as would be seen in an ethnographic museum, circa 1970's, its faded-out typewritten description of the geographical source of the "find" followed by a ballpoint-pen "observation" on the character, nature, difficulty in handling, or warnings about what (bad) behavior the captive is likely to exhibit. The facial expressions range from sullen to defiant to startled to ingratiating to brazen to blase'. The overall effect is: watch out for these displaced firecrackers!

There are two other parts to this show; it almost has the feeling it could be a small museum exhibit. A large number of figure paintings in oil on aluminum panels from a series called "Cadavers" reference historical styles, gender roles, and personal history.

The third component of the show, "Apple of His Eye" combines a performance-piece, where the artist completes a wall drawing that frames the projection of a video in which her late father speaks about his hopes for his daughter.

The show continues to April 17th. I recommend it highly.

Made In Clay at Greenwich House Pottery

2010-03-27T13:52:00.002-04:00

It is time for the Fundraising exhibit/sale at Greenwich House. Lots of great work at rockbottom prices. Chance to meet super-great folks and talk pottery!! Get on down to Jones St. in Greenwich Village this weekend if you are out and about, and grab yourself some righteous clay items.

fun,wonky cups

2010-03-01T21:34:00.002-05:00

Less Is More Ain't Easy ( for me )

2010-02-22T21:14:00.006-05:00

Here is a shot of the final result of that batch of slip handprint cups whose beginnings I showed a few weeks back, stating that I would give them a simple glaze. As we can see, I couldn't leave well enough alone and added a bunch of colors and such. Dipping the rims and partially obscuring the handprint is probably the silliest among these flourishes. Anyway, I think I will remake them and try to exercise a little restraint when I get to the glaze room.

Anat Shiftan @ Greenwich House Pottery

2010-02-22T21:04:00.000-05:00

2010-02-22T20:26:00.002-05:00

This show at the Jane Hartsook Gallery at GHP consists of wall tiles, still life groupings of ceramic shapes, and ceramic pieces that lie flat and abound with pulsating organic shapes. The tiles have mostly floral motifs; the still life pieces are quiet and contemplative, and are made up of simple fruit, vessel, or flowering shapes that can be unglazed, glazed in a nearly identical matte, or a combination of two colors. The separate elements are constructed from either porcelain, paper porcelain or stoneware. The work sends forth a cool detachment, and the Hartsook Gallery space participates nicely. Shiftan currently heads the ceramics department at SUNY New Paltz.

2010-02-22T17:40:00.004-05:00

The most exciting thing about the show, for me, was her use of cut up kiln shelves for these tiles. These may have been some type of industrial-grade shelf, about three inches thick, which gave the feeling of a painting on stretcher bars. The drawing is all in a fairly charged cobalt blue, and the line is more consistent than varied, but they are bold and not too flower-catalog illustrational-feeling. I love the no-warpage, no surprises, no nonsense solution of the kiln shelves.

A few more photos

2010-02-08T17:43:00.002-05:00

Not that I think these pictures came out terribly well, but I thought I would tantalize you with just a few more images from the ISAW show discussed below.

NYU Institute for the Study of the Ancient World Exhibitions

2010-02-08T14:45:00.005-05:00

NYU
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
Exhibitions

This exhibit is so multi-faceted that I think I had better limit myself to posting photos and discussing just one aspect of the works on view: the shapes, possible functions and dazzling inventiveness of surface decoration on the many ceramic pieces encountered here.

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at NYU is a brand-new entity, and just admitted its first crop of PhD candidates in Fall 2009. It is housed in a historic townhouse at 15 E. 84th Street, a scant pebble's throw from the Met Museum. A huge endowment by Leon Levy and Shelby White is the basis for its existence, and there was, and perhaps remains some controversy clouding NYU's acceptance of this largesse, since some antiquities in the Leon Levy Foundation are accused of having been looted, or obtained questionably.

The exhibition spaces on the ground floor are modest in size, but pretty accessible, with the majority of the large ceramic works displayed encircled by a perimeter barrier only, and not fully enclosed in cases. This presentation, I think, aids in the appreciation of the unbelievably complex slip decorations that cover the vessels.

The artifacts resulting from excavations in the Danube River Basin, primarily in Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova date from the Fifth and Fourth millennia, b.c. As such, their unique relevance stems from the fact that an Early European Civilization, pre-dating the Egyptian was virtually unknown. Belief was that a simplistic, unorganized society without hierarchical distinctions or complex rituals or ceremony was about all that settled these regions.

The large size and varied, high-energy shapes of the pots suggest that there may have been some kind of ceremonial, or presentation aspect to their use. There is a kind of beautiful, deliberate fineness to the surfaces, and the way they are broken up into overlaid fields of abstract decoration that don't just follow along the contours of the pots themselves is just a huge revelation. The line quality is fluid and bold, and I can't help thinking how much fun it must have been for these potters to devise and carry out these decorations.

The pair of conjoined drinking vessels must surely have had a ceremonial function, and I am deeply intrigued by the large, shallow decorated bowl containing figurines of a man and woman huddling together, or perhaps making their way through what might be a stylized depiction of an inhospitable, vast landscape.

This show continues to April, and if you can get to it, try and see it.

Robert Ellison Collection

2010-02-08T03:33:00.006-05:00

Here are a few photos from the newly installed American Wing at the Met museum, where the Robert A. Ellison collection of art pottery has found a new home as a promised gift. The pots range in date from about 1876-1956 and seem to represent nearly every strain of decorative, art, and studio pottery in the U.S. during that time. There are numerous works by George Ohr, the "mad potter of Biloxi", and here one can start to grasp why he is considered such a touchstone for the idea of the clay object as art object. His works are thrilling, magnificently unconventional, and risky-feeling. They do not tend to be large, but they are no end of surprising. The potters of Greenwich House were given a tour led by Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, who curated the installation.

Process

2010-01-25T16:25:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of shots of the second floor wheel room at Greenwich House, and a slip decoration thing I am working on. The white stoneware cups get a handprint with black slip, then later a nearly identical imprint with white slip. They will get a simple clear,or light celadon glaze.

Mid-Century Style and Studio Pottery @ Greenwich House

2010-01-18T04:07:00.002-05:00

This terrific show transforms the gallery space into a period room by presenting the pots amid furniture, tapestries and ephemera from the 1950's - 60's. It kicks off the hundredth anniversary year celebrations by showcasing some of the important ceramic artists who had a connection with the school and continues to Feb. 4th. Very much worth checking out. Greenwich House Pottery, 16 Jones St. NYC

new

2010-01-18T03:54:00.001-05:00

another couple of new things

Mikey

2010-01-11T16:41:00.002-05:00

Mikey is the go-to guy at Other Music for all questions relating to new releases of African Music compilations ( of which - thankfully, there are many these days ). His other passion is purple, and he is an accessorizer extraordinaire.

Accidental Sculpture, part 3

2010-01-11T16:11:00.004-05:00

new

2010-01-11T00:52:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of new things with a squiggly kind of decoration that I think worked out well.

Prehistoric Ceramics of New Jersey

2009-12-28T23:16:00.003-05:00

After the contemporary but timeless-feeling vessels of Toshiko Takaezu it was fun to stumble on the archaeologically-minded show on the lower level at the museum in Trenton. The raw clay samples, shards with geometric incised decoration and large reconstructed bowl forms were neato.

2009-12-28T23:14:00.000-05:00

2009-12-28T23:09:00.003-05:00

Toshiko Takaezu @ The New Jersey State Museum, Trenton

2009-12-28T18:21:00.003-05:00

This exhibit at the State Museum honors the New Jersey potter and showcases a large number of works culled from the large donation which she made. There is a fair amount of natural light in these galleries, though the squat, boxy, 1960's feel of these spaces, with their charmless barriers and clunky, over-reflective plexiglass vitrines make it hard for the viewer to breathe with the volumes that make these pieces seem earthbound yet puffed up and buoyant at the same time. And they are definitely of the earth. The glazes are forthright, simple, bold; lots of oxide washes done with a very wide brush, or poured or splashed on. I retract my prior post's statement that the Newark show was more colorful. If I am lucky, I will get to meet this potter someday.

2009-12-28T18:16:00.001-05:00

The goblet shapes were new to me. Beneath them, a trio of what she calls stones of the moon.

2009-12-28T18:11:00.001-05:00

Many gorgeous pots

2009-12-28T18:02:00.003-05:00

There are lots of beautiful surfaces. I liked this dark vessel with an opening.

Toshiko Takaezu @ The Newark Museum

2009-12-28T16:36:00.002-05:00

I saw this show the day after seeing the larger one in Trenton. Some similarities, though this show had a bit more color.

2009-12-28T16:33:00.000-05:00

Push / Pull

2009-12-25T12:54:00.002-05:00

More Accidental Sculpture

2009-12-21T17:03:00.003-05:00

Snowman

2009-12-21T16:59:00.001-05:00

In case you thought I only cared about making coffee mugs.

Pamela Sunday @ Van Den Akker

2009-12-14T21:35:00.002-05:00

This show was called Macroscopic, and had great pieces. I missed out on the meet & greet with the artist and ended up really wishing I hadn't, since there were lots of things I'd have asked. There is a very labor-intensive handbuilding going on here; a very tenacious focus on the details. Appears to be mostly stoneware. I would have liked to learn more about the firing and glazes. Sunday works out of a studio in Brooklyn and has a prior background in fashion, as a stylist. As always, I have done the best I could with the photographs, but there is a lot that doesn't quite come through in them. Oddly, I failed to get a shot of what I think was my favorite piece of the group, a minutely detailed one called Hive. The bronze colored spiky one on the crazy marble tabletop reminds me of a blowup version of the burrs from a sweetgum tree. I believe the light colored ones are called Burst, and the one above them Electrum.

2009-12-14T21:27:00.002-05:00

There is a nearly black, solarized feeling to the glaze of the above piece, Oculus, which had me thinking of an old-fashioned diving helmet. The other piece is Cellular Sphere. The detail gives a little bit of the sense of how sandy-textured this unglazed one is.

2009-12-14T21:19:00.003-05:00

The dark brown stoneware sphere with the negative-space cubbyholes called Tangent looks really great on this table with the tigereye-looking veneer insets. I am also a big fan of this pair of lamps.

Gallery Van Den Akker is at 210 East 58th Street, New York

Cheryl Ann Thomas @ Nancy Margolis Gallery

2009-12-14T16:07:00.002-05:00

I got a kick out of the way California sculptor Cheryl Ann Thomas refers to herself as the "world's oldest emerging artist" in an interview I saw among the press materials at the Margolis gallery. She seems to be in her early 60's, and just fairly recently getting noticed and showing regularly.

These pieces, all called relics are made of incredibly fine coils of porcelain, and are about 24" across - give or take. Black or gray coloration is a result of additions to the clay body; the works are unglazed. She builds up a relatively stable, vertical vessel shape which will then slump in the firing. In a second firing, she will sometimes put two pieces in proximity to let them meld in a second firing. I was more interested in the way these 2-part pieces formed a relationship than I was in the single, grayish wall piece. Skeins of wool, cocoon husks, dried leaves were some of the shapes that these reminded me of. Nice stuff.

Nancy Margolis Gallery is at 523 West 23rd Street.

more signs of the times

2009-12-14T15:43:00.001-05:00

. . . .and, aren't they all?

more pinecone greatness

2009-12-08T01:28:00.002-05:00

Nicki Ritchie @ Greenwich House Pottery

2009-12-08T01:05:00.005-05:00

japanese ceramics

2009-12-08T01:02:00.000-05:00

more japanese ceramics

2009-12-08T00:55:00.000-05:00

From the Brooklyn Museum

Jordan Becker @ Greenwich House Pottery

2009-12-08T00:25:00.005-05:00

Jordan's work was part of the yearly show of resident ceramic artists at Greenwich House. Some of these pieces were wood-fired, some pit-fired. The grouping called "expendables" evoked medieval helmets as well as the haniwa figures of Japanese clay history which followers of the dojo will know are so dear to my heart. But they also made me think of spent shells, canisters, and - sadly - body parts of people flying apart; I found them beautiful and they seemed to communicate thoughtfulness that went beyond their physicality. A wall piece of two shield forms was also great. Jordan soon moves on to greener pastures, leaving the city for a remote land to the north, where he will continue to pursue excellence. And the potters of Greenwich House will miss him.

crazy beautiful

2009-12-08T00:09:00.003-05:00

Celadon glaze over red earthenware. Not porcelain. Earthenware. Gorgeous shape, color, volume. And that rim ! This vessel is a communicator. Asian Galleries / Brooklyn Museum.

Art Smith @ Brooklyn Museum

2009-12-07T23:50:00.002-05:00

Many glorious things were seen & considered this past saturday, when I remembered to go to the late-nite, free, first saturday of every month bash at Brooklyn Museum. Unknown to me was this modernist artist (1917-1982) who had his workshop on Cornelia, then on West 4th streets in Greenwich Village. As always, the photos are the best I could come up with under the circumstances. Most of the pieces are in sterling, some with stones. Design feels related to biomorphic abstraction - I'm thinking Arp, Klee, maybe Gorky. I liked seeing pages of sketches and some of his tools.

Seventh Avenue

2009-11-30T18:04:00.001-05:00

Two recently noticed examples of street art.

yellow

2009-11-23T02:17:00.002-05:00

Slabhenge

2009-11-23T01:37:00.003-05:00

Washington Square Park has been off-limits, like, forever. God knows what's in store, or when it will be finished. But I did find these piled up castoffs to be unintentionally interesting arrangements. A minimalist sculpture-like series of weathered triangular slabs, and a bunch of concrete that had an asian feel to it.

Funky-Fresh pots from Pottery Dave

2009-11-16T18:02:00.002-05:00

My new class at Greenwich House Pottery has allowed me to meet many terrific clayminded earthlings. Dave Gibson is the teacher of our Tuesday night gang, and here you can see some of the results of a recent throwing demo which honed in on altered, multi-part constructions. Way fun.

add-on

2009-11-10T14:12:00.002-05:00

This photo should have been included in the October 26th post to show what I was talking about by calling part of the new Copper Union Building's front a 'pocket protector' shape.