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Aneta Regel Deleu exhibition / Puls Contemporary Ceramics, Brussels
Aneta Regel Deleu exhibition / Puls Contemporary Ceramics, Brussels
September 8 - October 6, 2012
Prize winning Polish-born artist Aneta Regel Deleu is a rapidly rising star on the European ceramic art horizon. She is an honors graduate of the Gdansk, Poland Fine Art Academy and London’s University of Westminster and Royal College of Art. This is her first exhibition at Puls Contemporary Ceramics Gallery.
“The main focus of my ceramic forms is the exploration of materials and their combinations. I am particularly interested combining the rough natural qualities of materials such as rock with malleable materials such as clay. The resulting juxtaposition of the natural and human-made creates a dramatic friction and tension. This reinforces the transformation and sense of movement that objects undergo during the passage from one state to another throughout the making process.”
Aneta Regel’s work seeks no functional path other than that of the communicative and expository power of art itself. Like certain of her mid-20th century pioneering artistic antecedents, she utterly rejects the label of potter. Simply because her medium is clay, fire and occasionally glaze, that does not make it craft. The designation of ceramist or ceramic artist—or better yet, ceramic sculptor—is both more expansive and accurate.
The human figure is not her vehicle of expression. Rather it is the trees, rocks, fields, and river-beds first encountered in her native northern Poland and later in her travels. Her formal language is abstract, creating a sort of equivalent to the natural world rather than attempting to describe it. Hers is a landscape, or more precisely, aspects of a landscape that create images through which she seeks to convey her vision of a reality we may already have encountered or indeed might yet encounter.
Regel is a romantic seeking to capture the forms, energies and rhythms of the forests and natural phenomena that have surrounded her. She has repeatedly been confronted by native rock, split and ground into powder by the power of glacial ice.
MOUNTED / Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT
MOUNTED / Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT
October 5-28, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, October 5, from 5-7 pm.
This October, Red Lodge Clay Center will present MOUNTED. An exhibit featuring the works of Lindsay Pichaske, Adelaide Paul, Ryan Blackwell, Thaddeus Erdahl, Amy Santoferraro, Christine Golden, Undine Brod and Roxanne Jackson. Topical to many regions is the ritual of hunting season and the provision of food. Just beyond the border of a ritual born of need are taxidermy arts, which can serve as an analogy for Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The aforementioned survivalist skill sets are about harnessing natural elements. Decorative or trophy mounting came after our basic needs as humans were met. The work featured in this exhibit will, hopefully, explore the realm beyond basic needs and delve into hazards of modernity with frivolous, dark, and poignant mounts.
The exhibition will be posted online, Monday, October 7 by 10 am at the Red Lodge Clay Center’s website.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm. Sunday, 12 - 4 pm.
CONCEPTION - Part Two / Canvas Galleries, Belfast
CONCEPTION - Part Two / Canvas Galleries, Belfast
September 27 - October 11, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 27, 6.30 - 9.00 pm.
Following on from Conception Part One London in June, Darren MacPherson and Patrick Colhoun introduce the second part of a two part exhibition of work from two very different but complimentary artists. Two mediums, MacPherson’s vibrant, acid coloured figurative paintings alongside Colhoun’s dark, brooding, somewhat disturbing contemporary sculpture.
Part one in June was London, MacPherson’s base; part two is Belfast, Colhoun’s hometown.
Part one, described as ‘Art with balls’ by Cool on Demand Culture blog, showcased the work in a gritty industrial setting in South East London. The second venue will be a contemporary white cube gallery in Belfast, a city really starting to find its feet in the genre of contemporary art.
Two artists, two cities, two cultures, two mediums.
Darren MacPherson has a growing reputation as a contemporary figurative artist whose acrylic and spray paint works are bold and full of colour.
His frequent use of high key colours can be jarring, even startling to a first-time viewer. The negative space in the composition used merely to emphasise the foreground; this is the part of his work that he spends most time on, adding layer upon layer of content. Darren’s colours bounce off the canvas and his chaotic, sometimes erratic, strokes make for abstract suggestions of the male and female form.
Inclusion in prestigious events such as FLAGSTOP in Los Angeles, the inaugural Other Art Fair in London and the 2011 National Open Art Exhibition are cementing MacPherson as an artist with a growing reputation.
Patrick Colhoun is a contemporary sculptor living and working in Belfast. His irreverent approach and ever darker subject matter make for work that is anything but traditional ceramics. His use of other materials such as latex, hosiery and piercings add to the mix.
Shane Porter: Self Portrait, 2012, Earthenware, Stainless Steel, Rubber band. Photo by Chris Jones.
Clean is a series of work concerning the sterile and the sanitary within shared spaces. The work expresses my need for order and cleanliness within the home. I am interested in people’s need for the physical and mental cleaning of spaces when moving into a new home, which in turn removes any traces of previous tenants. To me, home is a space where I have both physical and mental control.
ScanCeram 2012 - Scandinavian Ceramics Conference / Hjørring, Denmark
ScanCeram: Scandinavian Ceramics Conference 2012 / Hjørring, Denmark
September 20-23, 2012
Join the annual Scandinavian Ceramics Conference in Hjørring, Denmark, for panels, lectures, exhibitions and demonstrations by outstanding ceramic artists and professionals from Scandinavia and around the world. Registration is available online.
Presenters: Karin Andersson, Stefan Andersson, Polly Beach, Clive Bowen, Nato Eristavi, Ann-Louise Gustafsson, Susanne Hangaard, Hbyba Harrabi, Janne Hieck, Ayumi Horie, Ane Fabricius, Anna Johansdottir, Henning Jørgensen, James Kasper, Michael Maguire, Susan Maguire, Gregory Hamilton Miller, Sheri O’Connor, Steve Mattison, Catherine Orrantia, Anders Ruhwald, Markus Rusch, Bernt Petersen, Waleed Qaisi.
THEMES
▬ Ceramic Artist Residencies: Centers and Programs
What kind of opportunities are there for ceramic artists to work in new contexts around the world? How do we find these programs, and what can we access there? How do these ceramic work centers and institutions develop, how are they funded, and who do they provide resources for? How do artists apply for a residency, and what kind of projects get accepted? How can an artist residency fit with your career, whether you’re a student, young professlonal, or world renowned artist.
Mette Blum Marcher (DK), Steve Mattington (Hungary/Wales)
▬ Earthenware and slip
Earthenware clay is one of the most common minerals on earth, and can be found in almost every country in the world. In combination with other clay slip materials, and metal oxides, it makes up one of the most common material ranges of the ceramic pallet. During the conference, we’ll have presentations about English Slip Ware, Slip trailing in England and Japan, and different slip applications to Earthenware ranges. In addition, we’ll be discussing new developments in low temperature glazes that do and don’t contain lead, borate, and other low temperature fluxes, exploring the fit and fitness of these various glaze options.
Clive Bowen (UK), Waleed Qaisi (Iraq/Qatar)
▬ Trends in Scandinavian Ceramics
What’s happening now in Scandinavian Ceramics? Who are the emerging and expanding voices in the ceramic field, and what are they working on, and burning for? Where did they study, and how did they get moving in our field? Are you one of them? Would you like a place to tell about your work at ScanCeram? We’ve made one for you! If you’re a student or faculty in Ceramics, we’ve got special opportunities this year for you to present about your work, your school, or your institution. Together with the Vendsyssel Art Museum, we’ve also arranged our first museum level exhibition of NY NORDIC KERAMIK September 11th to October 21st, 2012, with an opening reception and gallery talks Friday, September 21st by involved artists, curators, and organizers.
Ane-Fabricius Christiansen (DK), Ann-Louise Gustafsson (SE), Susanne Hangaard (DK)
▬ Ceramic Institutions: Education
What kind of ceramic education institutions exist in the world today? In Germany, the Ceramic School in Landshut offers programs in apprenticeship, journeymen, and masters level ceramics, while still being engaged with studio art practices, an extension of a guild system. How does this compare with ceramic educations in the USA, which focus on Bachelor and MFA programs, or Australian ones, or those in for example, Georgia? Which of these educations are relevant for what career paths? What skills do they develop, what communities do they participate in and develop? How do these institutions collaborate with each other more broadly nationally and internationally?
Michael Maquire (USA), Nato Eristavi (Georgia), Sheri O’Connor (USA)
▬ Internet and Online Marketing
Should you be selling your work on Etsy? Do you have a commercial Facebook Site? Who do you follow on Twitter? And how do you get these activities to result in actual sales of your work? These, and many other important techniques for marketing your work and yourself online, are an important focus of this years conference. With experienced professionals presenting and leading the discussion, we’ll work up guidelines and suggestions for current activities, and try to anticipate future directions to move in. Beyond that, what are the minimal basic activities that we need to invest in to have a presence online, that is time and economically efficient.
Ayumi Horie (USA), Stefan Andersson (SE), Polly Beach (USA)
Clémence van Lunen exhibition / Galerie NeC, Hong Kong
Clémence van Lunen exhibition / Galerie NeC, Hong Kong
October 5 - November 18, 2012
Opening: Thursday, October 4, from 6 pm.
“Sculpture, polyglot, curious and on the alert, fascinated by the countries which she has discovered, cultures and languages which she practises and likes, Clémence Van Lunen is a renaissance woman. She develops multiple works which could be defined as high curiosity in the same sense we sometimes describe ancient amateurs cabinet, but in her case it is in an eclectic and knowledgable way. The art critic and exhibition curator Frédéric Bodet wrote about her work, “rare forms are expressed with an indecisive act, dedicated to the enjoyment as much as to the dismay that she constantly tries to disturb us, her sculptures evoke a sort of sympathy which makes you stop and hesitate.”
Her invitation to Sèvres in 2007 - that allowed me to get to know her better - stood out as an evidence, as a necessary stage for her after her travels a round the world and her research in ceramics.
On her return from one of her regular travels to China, she proposed at Cité de la céramique a universe of porcelain dragons (she chose on purpose the most symbolic animal of China), with the determination to produce them all herself with an never before used experimental mixture of porcelain pastas from our mill.
Compositions of a series of porcelain elements turned, deformed then wrapped up, gathered in an experimental way and delicately assembled, the monumental sculptures required the traditional techniques of production but, however, adapted in a personal and creative way. She then imagined an centre piece , consisting of several elements of biscuit which was built up of a small «archipelago» on a table, like so many islands with strange plants; it was an invitation to a new journey!
Her experience at la Cité de la céramique illustrates perfectly its capacity to create a gateway, to imagine formal round trips, cultural and aesthetic juxtapositions, which are her trademark and her talent.”
David Caméo, Director of Sèvres, Cité de la Ceramique France
Arina Ailincai: IN-SCRIPTED BODY / Art on the Avenue Gallery, Philadelphia
Arina Ailincăi: IN-SCRIPTED BODY / Art on the Avenue Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
September 14 - October 7, 2012
Opening Reception: Friday, September 14, 5:30 - 8:30 pm.
Art on the Avenue Gallery, at 3808 Lancaster Avenue, is pleased to present Arina Ailincăi: IN-SCRIPTED BODY, a solo sculpture exhibition featuring recent works in clay of this noteworthy international artist.
Arina Ailincăi is a truly international artist. Raised and educated in Romania, she began her artistic career in Eastern Europe. In the 1980s she crossed the Atlantic and settled in Canada, where she was soon acknowledged as one of its most talented artists working in clay. At that time she also exhibited and lectured in the United States. Over the last several years, she has been invited to work, exhibit and lecture at major ceramic art centers and international events throughout Europe, including Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, Croatia and Turkey. Most recently she has held residencies in China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
Arina Ailincăi’s art focuses on the human figure, with the body cast using real bodies - often her own. The closeresemblance of the ceramic sculpture to the actual body is only a starting point for her deeper exploration of the universal human condition as an embodied self. Ailincai’s sculptures in clay are philosophically and metaphorically charged. The markings on the outer surface and the mysterious inscriptions in the hollow interior of the body transform the replica of a particular individual into an archetypal human vessel, holding the traces of inner life, time, place and history.
“My desire is to “write” a three dimensional poem to both the fragile physical body and the intangible world of our inner existence. I translate this desire into ceramic sculpture through the use of faithfully replicated, life-size clay body-casts and fragments. I press the clay into the plaster mold to create ”the shell,” a hollowed out body shape: an empty vessel containing the inner self, with its personal and universal history. The scripts imprinted on the interior walls of the shell, acquire symbolic and metaphoric dimensions, becoming a palimpsest of the entire human existence. While most of my works are made in clay, I make use of other materials and techniques, often combining drawing and photography in my installations. I want to synthesize two-dimensional and three-dimensional vocabularies into a visual language charged with meaning, which directs the viewers to sense their location, both within and without.” Arina Ailincăi
Contemporary Clay Invitational / j fergeson gallery, Farmville, VA
Contemporary Clay Invitational / j fergeson gallery, Farmville, VA
October 5 - December 15, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 13, 5:00 pm.
The latest show at the j fergeson gallery in Farmville, VA, explores the diverse possibilities of what can be done with clay. This show, the gallery’s largest of the year, features works from 30 national artists. Here one will find both sculptural and functional pieces, but perhaps most interesting is the way the artists have settled somewhere in between.
The show is an extraordinary collection of ceramic work by artists working at the top of their field. Co-curators Andréa Keys Connell, lead professor in clay at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Adam Paulek, lead professor in clay at Longwood University, chose the artists for their commitment to fine craft, progressive thought, sensitivity to material and humor.
Artist A. Blair Clemo, inspired by the ornate history of European Decorative Arts, creates vessels that are functional, but also ridiculously opulent, as if ready to serve royalty. John Oliver Lewis presents two sculptures inspired equally by architecture, natural land formations, cartoons, and candy - think Monument Valley out of salt water taffy. And then there’s Darrin Ekern’s “potasaurus”: a sculpture of a T-Rex in a studio throwing a pot.
Featured artists:
A. Blair Clemo, Kurt Anderson, Tom Bartel, Jason Hackett, Hiroe Hanazono, Mike Jabbur, Bethany Krull, John Oliver Lewis, Richard Nickel, Nathan Prouty, Debbie Quick, Dave Smith, Mikey Walsh, Trent Berning, Kelly Berning, Jeff Campana, Sam Chung, David Eichelberger, Darrin Ekern, Misty Gamble, Meredith Host Kowalski, Nicole Aquillano, Frank Martin, Dan Molyneux, Chris Picket, Adrian Sandstrom, Amy Santafararo, Shawn Spangler, Kendra Sparks, Adero Willard.
This variety of work isn’t often seen in small galleries, and the curators are excited to present it to an audience that may be unfamiliar with just how adventurous contemporary clay has become.
Ruth Duckworth exhibition / Erskine Hall & Coe, London
Ruth Duckworth exhibition / Erskine Hall & Coe, London
September 5 - October 4, 2012
Erskine, Hall & Coe are pleased to announce the exhibition of the celebrated contemporary sculptor, Ruth Duckworth.
The exhibition includes 22 artworks in bronze, porcelain and stoneware. The earliest dates from 1965 but the majority of pieces are from the period of late 1980s through to work completed in the final year of Duckworth’s life. The gallery has been working closely with Thea Burger, who represents the Duckworth Estate.
Writing in her essay to accompany the exhibition Thea Burger states:
“Duckworth was a modernist sculptor who loved form. She was not about colour, but was about the subtle shape of her pieces. Her forms are typically created in porcelain, stoneware, or bronze. Much admired, she has art works in most of the world’s most prestigious museums, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Los Angeles Country Museum, the Victoria and Albert, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Tokyo Museum of Art.”
In Ruth Duckworth, Modernist Sculptor written by Jo Lauria and Tony Birks, Duckworth talks of her process of creating a sculpture: Ruth Duckworth Porcelain.
“Play is the essence of creativity. Creative play and gut reaction, instinct. When I work on a piece, I play. I have a whole huge section of the studio where I have an inventory of sculptural forms, simple, abstract, non-specific shapes that I find beautiful and enjoy making. Then I start building these shapes together. And when I find myself smiling, I say “hello!” I think I’ve got something. The process is intuitive, not intellectual. You have to learn to be spontaneous and trust yourself.”
Download the catalogue of the exhibition or view the catalogue online.
