For tonight and one night only...

 

...Ok, not really, but there is an opening in Philadelphia, for clay folks. 
Jeanne Quinn, is one of my professors in Grad School (University of Colorado, Boulder, awesome school, with a brand new arts building opening soon!) Has a show opening tonight at the Art Alliance in Philly.  Jeannie is an amazing artist and one of the great forward thinkers in the ceramics community. So if you are reading this from the Philly area, get over to the show tonight. You won't be disappointed.


Philadelphia Arts Alliance

251 South 18th Street.
On Rittenhouse square
5:30-7:30

Degradation

There is a lot of work that I am impressed by. It is not often when I see work that all I can think is Wow. I don't mean to be cynical, but part of my job as a teacher is a professional critic. In that it is my responsibility to be intrigued but objective. Some time I just have to admit that I am floored.


Today I was floating around looking at some random stuff, and All of a sudden I came across this work by Caroline Slotte. It is purely stunning. Well conceived and executed. And of all things it falls into my unofficial theme of Voids, for the last two days (see here and here).


What is sad is that I can't seem to find too much information on Ms. Slotte. What seems to be her offical website seems to be a dead link.


Here is a quote from her.

"In my current work I use found objects as a starting point for conceptual works in ceramics. Old objects, such as photographs, pieces of clothing or ceramics, have a way of directing our gaze to the past. They are symbols of the life stories of those who used them. From their markers I construct new stories. Memories play a pivotal role in defining who we are, as humans. In my work I wish to indicate the presence of time passed, in the human mind as well as in the objects that surround us. By giving the mute object a voice, I imbue mass produced items with a narrative capacity."

Nice, but it doesn't say too much.



Find another write up on her here.


As I said I just stumbled upon her this morning, so I haven't had much time to do research, but if anyone can find any more information on her pass it along.


Via: Sub-Studio Design

Beth Cavener Stichter

Do you ever get pissed off by Art? I don't mean angry. I mean that when you look at art does it get you so flummoxed by your response that you just don't know what to say?


I think the most important aspect of observing art, is the visceral reaction. Meaning that reaction, that you like something or not. That simple; I believe the second we look at a piece, you know if it is good or not. I remember a few years ago I was wandering around Chelsea in NYC with some friends. We were checking out the galleries, and I was burning through them. Quickly walking past 95% of what we were seeing. I was driving my friend crazy, because she was stopping and observing every piece. I on the other hand, I was only stopping when I had a visceral reaction to a piece. It all goes back to the 5 second quandary. That is the notion that people observing art only look at it for 5 seconds before moving on. I am a firm believer that this is not only true, but imperative to understanding why some art is great and some is just ok.


The visceral reaction is the only thing I have to Beth Cavener Sticher's work. I first came across the piece below piece at NCECA in Indianapolis. I had never heard of her before that, and I haven't forgotten her since. I stood there staring at the piece for half an hour. I Just didn't know what to say, and I still don't.


Beth combines engaged concepts, fantastical figures, and great technique. The results are enraging...in a good way.
Beth's Website

Charles Simonds

Only one post for today. We have a piece of equipment that has been broken for a long time and is finally up and running, so I have to take advantage of it.
Last week we were in grad reviews, and I committed a blunder. Full disclosure, I am really bad with names. If you have had me as a teacher, please don't take offense if some day down the road and I bump into you, if I don't remember your name. I will remember you, just not your name. Unfortunately this problem also applies to Artists too.
I was standing around with Anne Currier and Wayne Higby and we were discusing a student's work. Anne, said that she was thinking about Charles Simonds, and I nodded politely as I racked my brain trying to place the work to the name. I came up blank, so I responded, "It really makes me think of the guy who builds tiny villages in creavaces..." "You mean Charles Simonds." Replied Anne..." Yeahhhhhhh" groaned I.
So as penance, Here is my post dedicated to Charles Simonds.
Simonds is known for these little villages that he started making around the Lower East Side in the 70's. He made them from a clay deposit he found that was the same clay that was used to make much of the bricks for the building in NYC.
The urban landscapes were built in hidden places around the city, often using vacated lots, or creavaces in building to construct upon. But they are always built with out residents, leaving the archeological record of presence without the occupants.
This picture I found on Google, but as soon as I clicked the link I recognized the blog is from one of our own Alfred Students, Michael Stevenson. We don't know each other, but I recognized you. So thanks for the pic.
This is the only piece of Simonds that I have seen in person. I came across it quite unexpectedly a few years ago, and I was really charmed by it presence and execution. I won't say exactly where it is as I would like for you to discover it yourself. What I will say in the form of a terrible riddle.
If in the City of New York, on every other year. Avoid the big to do and always take the stairs.

I think I am going to try to do more posts on who I think are great ceramic artists. Of course me being me, I am going to have to throw a few stones. Much like when Garth Clark came to Alfred, when I was an undergrad and did a lecture on the 5 most important pieces of ceramic art. Read the talk here.
The list was
1) Fountain-Marcel Duchamp
2) Object (Breakfast in Fur)-Multi-handled Mug
3) Multi-handled Mug- George E. Ohr
4) Casa Batlló-Antonio Gaudí'
5) Teapot-Kazimir Malevich

Of course, the thing to note is that only one of the objects was made by a Ceramicist.
Clark's point was to throw stones, but he is not wholly incorrect in his postulation that, a lot of what is revered in ceramics is irrelevant, and that a lot of what is great about ceramics is ignored by the ceramics community. So I am not going to talk about Voukous, or Soldner. I met both of them and they are very nice people, but, they are not taking part in the conversations that I want to have. I want to talk about people that throw stones.
I hope that Mr. Clark appreciates that he had a lot of influence on this one 20 year old student in that lecture.