AxelJ

29
Oct
2014
Seattle Times Reviews Jason Walker at BAM

Seattle Times Reviews Jason Walker at BAM

Read the Seattle Times’ review of Jason Walker’s current exhibition, “On the River, Down the Road” on view at the Bellevue Arts Museum 

“Jason Walker: On the River, Down the Road” (through March 1, 2015): Nature and man-made landscapes are in pitched battle in this satirical exhibit created especially for BAM. This is Bellingham artist Jason Walker’s first solo museum show, and it consists of eight ceramic installations.

Some are sculptural in feel. “Redtail” portrays a deer realistic in shape and proportion, but fanciful in color scheme. It has a highway going down its back (complete with ceramic cars and trucks) and scenes of industry (wind turbines, a hydroelectric dam) painted on its side. Humankind isn’t just imposing on this creature’s habitat; it’s woven into the very fabric of its being.

The same could be said of the two crow-like birds in “Split Down the Middle, but One Always Wants More.” They’re guarding a nest built from iron rods and metal gears, rendered in painted porcelain and stoneware. But instead of fledglings, the nest contains a superhighway with ceramic cars moseying down it between urban high-rises and a rural landscape.

The largest pieces resemble elaborate shrines. “Cascade” surrounds a painting of a lone wolf in a sylvan setting with semiabstract industrial shapes that all but overwhelm its quiet central scene. “Down the Road” serves up a surreal high-rise landscape with a highway at its center that turns into a waterfall pouring over a human hand. Tumbling cars and highflying creatures/objects (a seagull, an airplane) inhabit a frenetic world that’s spinning toward entropy.

Walker’s work has an innocent, colorful surface appeal. But his playfulness grows progressively more barbed as you pick out all its details. This is dandy stuff, with a simmering anger behind it.

Click here for the full article.

Click here to see and inquire about works by Walker.

Posted by AxelJ in News, Press Coverage, 0 comments
12
Oct
2014
Ferrin Contemporary launches Made in China: The New Export Ware

Ferrin Contemporary launches Made in China: The New Export Ware

CONTACT
Leslie Ferrin, Director Ferrin Contemporary
info@ferrincontemporary.com
413.446.0614

For Immediate Release:
Ferrin Contemporary launches Made in China: The New Export Ware – a multi-venue series of exhibitions and public programs October 18

 

 

DATES

Exhibitions
Independent Art Projects, Saturday, Oct. 18 through Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014
Miami Projects, Tuesday, Dec. 2 through Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014
New York Ceramics Fair, Thursday, Jan. 22 through Sunday, Jan. 25, 2014

 

Events
Opening Reception + Gallery Talk, Independent Art Projects, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, 5 to 7 p.m.
Public Lecture, Harvard Ceramics, Nov. 11, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
Public Lecture, New York Ceramics Fair, Jan. 23, 2015
CUMMINGTON, MA – Ferrin Contemporary presents Made in China: The New Export Ware, an on-going series of exhibitions and public programs featuring international contemporary ceramic artists re-contextualizing traditional Chinese export porcelain production methods and visual vocabulary independently or in conjunction with skilled Chinese artisans. Featured series artists, who hail from the US, UK, Australia, and China, include Julie Bartholomew, Robin Best,  Caroline Cheng, Sin-ying Ho, Garth Johnson, Paul Scott, Robert Silverman, Vipoo Srivilasa, and Jason Walker.

Inspired by Made in China curator and Ferrin Contemporary Director Leslie Ferrin’s recent travels in China, the series kicks off at Independent Art Projects (IAP) in North Adams, MA with a public reception and gallery talk on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, from 5 to 7 p.m. The series then continues with exhibitions at Miami Projects (Miami, FL) – on view from Tuesday, Dec. 2 through Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014 – and the New York Ceramics Fair (New York, NY) – on view from Thursday, Jan. 22 through Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, as well as public talks at Harvard Ceramics in Allston, MA on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at 5:30 p.m., and at the New York Ceramics Fair in New York, NY on Friday, Jan. 23, 2015.

Sponsored as a guest lecturer by the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Ferrin traveled to China in June and July 2014 with the aim of gaining a greater understanding of the cross-cultural collaboration, production, and appropriation occurring in the New Export Ware movement. During her visit, Ferrin visited ceramic workshops in Jingdezhen and Chongqing, where – similar to the historical model of export ware – skilled Chinese artisans, produce contemporary works for Western markets under the direction of visiting Western artists.

“After my visit to China, it was clear that this growing movement of Western artists engaging with Chinese artisans to provide works for international markets was urging a contemporary re-definition of export-ware,” says Ferrin. “It is a dynamic relationship with appropriation and collaboration occurring in both directions, and we are fortunate that we will be able to truly explore the relationship, with multiple exhibitions over the coming year.”

Slated to run through 2015, a full listing of Made in China events, exhibitions, and artists may be found at ferrincontemporary.com/madeinchina with additional dates added periodically.

Sin-ying Ho, “One World, Many Peoples No. 2″ 2010, porcelain, cobalt pigment, underglaze, decal, glaze, 77 x 23.25”
Robert Silverman, “Bar Code Red”, 2012, re-fired commercial porcelain tile, 12 x 12″

About Ferrin Contemporary

Ferrin Contemporary specializes in ceramic art produced circa 1950 to the present, with a growing emphasis international ceramic artistis. For more than thirty years, collectors, institutions, and the media have made Ferrin Contemporary their preferred source for artwork by established and emerging artists and designers whose primary medium is clay. Visit ferrincontemporary.com to lean more.

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Posted by AxelJ in News, Press Releases, 0 comments
09
Oct
2014
Eight artists, two weeks, one project | artKamp

Eight artists, two weeks, one project | artKamp

Founded by Australian artist Vipoo Srivilasa, artKamp is an ongoing series of events where artists come together to work collaboratively and in the process, expand their worldviews.

As part of this series, and through the generous sponsorship of The Australia Council, Ferrin Contemporary, the Lighton International Artists Exchange Program, Amaco and Mayco, eight ceramic artists –including Ben Carter, Chase Gamblin, Alex Jelleberg, Frances Palmer, Bonnie Smith, Mara Superior, Vipoo Srivilasa, and Elenor Wilson —  came together at Project Art in Cummington, MA to create a unified tablescape.

From September 23 to October 8, 2014, the artists lived, worked, and explored the region together. The results of their residency, as well as individual works by participating artists will be presented for sale by Ferrin Contemporary at Independent Art Projects November 22 through January 4, 2015.

See below for images from the artKamp residency, and click here to read more about artKamp.
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artKamp: indigo mass
a collaborative group exhibition
November 22, 2014-January 4, 2014
artKamp table setting 2
artKamp table setting 8
artKamp table setting 9

Presented by Ferrin Contemporary, artKamp: indigo mass is an exhibition of selected works created during artKamp — a two-week international residency featuring eight artists working collaboratively to create a unified tablescape. Individual works by artKamp artists, which include Ben Carter, Chase Gamblin, Alex Jelleberg, Frances Palmer, Bonnie Smith, Mara Superior, Vipoo Srivilasa, and Elenor Wilson, will also be on view.

 

Posted by AxelJ in Blog, 0 comments
11
Sep
2014
Isupov in Hi-Fructose

Isupov in Hi-Fructose

Ferrin Contemporary represented artist Sergei Isupov covered in contemporary art magazine Hi-Fructose.

“Using clay as both a material for three-dimensional expression and as a canvas for his illustrations, Isupov capitalizes on all properties of what he finds to be the most open medium. He sculpts human and animal figures, and then adds illustrations in glaze. The paintings diffuse into the clay’s surface, like tattoos on his sculptures’ skin. Taken together, the two- and three-dimensional elements of his work establish a compacted but powerful scene of emotions and narratives.” Click here to read the full article.

Click here to view more of Isupov’s work and find where works are currently on display.

Posted by AxelJ in News, Press Coverage
12
Aug
2014
Abstraction at Ceramic Top 40 at Harvard

Abstraction at Ceramic Top 40 at Harvard

ABSTRACTION RUNS THROUGH IT

Ceramic Top 40 on view at Harvard Ceramics
survey of current art trends examined through the lens of clay.

Suddenly, abstract ceramic sculpture is showing up throughout the art world — on the cover of Art in America, in the Whitney Biennial, fully integrated into mainstream Chelsea art galleries, and displayed front and center at art fairs.

Clay lends itself to abstraction and expressive form. The artists and sculptors in Ceramic Top 40 use this pliable substance along with color-saturated glazes and dynamic gesture with full knowledge of the material and its extremes.

Abstraction in ceramic sculpture is not new. The artists featured in this post are among those to watch as they continue in and expand on this long tradition that started in the 1950s with Voulkos, Staffel, Takaezu, Reitz, Mason, Price, and others.

CERAMIC TOP 40 at HARVARD runs through August 16

Roberts 33720 Depression1 180px noname
Kate Roberts
Roberts, one of the youngest artists in this exhibition, is a risk taker. Building fragile forms much like a baker, she combines solid forms with delicate piped liquid clay to build sculptures that reveal psychological and emotional narratives.

 

 

Sormin_List_2013_3_tiger_detail 180px nonameLinda Sormin
Sormin, known for her large ceramic installations, combines found and built objects with internal imagery in multiple complex forms. Scale, color, and variety of references expand in her work to create a layered unity made of disparate fragments.

 

 

34730 McConnell Remnant Yellow180pxWalter McConnell
McConnell’s work represents the fired result of a complex installation originally shown at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2010. This solid remnant was carved from a work of wet clay and then fired, glazed, and presented much like an archeological discovery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AS 34718ShiverdeckerNightSky 180px nonameAdam Shiverdecker
Shiverdecker’s classic Greek vessel forms with iconographic symbols burst into abstraction with the introduction of foreign materials. As they lose their ability to function as vessels and move toward the abstract, his pieces pose questions about men and civilization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

34688 Cooper photo dark bkgrnd 180pxMark Cooper
Integral to Cooper’s installations is the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The diverse components form a visual and metaphoric language that give voice to an abstract internal discourse.

 

 

 

34719 Mabry 9-28-13_ref 57_01 180px

Lauren Mabry
Mabry’s work is best understood in terms of abstract painting. Colors clash and resound, ebb and flow, creating rich hypnotic tones and textures — a synthesis of intuitive, expressive surfaces and elemental forms.

Posted by AxelJ in Blog, 0 comments
11
Aug
2014
Janet Koplos reviews Steven Young Lee show at Greenwich House

Janet Koplos reviews Steven Young Lee show at Greenwich House

From Ceramic Art and Perception, Janet Koplos reviews Steven Young Lee’s “Red, Blue, and White” show at Greenwhich House Pottery. Koplos is a former senior editor at Art in America magazine and guest editor at American Craft magazine. Photos by Alan Wiener and courtesy of Greenwich House Pottery. Steven Young Lee is represented by Ferrin Gallery.

The big wall at Greenwich House Pottery’s Jane Hartsook Gallery always seemed to ask for something expansive. Steven Young Lee commanded the wall all right, but how interesting that he did so with an installation of 300 handleless baseball-size cups…

Click here to read full article.

Posted by AxelJ in News, Press Coverage, 0 comments
07
Jul
2014
Isupov work added to ASU Museum

Isupov work added to ASU Museum

 

New Sergei Isupov work added to the collection

June 26, 2014 at 9:42 pm 

The ASU Art Museum is thrilled to add its first Sergei Isupov sculpture into the permanent ceramics collection thanks to David Charak, Ferrin Contemporary and the artist. Isupov’s piece, Firey, created from stoneware, stain and glaze, is a beautiful new addition to the collection. It was given to the museum from a series of Isupov’s large-scale heads and appeared at the NCECA 2009 conference at the Mesa Contemporary Arts.

Sergei Isupov, “Firey” 2009, stoneware, stain, glaze, 25.75 x 19.5 x18". From the ASU Art Museum collection, gift of David Charak, Ferrin Contemporary and Sergei Isupov.

Sergei Isupov, “Firey” 2009, stoneware, stain, glaze, 25.75 x 19.5 x18″. From the ASU Art Museum collection, gift of David Charak, Ferrin Contemporary and Sergei Isupov.

Russian-born artist Sergei Isupov is quite often called an erotic Surrealist for his bold depictions of sexuality, relationships and human encounters. He uses his own experiences as well as human observation to create a unique approach to the world of sculpture. “My work portrays characters placed in situations that are drawn from my imagination but based on my life experiences,” said Isupov. “My art works capture a composite of fleeting moments, hand gestures, eye movements that follow and reveal the sentiments expressed.”

Various narrative themes are conjoined together to create Isupov’s sculptural ceramic forms, inspired by particulars from his life. Personal interpretation is very much expected with his work.

Isupov states that, “Through the drawn images and sculpted forms, I capture faces, body types and use symbolic elements to compose, in the same way as you might create a collage. These ideas drift and migrate throughout my work without direct regard to specific individuals, chronology or geography…Through my work I get to report and explore human encounters, comment on the relationships between man and woman, and eventually their sexual union that leads to the final outcome — the passing on of DNA which is the ultimate collection — a combined set of genes and a new life, represented in the child.”

Sergei Isupov, “Firey” back view, 2009, stoneware, stain, glaze, 25.75 x 19.5 x18". From the ASU Art Museum collection, gift of David Charak, Ferrin Contemporary and Sergei Isupov.

Sergei Isupov, “Firey” back view, 2009, stoneware, stain, glaze, 25.75 x 19.5 x18″. From the ASU Art Museum collection, gift of David Charak, Ferrin Contemporary and Sergei Isupov.

Firey, alongside numerous other ceramic works from the ASU Art Museum’s collection, is on display now at the Ceramics Research Center at the Brickyard, located at 699 S. Mill Ave, Suite 108, Tempe, Ariz. 85281. If you haven’t seen our beautiful new space yet, you’re missing out! Plan your visit today, or call 480.727.8170 for directions and hours.

— by Nicole Lechner, ASU Art Museum intern 

Posted by AxelJ in News, Press Coverage
18
Jun
2014
In Pursuit of China 2014

In Pursuit of China 2014

China in China

Western artists are increasingly traveling to China to research and produce  work  for exhibitions in the USA, Australia and Europe.  Over a third of the artists shown in Ceramic Top 40  —  an exhibition highlighting individual artists, collaborators, and design partners working on the cutting edge of  conceptual, utilitarian, and sculptural ceramics — have been to Jingdezhen including Susan Beiner, Rain Harris, Walter McConnell, Beth Cavener and collaborators – Future Retrieval: Katie Parker and Guy Michael Davis.

In June and July 2014, Ferrin Contemporary director Leslie Ferrin traveled  to Hong Kong, Chongqing, Jingdezhen, and Shanghai to  explore this culture exchange, and the galleries and museums in the rapidly developing contemporary art scenes of Hong Kong and Shanghai. Documenting her travels in images as she went (you can find the full feed on the collaborative art blog scene +seen), Ferrin participated in a ten day workshop in Chongqing sponsored by Sichuan Fine Arts Institute,  gave lectures at the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen and Shanghai, and visited studio workshops where Ferrin Contemporary represented artists Jason Walker, Sin-ying Ho, Robin Best and others worked in collaboration with Chinese skilled artisans.

Learn more about her investigation of this burgeoning exchange and Western artists working in China at the following public talks this Fall and Winter:

Independent Art Projects, Saturday, October 18, 2014

Harvard Ceramics, November 12, 2014

New York Ceramics Fair, January 23, 2015

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Posted by AxelJ in Blog, 0 comments
12
Jun
2014
Ferrin Contemporary on Scene + Seen

Ferrin Contemporary on Scene + Seen

Scene + Seen is a collection of images and sounds collected in the Berkshires and beyond that connect the dots between the art, the artists and the community of professionals who bring it all to life.

See excerpts below of Ferrin Contemporary’s contributions and click here for the full feed and content.

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Click here for the full feed and content.

Posted by AxelJ in Blog, 0 comments