What types of art do you specialize in?

We specialize in contemporary ceramics from the 1950s onward, including clay and porcelain sculptures.

Do you offer collection services?

Yes, we work with private collectors and artist archives to organize, document, and appraise ceramic art collections for deacquisition or placement.

Can you help with exhibition development?

Absolutely, we collaborate with museums and cultural institutions to develop and present ceramic art exhibitions.

Do you provide touring programs?

Yes, we curate and organize touring exhibitions for contemporary ceramic artists.

What are legacy projects?

Legacy projects include customized services for artists, such as retrospective catalogs, exhibitions, and museum acquisitions.

Project Tag: Akinsanya Kambon exhibitions

Apr

2022

Akinsanya Kambon at Jack Shainman Gallery

Jack Shainman Gallery

524 W 24th St
New York, NY

Jack Shainman Gallery is pleased to present our first solo exhibition of works by Akinsanya Kambon. Located at our 524 West 24th Street space, the exhibition features Kambon’s raku-fired ceramic sculptures which will be making their New York City debut.

In addition to the rich stories that permeate the works, process plays a crucial and fundamental role in Kambon’s practice. The sculptures on view are fired in a kiln using an American raku technique. Heated to approximately 1800- 2000 degrees Fahrenheit the pieces are removed, red hot, with tongs and exposed to the air as they are transferred to a drum filled with combustibles such as hay, sawdust, newspaper, and eucalyptus leaves. Sealed with an airtight lid, the materials ignite. The lack of oxygen forces the detritus to smolder, and the smoke in this enclosed environment combines with molten glaze to bring about changes to the color that are evident once cooled.

Though the process is unpredictable, when successful the result is a beautiful, iridescent patina. For Kambon, this uncontrollable transformation is one of the many aspects of his practice that is guided by spiritual forces greater than himself. Above all, it is this formal process coupled with the nuanced stories and histories of the gods and goddesses that bring an even greater depth to each figure.

From learning, to processing, to sharing the knowledge he has encountered over the years, the sculptures Kambon creates are vessels through which he works through these motions. While Osanyin is a complex character in Kambon’s telling, he does reflect the knowledge that existed in African history that has been lost through time due to colonization. What’s more, the sculptures on view are the realization of Kambon’s own coming to terms with this collective loss of memory and history.

Learn more at Jack Shainman Gallery >

Akinsanya Kambon, 2022, Jack Shainman Gallery, Installation view

Feb

2022

THIS TENDER, FRAGILE THING

This Tender, Fragile Thing

February 15th – April 30th, 2022

Jack Shainman Gallery

The School, Kinderhook, NY

Featuring works by
Akinsanya Kambon

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

This Tender, Fragile Thing shines a contemporary lens on the gallery’s 2005 exhibition The Whole World is Rotten, which juxtaposed Black Panther materials from the gallery collection alongside works by contemporary artists. This creative exchange highlighted the culture of the 1960s and the development, goals, and achievements of the Black Power movement – the call for people to define themselves and the world on their own terms. By expanding this concept across the 30,000 square feet of The School, the exhibition offers an opportunity to broaden the dialogue and display these pieces in an environment that encourages contemplation and learning.

Though the path to improvement is impossible to define, the multitude of voices collapse the past, present, and future in search of answers. We are left, through many of the works, with a call to advance – to recall, and more urgently, to reconsider. The exhibition’s title quietly acknowledges that progress is a tender, fragile thing. Its interpretation can be broadly and openly considered, though there is value, weight, and inspiration in every part of the complex and nuanced path of progress.

In honor of the work and commitment the Black Panther Party showed to bettering its local communities, Jack Shainman Gallery will be donating a portion of the proceeds to Hearts of Gold, M.A.D.E. Transitions, Save The Hampton House and Soul Fire Farm. To support and learn more about these black led organizations, please visit the gallery’s website.

IN THE NEWS

An exhibition considers what’s changed since the Black Power movement — and what hasn’t

“This Tender Fragile Thing”, Jack Shainman Gallery The School, Kinderhook, NY, 2022

Akinsanya Kambon installation, “This Tender Fragile Thing”, Jack Shainman Gallery The School, Kinderhook, NY, 2022

MORE ABOUT AKINSANYA KAMBON

Born as Mark Teemer in Sacramento, California, Akinsanya Kambon is a former Marine, Black Panther, and art professor. Kambon’s clay sculptures, representing African deities and spirits, are fired using the Western-style raku technique — a challenging, dangerous, and unpredictable process that creates prismatic and iridescent glaze finishes. Drawing heavily on narrative tradition and personal experiences, including extensive travels throughout Africa, Kambon’s work celebrates perseverance through hardship, cultural pride, and his gift as a storyteller.

More About Akinsanya Kambon

Inquire About Available Works

Akinsanya Kambon, “Hannibal of Carthage – the Mahout”, 2012, raku-fired clay, 14.5 x 10″, photo courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Akinsanya Kambon, “Shango I”, 2012, raku-fired clay, 18 x 8.5″, image courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Akinsanya Kambon, “Oya”, 2011, raku-fired clay, 15.75 x 5.5″, image courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Akinsanya Kambon, “Equestrian John Randall, Buffalo Soldier”, 2012, raku-fired clay, 15.5 x 4 x 9.5″, photo courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Akinsanya Kambon, “Chokwe Woman”, 2013, raku-fired clay, 16 x 5.5″, image courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Akinsanya Kambon, “Nehanda”, 2013, raku-fired clay, 19.5 x 7 x 5.5″, image courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Akinsanya Kambon, “Oshun”, 2013, raku-fired clay, 16 x 5 x 7.5″, image courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Akinsanya Kambon, “Oshoshi”, 2011, raku-fired clay, 18.25 x 6.25″, image courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Feb

2021

AMERICAN EXPRESSIONS/AFRICAN ROOTS

American Expressions/African Roots: Akinsanya Kambon’s Ceramic Sculpture

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

This exhibition focuses specifically on the artist’s clay sculptures fired using the Western-style raku technique — including representations of spiritual deities, equestrian figures that combine American history with African sculptural tradition, and lidded vessels referencing the African slave trade and the devastating evils of pursing profit. Drawing heavily on narrative tradition and personal experiences, including extensive travels throughout Africa, Kambon’s work celebrates perseverance through hardship, cultural pride, and his gift as a storyteller.

Born as Mark Teemer in Sacramento, Akinsanya Kambon is a former Marine, Black Panther, and art professor. Stricken with polio as a child, he turned to drawing for comfort, and ultimately his therapy. He recalls in his adolescence frequent visits to the Crocker Art Museum, which fascinated him and showed him the human potential in creating art. He served a tour of duty in Vietnam with the United States Marine Corps from 1966–1968. Shortly thereafter, he created The Black Panther Coloring Book to bring attention to racial inequality and social injustice. Despite being only semi-literate in his youth, Kambon went on to earn his Master of Arts from California State University, Fresno. In more recent years, he was featured in Wartorn: 1861–2010, an HBO documentary screened at the Pentagon on post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans.

Today, Kambon’s work is as rich and varied as his personal history, expressed through drawings, paintings, bronze sculptures, and ceramics. This exhibition focuses specifically on the artist’s clay sculptures, which are fired using the Western-style raku technique — a challenging, dangerous, and unpredictable process that creates prismatic and iridescent glaze finishes. He performs kiln firings in a ceremonial manner, breathing life into ceramic figures that typically represent African deities and spirits and, sometimes, American history and religious subjects. Drawing heavily on narrative tradition and personal experiences, including extensive travels throughout Africa, Kambon’s work celebrates perseverance through hardship, cultural pride, and his gift as a storyteller. Click HERE to learn more.