Project Tag: Crystal Morey Current

HEY! CÉRAMIQUE.S

HEY! CÉRAMIQUE.S

In the name of matter

Both deeply invested in exploring the alternative cultural scene, Halle Saint Pierre and HEY! modern art & pop culture continue their long and close collaboration with a sixth exhibition entirely dedicated to ceramics. If this medium occupies an increasingly visible place on the international art scene, the HEY! CERAMIQUE.S will show other forms which, from pop culture to art brut, unexpectedly emancipate themselves from all dominant norms and discourses to draw on the living forces of the imagination and the sensitive. Whether they are wise or delirious, wild or sophisticated, expressionist or narrative, whether they handle humor or emotion, the ceramic sculptures here carry excess but also poetry and innovations.

  • Martine Lusardy, director of the Halle Saint Pierre and exhibition curator
  • Anne Richard, guest curator and founder of the HEY! modern art & pop culture

HEY! CÉRAMIQUE.S


Musee de la Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, France | September 20, 2023 to August 14, 2024

EXHIBITION CATALOG


  • Released September 15, 2023
  • Edited by Anne Richard Bilingual (French / English)
  • 250 pages
  • Shaped cover 28 x 24.5 cm
  • Published by HEY! PUBLISHING

Long considered a minor art because of its particular status at the crossroads of art and craftsmanship, ceramics has emancipated itself artistically by making precisely this hybrid position the basis of its renewal. The truly alchemical dimension of the fire arts lends itself wonderfully to blurring and crossing boundaries. But if contemporary ceramic artists draw on timeless traditions and know-how, it is not so much out of nostalgia for the values ​​of the past as to place at the center of creation a return to making and attention to materials in their sensitive dimension. Earth, water, air, fire are no longer simple materials that can be manipulated indifferently, they become the very substance of a material imagination intended to satisfy aesthetic and psychological urgencies. 

— Martine Lusardy, Director and curator of exhibitions at the Halle Saint Pierre Museum

“Our overuse of resources has destroyed our planets natural resources. The skies churn,  rivers flood, oceans rise, and forests burn. The world is a changed place, and the most vulnerable feel the affects first.”

Crystal Morey, Shaping Interconnectedness, essay by Maria Porges

“From there, [she], like many of us, sees the news, imagines the future, and find solace in the triumphant artworks of the past. She is chronicling our time, a unique and strange mix of hope in the ace of humanities greatest collective threat— ourselves.”

Mara Superior, Chronicling our Collective Hopes, essay by Lauren Levato-Coyne.

MUSEUM OF ART BRUT – OUTSIDER ART & POP CULTURE 


Within a beautiful Baltard-style architecture, facing the gardens of the Butte Montmartre, the Halle Saint Pierre houses a museum and a gallery, a bookstore, an auditorium, a café. It is in this harmonious and luminous setting that the major temporary exhibitions and the multiple artistic and cultural activities dedicated to the most unexpected forms of creation are presented.

2023 INTERNATIONAL CERAMIC ART FAIR (ICAF)

2023 INTERNATIONAL CERAMIC ART FAIR (ICAF)

June 8 – 18, 2023

At the Gardiner Museum
Toronto, Ontario

ABOUT THE FAIR


& Symposium

Ferrin Contemporary is returning to ICAF for the third year. We applaud the Gardiner for building this international program that takes over the museum with a fair, exhibition and symposium over 10 days in June. This year we are presenting recent works that address the theme FUTURE BODIES by three artists.

The International Ceramic Art Fair (ICAF) is a 10-day celebration of some of the most compelling recent ceramic art, featuring works by emerging and established artists from a wide range of backgrounds, as well as online and in-person programming by artists and curators.

Alongside the artworks presented in the fair, ICAF 2023 will include a symposium on June 9 and 10. Titled Toward Future Bodies, the symposium brings together artists, scholars, and other voices from Canada and internationally to explore the boundaries of our species and our connection to other life forms as expressed through ceramics and clay.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS


& FEATURED WORK

Many artists are reconsidering how we define ourselves as a species and how these changing definitions can alter our relationships to each other, to other animals and life forms, and to the land we inhabit. The separation of the human and non-human is increasingly understood as porous or insignificant. Clay can be seen as a mediator between the human and non-human, blurring the boundaries with its life-giving properties, its capacity to record and hold human memory, its characteristic of absorption, and its capacity to connect us to the land.

How can we re-orient our relationship to the planet through a more nuanced understanding of our connection to other forms of life? How can emerging discourses of the human shift us toward new and generative understandings of our bodies place in the world?

Join us to view the works at ICAF and participate in the accompanying programs to explore these and other questions. Sponsored by the Raphael Yu Centre for Candaian Ceramics, Toward Future Bodies aims to foster a deeper appreciation for Canadian ceramics within a larger artistic ecosystem.

Judy Chartrand portrait 2022

b. 1959, Kamloops, BC, CAN
lives and works in Vancouver, CAN

b. Shinnecock, 1980
lives and works in Northfield, Minnesota

b. American, 1983, Nevada City, CA
lives and works in Oakland, CA

Toward Future Bodies Symposium

Friday June 9, 6 – 8 pm &
Saturday June 10, 9:30 am – 6 pm

The Gardiner Museum is pleased to host Toward Future Bodies, a symposium supported by the Raphael Yu Centre for Canadian Ceramics, and in collaboration with A-B Projects. The symposium takes place during the International Ceramic Art Fair (ICAF) and will feature a roster of local and international speakers, fostering a deeper appreciation for Canadian ceramics within a larger artistic ecosystem through discussions on the body in relation to the land, home, animals, the machine, and the future.

Online Artist Talk with Courtney M. Leonard and Judy Chartrand 

Friday June 16, 4 – 5 pm 

As part of the International Ceramic Art Fair, join exhibiting artists Courtney M. Leonard and Judy Chartrand, represented by Ferrin Contemporary, for an online discussion about their work and practice.

Watch the recording:

ARE WE THERE YET?

ARE WE THERE YET?

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION


North Adams, MA —

NORTH ADAMS, MA – ARE WE THERE YET? is a celebration of Ferrin Contemporary’s 40+ years as leaders in the field of modern and contemporary ceramics. What began in 1979 as a woman-owned cooperative studio and gallery in Northampton, MA has flourished across the years and the locations to become the international ceramic experts and material champions known as Ferrin Contemporary.

During the course of four decades, the gallery has championed artists whose primary medium is clay. Beginning with a commitment to providing support for living artists, decades-long relationships grew with artists whose works explore traditions and history, deliver social commentary, experiment with the material, and use the medium to challenge themselves to produce new works.  

As part of the exhibition, selected classic works will be presented directly from the artists’ archives or offered by private collectors, illustrating career highlights both in the gallery and online. The exhibition asks us, the artists, and the collectors to reflect on the road we’ve taken and invites the public to join the dialog while we speculate about the future.

EXHIBITING ARTISTS


ANTEMANN 2003 - Present

  • 2003 : Chris Antemann began exhibiting with Ferrin Gallery at the SOFA, NY Art Fairs
  • “Are We There Yet?” : Marks 20 years of showing with the gallery
  • “An Occasion to Gather”, & “A Stage for Dessert” produced in 2021-2022 are major works currently on view in museum exhibitions
  • “Lovers Vase in Blue” from a series produced in 2023 from her studio located in Joseph, OR

BILES 2003 - Present

CÓRDOVA 2013 - Present

  • 2013 : Cristina Córdova began exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary in “Ceramic Top 40” touring exhibition
  • “Are We There Yet?” : Marks 10 years of showing with the gallery
  • Cristina’s solo show CRISTINA CÓRDOVA: Del balcón” debuts at Ferrin in 2018
  • “EVA XV”: Among over 60 Artworks Handled or Documented by the gallery

 

ELOZUA 2000 - Present

  • (c. 2003) Raymon Elozua began exhibiting with Ferrin Gallery at the SOFA, NY Art Fairs
  • (2000) “Are We There Yet?” : Marks 23 years showing with the gallery first in “TEAPOTS TRANSFORMED” 
  • (2015) Raymon Elozua showed work from his “Digital Sculpture: Word” Series produced in 2001, in the group exhibition “GLAZED & DIFFUSED”
  • (2023) Work on display in AWTY includes “Digital Sculpture: Hubris: IMF-02” from his HUBRIS (2010-2016) produced in his studio in Mountaindale, NY

 

 

SIN YING HO 2014 - Present

  • (2014) Sin Ying Ho began exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary in “MADE IN CHINA: THE NEW EXPORT WARE”, at Independent Art Projects, North Adams, MA
  • “Are We There Yet?” Marks 9 years of showing with the gallery, on display is “Made in the Postmodern Era series No. 1”
  • “In the Dream of Hope No. 1”, & “One World, Many Peoples, No. 2” are the largest works exhibited by Ferrin in US
  • (2006-Present) Ho has taught and run workshops, lectures, and exhibitions all across North America & China and is Assistant Professor at Queens College, NY

ISUPOV 1996 - Present

  • (1996) Sergei Isupov began exhibiting with Leslie Ferrin in Richmond, VA
  • “Are We There Yet?” Marks 27 years of showing with the gallery, on display is “Burden II”, “Puppeteer”, & “Game Changer” as well as works available from private collections including “Voice from Inside” (1997), “Complacency” (1998), & “Chain” (1999)
  • Isupov speaks in depth about Ukrainian artist family in interviews : THE WORLD & Tales of a Red Clay Rambler
  • (2022) “SERGEI ISUPOV: Past & Present” is Isupov’s 10th solo exhibition

LEE 2013 - Present

  • (2013) Steven Young Lee began exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary in “CERAMIC TOP 40”
  • (2014-2015) Lee exhibits “Vase with Peonies” in the group exhibition “GLAZED & DIFFUSED”
  • “Are We There Yet?” Marks 10 years of showing with the gallery
  • Steven Young Lee is both an artist and arts administrator, serving as the Resident Artist Director of the Bray for 15 years and is currently the Director Emeritus and Special Projects Manager
  • “Jar with Butterflies”, shown in AWTY, was originally shown in “Covet” in 2012 at the gallery’s location in Pittsfield, MA, and is available from a private collection.

LEONARD 2021 - Present

  • (2021) Courtney M. Leonard began exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary in 2021 in “Melting Point”
  • (2023) “Are We There Yet?” Marks 2 years showing with the gallery, work on display in AWTY includes pieces from Leonard’s CONVOKE Series produced in 2021
  • (2023) COURTNEY M. LEONARD: Logbook 2004-2023 at The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY is Leonard’s most recent solo exhibition paired with a public art installation at Planting Fields Foundation.

LIPMAN 2018 - Present

Mabry 2014 - Present

  • (2014) Lauren Mabry began exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary in the Ceramic Top 40
  • (2015) Mabry’s signature-glazed cylinders shown in the 2015 group exhibition “GLAZED & DIFFUSED”
  • “Are We There Yet?” Marks 9 years showing with the gallery, featuring the artist’s Glazescape Cave Bloom Series
  • (2019) Lauren Mabry’s first solo show at the gallery, titled “LAUREN MABRY: Fused debuted ‘dimensional paintings’ that explored the transformative nature of clay.
  • (2023+) Mabry’s Scrap Yard series produced as part of a fundraiser for her new studio, under construction in the Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia, PA

MOREY 2014 - Present

  • (2014) Crystal Morey began exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary in 2017 in “The Women”
  • “Are We There Yet?” Marks 6 years showing with the gallery, focusing on works depicting endangered or extinct creatures and the biodiversity found in their habitats.
  • (2019) Crystal Morey’s first solo show at the gallery, titled “CRYSTAL MOREY: Venus on the Waves”, displayed sculptures that narrated the interdependence between humans, plants, and animals while cultivating empathy for our changing world.
  • “Replanting: White Rhino Airlift” (2020), on display in AWTY, was produced in the artist’s Oakland, CA Studio

PÄRNAMETS 2008 - Present

  • (2008) Kadri Pärnamets started exhibiting at Ferrin Contemporary in “ANDRODGYNY”, at the gallery’s Pittsfield location
  • (2022-2023) Pärnamets’ latest solo with the gallery, “CHOREOGRAPHY OF WATER”, displays her signature biomorphic vases and hundreds of cups
  • “Are We There Yet?” marks 15 years with the gallery. Work on display in AWTY includes hand-built cups and vases and her “Frame of Mind” series, a collection of small, thought-bubble-shaped figures.
  • She shares a studio with her partner, Sergei Isupov, at Project Art in Cummington, MA where she produces her sculptural work and teaches clay classes to the community

Pincus 2015 - Present

  • (2015) Peter Pincus started exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary in the 2015 group exhibition “GLAZED & DIFFUSED”
  • (2018) Pincus’s first solo exhibition with Ferrin, Channeling Josiah Wedgwoodwas a result of direct research into the extensive collection at the Birmingham Museum of Art that informed a series of complex forms based on urns and challices. 
  • (2020) Pincu’s second solo exhibition with Ferrin, “Art in the Age of Influence: Peter Pincus | Sol LeWitt” began with a series of premises based on the color theories and conceptual instructions of Sol LeWitt inspired by wall drawings
  • (2023) “Are We There Yet?” marks 8 years with the gallery. Work on display in AWTY includes brand new work of vase forms: “Amphora (Blue & Yellow)”, “Pitcher (White)”, “Vase (Gray & Gold Rim)”, “Amphora Pitcher (Tall Gray & Brown Rim/Handle)”.

Scott 2013 - Present

  • (2013) Paul Scott began exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary in the New York Ceramics and Glass Art Fairs
  • (2013) Scott’s first piece shown was “Cumbrian Blue(s), Sellafield No: 9”, a transfer print collage on Royal Worcester bone china platter with gold luster
  • “Are We There Yet?” marks 10 years with the gallery. Work on display in AWTY includes “Cumbrian Blue(s), New American Scenery, Posy Vases, Set of Five” which feature decal images from Paul’s 5 primary series which examine themes or ongoing crises in the United States.
  • (2012-2019) With his primary studio in Cumbria, UK, Paul Scott was also a resident artist at Project Art in Cummington,MA
  • (2023+) Scott’s extensive body of work called “New American Scenery”, currently touring in the US & England in multiple locations

SHAPIRO 2000 - Present

  • (1986) Mark Shapiro moves to Western Massachusetts to begin Stonepool Pottery in Worthington, MA, creating artwork and presenting workshops in his studio and at Project Art in Cummington, MA. 
  • (2000) “Are We There Yet?” marks 23 years showing with the gallery, first in “TEAPOTS TRANSFORMED” & at Ferrin Gallery’s multiple locations
  • (2006) Mark founded the Hilltown Six Pottery Tour with five other area potters. The pottery tour is in its 17th year, and runs the last week every July.
  • Shapiro has been instrumental in mentorship and legacy projects, including working with apprentices (Apprenticelines), museums, and his local community in programs like POW (Pots on Wheels) a mobile gallery/project space

SIKORA 2000 - Present

  • (2000) Linda Sikora began exhibiting with Ferrin Gallery at the SOFA, NY Art Fairs
  • (2020) Nature/Nurture group exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary presented her first conceptual artwork with Ferrin Contemporary: “Faux Wood Ground”, (produced in 2014-18)
  • (2021) Selections from “Faux Wood Group”, 2021, are acquired by Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
  • In addition to exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary for 23 years, Linda Sikora is a Professor of Ceramic Art at Alfred University in Alfred, NY. 
  • (2023) “Are We There Yet?” presents works from her Wood Grain, Blackware, & Redware series first shown in her recent solo exhibition “Linda Sikora: DARKENING GROUND”

 

SILVERMAN 2001 - Present

  • (2001) Bobby Silverman began exhibiting with Ferrin Galley in the SOFA, New York Art Fairs
  • (2014) Silverman exhibited in “MADE IN CHINA: THE NEW EXPORT WARE”, Ferrin Contemporary at Independent Art Projects, North Adams, MA
  • In addition to exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary for 22 years, Bobby also serves as the head of the Ceramics Department at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, where he lives and works.
  • (2021) Silverman presents his brilliantly-glazed, large-scale porcelain tiles which begin as raw clay in China, where ceramic tradition dates back hundreds of years in “Melting Point”, at Ferrin Contemporary (MA) & The Heller Gallery (NY)
  • (2023) “Are We There Yet?”, includes Silverman’s new work & signature glazed tiles and vases
  • In addition to exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary for 22 years, Bobby also serves as the head of the Ceramics Department at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, where he lives and works.

STERN 2014 - Present

  • (2014) Rae Stern began exhibiting with Ferrin Contemporary in the Ceramic Top 40
  • (2020) Stern presents “Steve Sherry: Not Old Friends But Good Friends”at Ferrin Contemporary in Nature/Nurture group exhibition
  • (2023) “ARE WE THERE YET” marks 9 years with Ferrin Contemporary. Her work, “A Fugal Arrangement (set of 7 pieces of furniture & 14 lithophanes)” is currently being shown virtually in the exhibition. 
  • Stern’s recent porcelain objects light up from within upon touch and expose hidden lithophanes. The images depicted often portray daily scenes from both her personal archive and through community outreach to people who suffered persecution during WWII.

SUPERIOR 1979 - Present

  • (1979) Mara Superior was a founding partner of Pinch Pottery with Barbara Walch, Leslie Ferrin in Northampton, MA 
  • (1980-93) “Are We There Yet?” Marks 43 years showing with the gallery, “A Tea Party” was among Superior’s first shows at Ferrin Gallery, Northampton, MA 
  • (2002) Superior’s first solo exhibition with Ferrin Gallery “Souvenirs D’Italia, Ferrin” opened at the gallery’s Lenox, MA location
  • (2020) Nature/Nurture group exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary presented “Only One Planet Earth” & “2020/USA/Vote/America” from the artist’s Political & Environmental Series
  • (2023) “Reproduction Rights” (2023) on display in AWTY was produced in the artist’s Hadley, MA studio

WALKER 2004 - Present

  • (c. 2004) Jason Walker began exhibiting with Ferrin Gallery at the SOFA Chicago Art Fairs
  • (2005) Walker began exhibiting with Ferrin Gallery in “The Navigators: Art + Science + History + Travel” exhibition at the gallery’s Lenox, MA location
  • “Are We There Yet?” Marks 19 years showing with the gallery
  • (2019) “JASON WALKER: Personal Encounters” solo exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary presented a body of work that questions our inter-dependent relationship to nature and technology
  • (2023) “Double Vision” (2022) on display in AWTY was produced in the artist’s Cedar City, UT studio

 

WEISER 2000 - Present

  • (2000) “Are We There Yet?” Marks 23 years showing with the gallery, first in “TEAPOTS TRANSFORMED” 
  • (2010) Kurt Weiser began exhibiting with Ferrin Gallery in “Re-Objectification”, an exhibition at the gallery’s Pittsfield, MA location
  • (2016) Weiser’s “Fruit Story” exhibited in “EXPOSED: Heads, Busts, & Nudes”
  • (2019-2020) “KURT WEISER: Insomnia” solo exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary featured ceramics as well as prints
  • (2023) “Bug Lesson” (1994) on display in AWTY, showcases Weiser’s signature china painting on works produced in the artist’s Phoenix, AZ studio

 

PRESS


PROGRAMMING


• EXHIBITION OPENS  •
Saturday, July 15th, 11 am – 5 pm

•   LUNCH  W/  LINDA  SIKORA  •
   Saturday, July 29th, 12 pm – 5 pm

hosted at Project Art, Cummington, MA
during the Hilltown 6 Pottery Tour

• PUBLIC RECEPTION •
Thursday, August 3, 5 – 7 pm

ARE WE THERE YET? RECEPTION


THANK YOU to our friends, neighbors, collaborators, clients, artists, and family who traveled far and wide to attend the reception for our last exhibition in North Adams, ARE WE THERE YET? It was wonderful to celebrate with 70+ guests, many of whom have been a part of our Ferrin world throughout 40+ years.

FERRIN CONTEMPORARY TIMELINE


Click HERE to View
Ferrin Contemporary’s
developing Archive & Timeline

INQUIRE


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  • a list of available artworks
  • copy of the press release
  • additional information about the artists
  • details on upcoming events

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Please fill out the form below to inquire or
contact us for more details + lists of available artworks.

BREAKING GROUND: Women in California Clay

BREAKING GROUND: Women in California Clay

September 10, 2022 through March 12, 2023

Featuring work by Crystal Morey

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION


The American Museum of Ceramic Art is proud to present the exhibition and accompanying catalog Breaking Ground: Women in California Clay, celebrating 44 artists who have defined—and redefined—ceramics over the past 100 years. Many of the Golden State’s most innovative and impactful ceramic artists in the 20th and 21st centuries are women who faced adversity due to gender inequality and were often ignored or overlooked in favor of their male counterparts. These incredibly determined women pushed forward, driven by creativity and tenacity.

Breaking Ground highlights the significant shifts in California ceramics over several generations of women artists. The story is told in three sections, using the artist’s “breaking ground period” (rather than their date of birth) to determine their place in history. The story begins with trailblazers Laura Andreson, Betty Davenport Ford, Stefani Gruenberg, Vivika Heino, Elaine Katzer, Mary Lindheim, Martha Longenecker, Gertrud Natzler, Susan Peterson, Ruth Rippon, Susi Singer, Helen Ritcher Watson, Marguerite Wildenhain, and Beatrice Wood. These artists laid the groundwork for the field and inspired successive generations of artists.

Breaking Ground will be on view in AMOCA’s Armstrong Gallery from September 10, 2022 through January 22, 2023, and in Gallery B and The Vault from September 10, 2022 through February 19, 2023.

The exhibition is co-curated by Beth Ann Gerstein (Executive Director), Jo Lauria (Adjunct Curator), and Edith Garcia (Professor, California College of the Arts and University of California, Berkeley).

More information about the exhibition, HERE.

FEATURED ARTWORKS


MORE ON CRYSTAL MOREY


View More by Crystal Morey HERE

Crystal Morey, Artist Portrait in the studio, 2022

Crystal Morey, “The RePlanting: Over the Land (Mt. Lion and Unicorn”, 2022, hand-sculpted porcelain, 17.5 x 11 x 7″.

PUBLIC PROGRAMMING


Member Preview
Friday, September 9, 2022 • 2–4 PM (Pacific) • In Person

Breaking Ground: Women in California Clay is on view at AMOCA from September 10, 2022–February 19, 2023, and members get early access! Be among the first to see Breaking Ground by joining us on Member Preview Day on Friday, September 9.

This preview is complimentary for AMOCA Members.

Opening Reception
Saturday, September 10, 2022 • 4–6 PM (Pacific)  In Person

Join us for an opening reception for Breaking Ground: Women in California Clay, on view at AMOCA. Artists whose work is in the exhibition will be present starting at 4 PM, opening remarks will occur at 4:30 PM, and light refreshments will be served.

Admission to the event and Museum galleries is complimentary with advance registration. For information about at-the-door prices, check AMOCA.org/visit.

MORE ON AMOCA


As an organization of vision, devoted to the arts, we believe that visual art experiences communicated through professional artists, workshops, or gallery exhibitions, promote cross-cultural understanding and provide new perspectives and insights which enrich our lives.

Exhibitions and programming at AMOCA embraces a wide number of topics – all relating to clay. Within this broadly diverse community, it is our goal to increase the aesthetic appreciation of clay as an art form and to assist our audience in unraveling the creative thinking behind the making of ceramic objects. At the same time, AMOCA provides confirmed clay enthusiasts with encouragement, camaraderie, and exhibition opportunity.

Learn More, HERE

ESPRITS LIBRES | La Fondation d’Enterprise Bernardaud

ESPRITS LIBRES | La Fondation d’Enterprise Bernardaud

La Fondation d’Enterprise Bernardaud
Limoges, France

June 17, 2022 — April 1, 2023

Featuring work by:

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION


Esprits libres encourages us to take a fresh look at unique, authentic, surprising artistic expressions. It is an invitation and a challenge to creativity and the collective imagination, privileging figurative and narrative art with a surrealist bent. The exhibition is based on these expressions’ power to transcend academic strictures and bring all generations together. No school, no line of theory, no concept is claimed: the exhibition transcribes a free state of mind, an internal rhythm of creation, a stand taken in the world.

Esprits libres gives us a second wind, a burst of spontaneity and unity, and tells a different story, without assumptions or prejudices, embodied by the choice of twelve artists–and just as many moments of thought–developing perspectives that are original, in ebullition, and open to influence. They are the product of free spirits. Confronted with these twelve artistic entities, it is easy to understand that the choice of ceramics as medium is fundamental to their chosen approach to each of their subjects: its intrinsic materiality, its capacity for volume, and its physicality project the work itself into a dimension of tactility that is utterly human. But, examining our humanist values and projects, these artists impel us to observe our own capacity for transmission, transgression, and transformation. This joyous shaking-up of certitudes nurtures new and profoundly living forms; it invites us to explore a territory of reconciliation, kindliness, and solidarity, where artworks advocate for difference, exalting dialog and respect for every person’s singularity.

FEATURED ARTWORKS


EXHIBITION CATALOG


Featuring Ferrin Contemporary Artists Crystal Morey and Mara Superior

All Copy and Content Courtesy of:

La Fondation d’Enterprise Bernardaud,
Limoges, France

& Anne Richard
Founder of the art magazine
HEY! modern art & pop culture,
Author, publisher,
and exhibition curator

MORE ON THE FEATURED ARTISTS


  • View More by Crystal Morey HERE
  • View More by Mara Superior HERE

CRYSTAL MOREY


MARA SUPERIOR


MORE ON LA FONDATION L’ENTERPRISE BERNARDAUD


The Fondation d’Entreprise Bernardaud was established in 2002 in Limoges by Michel Bernardaud, chairman and CEO of the eponymous company. It is directed by Hélène Huret. From the beginning, it has worked to endow the Limoges manufactory with a cultural dimension.

A visitor circuit has been set up to explain the history and manufacture of porcelain. In addition, the Foundation holds a themed exhibition every summer to present a broad range of contemporary ceramic works by international artists seldom shown in France. This demonstrates the great vitality of ceramics on the international art scene, especially porcelain, one of today’s most interesting artistic media.

NATURE/NURTURE

NATURE/NURTURE

2021 | NATURE/NURTURE II

NCECA 2021 Virtual Conference
Rivers, Reflections, and Reinvention
March 17, 2021 – March 21, 2021

Gallery Presentation
1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams
March 17, 2021 – May 29, 2021

In March 2020 we invited a group of women artists to explore the influence of gender and its impact on their creative practice. This year, Nature/Nurture returns with new additional works as a virtual exhibition at NCECA’s first virtual conference, with select works on view at Ferrin Contemporary.

Opening Reception

March 19, 2021 @ 7pm on Zoom

Shop Select Works

Select works available on our Online Store.
Inquire for additional works.

NATURE/NURTURE, Gallery Installation presented in 2020 at 1315 MASS MoCA Way, March 4 -June 27, 2020.

2020 | NATURE/NURTURE

1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams
March 4 – June 27, 2020

Ferrin Contemporary is pleased to present Nature/Nurture, a group exhibition of twelve contemporary female artists invited to explore the influence of gender and its impact on their practice.

This timely exhibition explores these ideas that range from direct interpretations of the natural world to more abstract notions, such as the construction of gender and the endowed role of women within their personal and professional careers. Works in clay range in form from individual vessels to composed still lifes and figural and abstract sculpture.

Gallery director Leslie Ferrin chose a group of twelve female artists whose works and careers provide a range of diverse perspectives related to age, cultural identity and work being done in contemporary ceramics. Considering the impact that the #MeToo movement is having on all professions, Ferrin asked the artists to pause and reflect on the role gender plays in their artistic practice and to consider the nurturing experiences that have shaped them.

Ferrin writes, “A renewed awareness and galvanizing commitment for change is surging through American cultural and academic institutions, organizations and businesses of every sort, exposing the crying need for structural change; specifically, the advancement of equality for artists of all genders and elimination of sexual harassment, wage discrimination and other forms of sexism that continue to affect the lives of women, transgender and non-binary individuals. As part of the movement to reverse and rebalance with new priorities and opening doors, it is crucial to offer opportunities to artists who have been historically marginalized.”

Nature assigned these artists, who identify as female, on a given path, whereas nurture is an accumulation of experiences, influences and impact with both positive and negative results on personal and professional lives. Seen as a whole, this group of twelve women artists who live and work throughout the USA, is representative of the rising tide of professional opportunities for women artists. While significant earnings and advancement gaps remain, a course correction is underway through the increasing number of gender and culturally specific exhibitions. As priorities shift for museum collections, educational public programming and private collectors, these efforts to course-correct are bringing recognition to artists previously overlooked and undervalued and to undocumented legacies. Nature/Nurture seeks to contribute to and further this recognition.

Inspired by the important work of Judith Butler and Helen Longino, the artists in the show were invited to explore the influence of ‘Nature/Nurture’ within their practice. The work ranges from more direct interpretations of the natural world, to more abstract notions, such as the construction of gender, and endowed role of women.

“Possibility is not a luxury; it is as crucial as bread.”
― Judith Butler, Undoing Gender, 2004

PRESS & FEATURES:

ONLINE PROGRAMMING:

ZOOM/ONLINE PROGRAM | Women in Ceramics with Garth Johnson at Everson Museum of Art – Friday, May 15, 2020.

“Nature/Nurture” Installation View, with Anina Major, 2020.