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: Mara Superior Past

May

2022

2022 INTERNATIONAL CERAMIC ART FAIR (ICAF)

2022 INTERNATIONAL CERAMIC ART FAIR

Gardiner Museum
Toronto, Ontario

June 9 – 19, 2022

Featuring work by Cristina Córdova, Sergei Isupov, Mara Superior, and Kukuli Velarde

Virtual Artist Talk with Cristina Córdova

June 17th, 1-2pm EST
see more details below

The International Ceramic Art Fair (ICAF) makes its highly anticipated return to the Gardiner Museum, featuring works by emerging and established ceramic artists from a wide range of backgrounds, and an exciting slate of online and in-person programming.

ICAF 2022 celebrates connections between body, identity, and land. Global mythologies have long connected the human body to the earth, from a Nubian deity fashioning humans from clay to scientific explorations of clay as the first carrier of life. The human body is symbolically if not literally connected to clay, helping us understand who we are as individuals, a society, and a species.

Contemporary ceramics has become one of the most dynamic areas of artistic practice in recent years. So it is with much excitement that we invite collectors and curators from around the world to join us for the International Ceramic Art Fair, which has grown to a 10-day celebration of contemporary art, gallery tours, artist talks, performances, and more. Join us in person and online to discover how some of the top galleries and artists are approaching the themes of body, figuration, and the land. We look forward to sharing the diversity, complexity, and accessibility of contemporary ceramics.
– Sequoia Miller, Chief Curator

This year’s Honorary Patron is internationally renowned Kenyan-born British studio potter, Magdalene Odundo.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE

International Ceramic Art Fair 2022, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Canada

ICAF 2022, Gardiner Museum, Installation View featuring Sergei Isupov

Cristina Cordova, “Desde mi Balcon”, ICAF 2022, Gardiner Museum Installation View

Kukuli Velarde, “A Mi Vida IV” and “A Mi Vida II”, ICAF 2022, Gardiner Museum Installation View

Mara Superior, “Mates for Life (A Swan’s Wedding)”, ICAF 2022, Gardiner Museum Installation View

Cristina Córdova, “Desde mi Balcón”, 2021, ceramic and metal, 33 x 14.5 x 10″ – side view

Kukuli Velarde, “A Mi Vida II”, 2017

Mara Superior, “Mates for Life (A Swan’s Wedding Day)” 2008, porcelain, glaze, wood, gold leaf, bone, ink, 23 x 16 x 10″.

Sergei Isupov, “Coffee and Milk”, Detail, 2020, porcelain, slip, glaze, 59.5 x 26 x 16″.

EVENTS

Virtual Artist Talk with Cristina Córdova

June 17th, 1-2pm EST

As part of the International Ceramic Art Fair, join featured artist Cristina Córdova for an online discussion about her work. Córdova creates figurative compositions that examine our shared humanity and question socio-cultural notions of gender, race, and beauty. Registration is free.

Register now

Full event schedule for ICAF 2022

Virtual Curator Talk with Maya Wilson-Sanchez

June 14th, 1-2pm EST

As part of the International Ceramic Art Fair, join Gardiner Museum Curatorial Resident Maya Wilson-Sanchez for a virtual conversation about the work of Kukuli Velarde, a Peruvian-American artist who specializes in painting and ceramic sculptures made out of clay and terracotta. Registration is free.

Register now

Full event schedule for ICAF 2022

FEATURED ARTISTS IN THE EXHIBITION

CRISTINA CÓRDOVA

MARA SUPERIOR

SERGEI ISUPOV

KUKULI VELARDE

Aug

2021

COLLECTION FOCUS: Mara Superior at the Racine Art Museum

August 18, 2021 – January 15, 2022

Racine Art Museum
441 Main Street | Racine, WI 53403

ABOUT THE COLLECTION FOCUS

Blending past and present-day concerns, notions of Americana, and personal experience, Mara Superior playfully both challenges and adds to a history of porcelain decorative objects and tableware. With a singular aesthetic that feels reverent yet unique, Superior builds narratives that unfold through images, words, and form.

Comprised entirely of work from RAM’s collection that span over three decades, this exhibition showcases several of the artist’s core interests. They emphasize Superior’s personal history—her connection to art and ceramic history, her appreciation for “home” and ideas about the domestic, and her love of travel. While these are not the only topics she addresses in her work, they are foundational ones and provide a layered and nuanced accounting of the artist’s approach to working with porcelain. Engaging scenes play out across a range of objects, including platters, teapots, vessels, and a collaborative piece with the artist’s late husband, sculptor and furniture maker, Roy Superior.

Significantly, this exhibition debuts a multi-piece gift from the Kohler Foundation, Inc., that catapults RAM’s holdings of work by Superior from two pieces, already gifted by other donors, to 33. In doing so, this gift establishes several milestones for Superior at RAM—making her an archive artist as well as the most collected female ceramic artist and the second most collected ceramic artist regardless of gender.

Collection Focus: Mara Superior installed at the Racine Art Museum, 2021

Mara Superior, “Americana: A Collection of Blue Salt-glazed Stoneware”, 2016, Racine Art Museum, Gift of the Kohler Foundation, Inc. Photography: John Polak

Mara Superior, “A Tea Party Collection”, 1987, Racine Art Museum, Gift of the Kohler Foundation, Inc. Photography: John Polak

Mara Superior, “My Forrest”, 1993, Racine Art Museum, Gift of the Kohler Foundation, Inc. Photography: Jon Bolton

Mara Superior “Heaven & Earth II”, 1993 a Party Collection, 1987 Racine Art Museum, Gift of the Kohler Foundation, Inc. Photography: Jon Bolton

Mara Superior, “A Tea House”, 1988, Racine Art Museum, Gift of the Kohler Foundation, Inc. Photography: Jon Bolton

Mara Superior, “Bella Italia”, 2006 Racine Art Museum, Gift of the Kohler Foundation, Inc. Photography: John Polak

More About the Exhibition

Exhibition Notes (PDF)

A Conversation with Mara Superior and Bruce W. Pepich, Unabridged (PDF)

ABOUT MARA SUPERIOR

Mara Superior is an American visual artist who works in porcelain. Her ceramic high relief platters and sculptural objects reflect the artist’s passion for art history and decorative arts, and her painterly motifs range from the pleasures of the domestic to serious political and environmental issues as points of departure to comment on contemporary culture and its relationship to history. Superior has received numerous awards including a National Endowment for the Visual Arts Fellowship, the prestigious Guldaggergård Residency in Denmark, and numerous individual artist grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Superior has exhibited at the American Museum of Ceramic Art, (Pomona, CA), Scripps Women’s College, (Claremont, CA), and the Fuller Craft Museum, (Brockton, MA) among many other institutions. Her work can be found in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, (Washington, DC), the Museum of Arts and Design, (New York, NY), the Peabody Essex Museum, (Salem, MA), Philadelphia Museum of Art, (Philadelphia, PA) the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (Los Angeles, CA), White House Collection of American Craft, (Little Rock, AK). An in depth collection of her work was recently acquired by the Racine Art Museum, (Racine, WI) with the support of Kohler Foundation, (Sheboygan, WI). In 2010 she was interviewed for the oral history program of the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, (Washington, DC). Superior studied at the Pratt Institute and Hartford Art School, completing her BFA in painting from the University of Connecticut followed by a MAT in ceramics from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She is represented by Ferrin Contemporary.

MORE ON MARA SUPERIOR

Mara Superior’s Website

Review by Angela Fina from the Exhibitions section of American Ceramics, Volume 7, Number 2, 1989 (PDF)

Oral History Interview with Mara Superior—Archives of American Art

Artist Spotlight from a 2018 Exhibition at The Frick Pittsburgh

Sep

2019

COOL CLAY: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics | Crocker Art Museum

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

July 21, 2019 — July 21, 2021

From raw textures to meticulous details, to glazes bursting with color, the works in Cool Clay represent one of the most exciting and expansive fields of contemporary art. This exhibition highlights a selection of notable acquisitions that strengthen the Crocker Art Museum’s ceramics holdings in both diversity and scope. These pieces represent the work of influential figures such as Rudy Autio, Jun Kaneko, Tony Marsh, Edwin Scheier, Nancy Selvin, and Akio Takamori, as well as more recent leaders like Peter Olson, Zemer Peled, Brian Rochefort, and Dirk Staschke. Although the artists pursue a great variety of approaches and techniques, each embraces the experimental and playful sensibility this versatile medium engenders. Spanning six decades of studio practice, this exhibition celebrates the ground-breaking achievements of 20th-century ceramists as well as those who today continue to reimagine the possibilities of working in clay.

Read more on the Crocker’s blog, the Oculus, HERE.

Exhibiting Artists:

Anthony Bennett, Claude Conover, Annette Corcoran, Viola Frey, David Gilhooly, Babs Haenen, Matthias Merkel Hess, Anne Hirondelle, Sergei Isupov, Cliff Lee, Ah Leon, Whitney Lowe, Kris Lyons, Calvin Ma, Mineo Mizuno, Steven Montgomery, Peter Olson, Edwin Scheier, Nancy Selvin, Peter Shire, Mara Superior, Akio Takamori, Claudia Tarantino, Cheryl Ann Thomas, Peter VandenBerge,

Learn more about FC Artists:

SERGEI ISUPOV
MARA SUPERIOR

and from the archives:

VIOLA FREY
AKIO TAKAMORI

“Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics”, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, July 21, 2019 – July 19, 2020. Image courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum.

Sergei Isupov, ‘Lightness’ 2008, stoneware, stain, glaze, 33 x 18 x 9″. Image courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum.

Sergei Isupov, “Lightness”, 2008, stoneware, stain, glaze, 33 x 18 x 9″.

“Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics”, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, July 21, 2019 – July 19, 2020. Image courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum.

Mara Superior, “Fantasia Teapot”, high-fired porcelain, ceramic oxides, underglaze, glaze, faux painting, wood, brass pins, 13.5 x 8.5 x 20″.

“Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics”, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, July 21, 2019 – July 19, 2020.Image courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum.

“Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics”, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, July 21, 2019 – July 19, 2020. Image courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum.

“Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics”, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, July 21, 2019 – July 19, 2020.Image courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum.

“Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics”, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, July 21, 2019 – July 19, 2020. Image courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum.

“Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics”, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, July 21, 2019 – July 19, 2020.Image courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum.

“Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics”, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, July 21, 2019 – July 19, 2020. Image courtesy of the Crocker Art Museum.

Aug

2019

TENDING THE FIRES: Recent Acquisitions in Clay | Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA

August 17, 2019 – April 4, 2021

Tending the Fires: Recent Acquisitions in Clay presents recent additions to Fuller Craft’s ceramic collection. Exhibited works represent a range of processes and conceptual approaches in clay, from Cheryl Ann Thomas’s slumped, coiled sculpture to Jun Kaneko’s painterly “dango” to Steven Young Lee’s deconstructed pot. Figuration also comes into play, with strong examples by Patti Warashina, Akio Takamori, and Tip Toland. Fuller Craft Museum is proud to shine a light on the clay triumphs of these renowned ceramicists while proudly displaying the institution’s recent collecting achievements.

EXHIBITING ARTISTS

Richard Cleaver, Claire Curneen, Nancy Jurs, Jun Kaneko, Steven Young Lee, Cliff Lee, Hollie Lyko, Michael Lucero, Lauren Mabry, Beverly Mayeri, Zemer Peled, Peter Pincus, Prudence Piper, Mark Shapiro, Mara Superior, Akio Takamori, Cheryl Ann Thomas, Tip Toland, Patti Warashina, and Malcolm Wright.

Learn more about FC Artists:

CLAIRE CURNEEN
HOLLIE LYKO
STEVEN YOUNG LEE
LAUREN MABRY
PETER PINCUS
MARA SUPERIOR

and from the archives:

MALCOLM WRIGHT

Click HERE for more.

Mara Superior, A Spring Dream (Rabbit Teapot),2008, high-fired porcelain, ceramic Oxides, Underglaze, glaze, wood, gold leaf, 16 x 17 x 6″. Gift of Kohler Foundation.

Tending the Fires: Recent Acquisitions in Clay at Fuller Craft Museum August 17th- May 3rd, 2020

Mara Superior Tending the Fires: Recent Acquisitions in Clay atFuller Craft Museum August 17th- May 3rd, 2020

Peter Pincus Tending the Fires: Recent Acquisitions in Clay atFuller Craft Museum August 17th- May 3rd, 2020

Malcolm Wright, Three Figures, 2006, wood fired brick clay, 13.5 x 8.5 x 6.75. Gift of the Artist.

Tending the Fires: Recent Acquisitions in Clay at Fuller Craft Museum August 17th- May 3rd, 2020

Claire Curneen, “Mary Magdalene” detail, 2013, porcelain, gold lustre, 22.5″.

Claire Curneen, “Mary Magdalene” 2013, porcelain, gold lustre, 22.5″.

Steven Young Lee Tending the Fires: Recent Acquisitions in Clay atFuller Craft Museum August 17th- May 3rd, 2020

Hollie Lyko, “American Standard”, 2018, dremel-erased Syracuse China plate, originally titled ‘Southern Cotton Fields’, circa 1952, 10.5 x 10.5 x 1″.

Hollie Lyko, “American Standard”, detail, 2018, dremel-erased Syracuse China plate, originally titled ‘Southern Cotton Fields’, circa 1952, 10.5 x 10.5 x 1″.

Lauren Mabry Tending the Fires: Recent Acquisitions in Clay at Fuller Craft Museum August 17th- May 3rd, 2020

Aug

2019

FLORA/FAUNA | Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY

Flora/Fauna

July 25- August 20, 2019, Opening Reception July 25th at 3:00pm

Strohl Art Center/Bellowe Family Gallery at the Chautauqua Institution

Stephen Bowers, Sin-ying Ho, Paul Scott, and Mara Superior present a series of work around the theme Flora and Fuana. Each artists weaves social commentary through the realm the decorative arts, using traditional technique in a new light.

See more about Stephen Bowers

See more about Sin-ying Ho

See more about Paul Scott

See more about Mara Superior

Recent Press about the show

Flora/Fauna, Chautauqua Institution, 2019, Installation view, Images courtesy of ALEXANDER WADLEY/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER at The Chautauquan

Stephen Bowers, “Rosella & Eucalyptus (Leaf, Flower & Gum-nut Entrée Plate)” 2019, white earthenware, under-glaze colors, clear glaze, gold luster, 10 x 10 x 1″

Stephen Bowers, “The Dodo’s Message” 2019, white earthenware, under-glaze colors, clear glaze, 8.25 x 8.25 x 1.5″.

Stephen Bowers,”Eastern Rosella & Botanical (18th c French Toile’ fabric print patterns)” 2019, white earthenware, under-glaze colors, clear glaze, 13.5 x 13.5 x 2.75″.

Sin-Ying Ho, “Source of Wealth” 2012, Porcelain, hand-painted cobalt pigment, transfer decal, 27 x 20 x 15″.

Sin-Ying Ho, “10.11.1985 Hong Kong” 2010, Porcelain, high fire reduction, hand painted cobalt pigment, decal transfer, enamel, 24 x 14 x 12″.

Sin Ying Ho, “Made in the Postmodern Era no.1” 2008, Porcelain, high fire reduction, hand painted cobalt pigment, computer decal transfer, terra sigillata, 20.5 x 11 x 11”.

Sin-ying Ho, “9.28.2014 Hong Kong” 2014, porcelain, cobalt, decal, terra sigillata, 23 x 12 x 15.5″.

Sin-ying Ho, “Future is in our Hand” 2008, porcelain, cobalt, decal, terra sigillata, 15 x 10″.

Sin-ying Ho, “Histogram No. 2″ 2007, porcelain, cobalt, decal, terr sigillata, 8 x 6 x 8”.

Sin-ying Ho, “Matrix no. 2″ 2007, porcelain, cobalt, transfer, terra sigillata, 8 x 4 x 8”.

Paul Scott, “Cumbrian Blue(s), The Garden Series, Bridgeless/Bridge” 2019, collage with kintsugi, ‘Chinoisserie Bridgeless’ by Minton, with ’St Alban’s Abbey’ by Henshall, (early 19th century transferwares), 10″ diameter.

Paul Scott, “Cumbrian Blue(s), The Garden Series, Bridgeless/Bridge” (back), 2019, collage with kintsugi, ‘Chinoisserie Bridgeless’ by Minton, with ’St Alban’s Abbey’ by Henshall, (early 19th century transferwares), 10″ diameter

Paul Scott, “Cumbrian Blue(s), The Garden Series, Bridge/Bridgeless’, 2019, collage with kintsugi, ’St Alban’s Abbey’ by Henshall with ‘Chinoisserie Bridgeless’ by Minton, (early 19th century transferwares), 10”diameter.

Paul Scott, “Cumbrian Blue(s), The Garden Series, Bridge/Bridgeless” (back), 2019, collage with kintsugi, ’St Alban’s Abbey’ by Henshall with ‘Chinoisserie Bridgeless’ by Minton, (early 19th century transferwares), 10″ diameter.

Mara Superior, ‘Les Fleurs’ 2013, high-fired porcelain, ceramic oxides, underglaze, glaze, 13 x 18.5 x 1.75″.

Mara Superior, “Mother Nature Says, ‘Wake Up'” 2010, porcelain, glaze, wood, pearls, gold leaf, 17 x 22 x 2″.

Dec

2017

REVIVE, REMIX, RESPOND

THE FRICK PITTSBURGH

7227 Reynolds St., Pittsburgh, PA

February 17–May 27, 2018

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

In 2017, twenty contemporary artists were invited to respond to and produce new works that reference the art, objects, and social history of The Frick’s collections.

Many contemporary artists are breathing new life into the ceramic medium by reviving and reinvigorating age-old concepts. This reinvention is distilled into the use of 18th-century processes and techniques to create new motifs and the depiction of stories inspired by history — often with a commentary or critique on modern society.

This topic is particularly relevant to the current state of the ceramics and museum field as it answers the questions of how history meets contemporary. How can artists draw on the rich artistic traditions of ceramic history while reinvigorating their relevance in a society that prizes the contemporary? Likewise, how can museums use contemporary ceramic art to illuminate and reinvigorate historic collections? The Frick Pittsburgh is committed to using the voices and artworks of contemporary artists to meaningfully engage our audience and our collections with issues and ideas relevant to the present day. Revive, Remix, Respond is an exciting opportunity to continue that dialogue.

Organized by Dawn Reid Brean, Associate Curator of Decorative Arts at The Frick Pittsburgh with Leslie Ferrin of Ferrin Contemporary, the museum has invited artists to submit work that is inspired by, responds to, or relates to historic ceramics in The Frick Pittsburgh’s permanent collection. Highlight’s from the museum’s collection include Clayton, the historic Gilded Age home of industrialist and art collector Henry Clay Frick and its impressive array of fine and decorative arts objects; 18th-century Chinese porcelains purchased by Frick from the collection of J. P. Morgan; and 18th-century French painting and decorative arts collected by Frick’s daughter, Helen Clay Frick.

The exhibition will consider the sources of inspiration shaping ceramics today and ways to keep clay vital in museums, schools, and artistic communities. These ideas directly relate to the organizing theme of NCECA 2018, CrossCurrents: Clay and Culture.

INSTALLATION

Revive, Remix, Respond at The Frick Pittsburgh 2018

Revive, Remix, Respond at The Frick Pittsburgh

EXHIBITING ARTISTS

Chris Antemann
Robin Best
Stephen Bowers
Bouke de Vries
Edward Eberle
Evan Hauser
Steven Young Lee
Beth Lipman
Crystal Morey
Kadri Parnamets
Peter Pincus
Kate Roberts
Justin Rothshank
Paul Scott
Cindy Sherman
Caroline Slotte
Dirk Staschke
Mara Superior
Kurt Weiser

PAST PROGRAMMING

Remix Your Friday Exhibition Preview
Friday, February 16, 5:30–7:30pm

Join us for a happy hour in The Frick Art Museum to celebrate the opening of this exhibition, Be among the first to see this unique exhibition, which features work from established and emerging artists. The evening will also feature gallery talks from exhibition curator Dawn Brean and exhibited artist Beth Lipman.

FEATURED WORKS

Robin Best, “The Knight of the Lions,” 2016, porcelain with on-glaze Xin Cai, 14.125 x 7.875 x 10.25″.

Stephen Bowers, “Flowers Fragment” 2018, white earthenware, underglaze colors, glaze, 8.75 x 8.75 x 1.6″.

Bouke de Vries, “Peacock 1″ 2016, twentieth-century Chinese porcelain bird, eighteenth-century Chinese porcelain fragments, mixed media, 24 x 13.5 x 25”.

Edward Eberle, “Subject-Predicate” 2014, porcelain with terra sigilatta, 28 x 13 x 12.5″.

Evan Hasuer, Preservation & Use #3 (Landscape with River, George Hetzel, 1880), 2018, 62 x 42″ x 2.5″.

Steven Young Lee, “Gourd Vases with Dodos” 2018, porcelain, cobalt pigment, glaze, 10 x 19 x 18”.

Beth Lipman, “Swag” 2003, vitreous china, 11 x 36 x 5″.

Crystal Morey, “Entangled Wonders: Across a Divide” 20187, porcelain, 16 x 9 x 9″.

Kadri Pärnamets, “Mining” porcelian, slip, 20.5 x 10.5 x 8″.

Peter Pincus, “Ewer, c. 1893/2018″ 2018, colored porcelain, 13 x 6 x 5”.

Kate Roberts, “Miss Havisham’s Beauty”, 2015, porcelain, 18 x 12 x 12″.

Justin Rothshank, “Andrew Carnegie Platter” 2017, 20 x 20″.

Paul Scott, “Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), Milking Time After Anton Maude” 2017, scrennprint (decal) on Portmerion porcelain platter, 13.5”x 9.25” (340mm x 235mm). One of an edition of ten.

Cindy Sherman, “Madame de Pompadour (nee Poisson)” Tureen, 1990, porcelain, 14.5 x 22 x 11.75″.

Caroline Slotte, “Going Blank Again” 2016, reworked second hand ceramics.

Dirk Staschke, “Soliloquy #1″ 2016, ceramic, shim, epoxy, 17 x 20 x 15”.

Mara Superior, “Kangxi Period, Qing Dynasty/ A Collection” 2018, porcelain, underglazes, oxides, glaze, gold leaf, 12.5 x 16 x 2.5″.

Kurt Weiser, “Random House (globe)” 2017, porcelain, glaze, china paint, metal, 30 x 14 x 14″.

Oct

2017

THE WOMEN

Oct 28, 2017 – Apr 21, 2018

Ferrin Contemporary
1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA

Click here for details.

Works on view include recent pieces by women whose primary medium is clay and selected works from private and artist archives by female potters and sculptors.

The Women provides Ferrin Contemporary an opportunity to highlight the range of work by women artists affiliated with the gallery program who are known for their work in ceramics.

Director Leslie Ferrin, a life long advocate for women in ceramics reflects on this moment, “It is gratifying to witness the attention to gender issues taking place throughout society. These same forces are fueling the interest in examining and bringing recognition to the overlooked contributions of women to postwar visual arts. Many of our collectors who brought a female perspective to building their collections are contributing to the public dialog by acquiring new works and making gifts to institutions. Museums are responding by offering exhibition opportunities, site specific commissions and adding to permanent collections to fill in gaps. It is an exciting time to see these changes taking place and being able to participate in the process.”

Ceramic Art and Figural Sculpture

Robin Best
Christie Brown
Caroline Cheng
Cristina Córdova
Claire Curneen
Ruth Duckworth
Viola Frey
Giselle Hicks
Coille McLaughlin Hooven
Crystal Morey
Kadri Pärnamets
Elsa Rady
Caroline Slotte
Mara Superior
Toshiko Takaezu
Susan Thayer
Patti Warashina
Beatrice Wood
Elizabeth (Betty) Woodman

Studio Pottery and Design*
Works by
Laura Andreson
Dorothy Hafner
Karen Karnes
Jenny Mendez
Linda Sikora
*available in Ferrin Contemporary square shop

Robin Best, “The Knight of the Lions,” 2016, porcelain with on-glaze Xin Cai, 14.125 x 7.875 x 10.25″.

Christie Brown, “Ghost Portrait” 2015, ceramic, 19 x 10 x 9″.

Caroline Cheng, “Prosperity V” 2007, porcelain, fabric, 71 x 71″.

Claire Curneen, “Mary Magdalene” 2013, porcelain, gold lustre, 22.5″.

Viola Frey, “Untitled Platter”, 1982, earthenware, slip, glaze, 25″. photo: John Polak (Pennington)

Dorothy Hafner, “Teapot, Sugar, Creamer” 1988, porcelain, underglaze.

Coille Hooven, “Second Skin” 1986, stoneware, 14.75 x 6.5 x 5.5″.

Crystal Morey, “New Symbiosis: Pronghorn” 2017, porcelain, 10.5 x 6 x 4.5″.

Kadri Pärnamets, “Question of Honor — Lucretia, after Lucas Cranach the Elder, porcelain, slip, glaze, 11 x 10.5 x 5”. photo: John Polak

Elsa Rady, “Four Zig Wings”, private collection

Mara Superior, “Mother Nature Says, ‘Wake Up'” 2010, porcelain, glaze, wood, pearls, gold leaf, 17 x 22 x 2″.

Susan Thayer, “Return” 2016, teapot: porcelain, china paint, glazebase: lowfire stoneware, slip, 16 x 9 x 5″.

Patti Warashina, “Beating the Housewife Blues” 1977, white earthenware, glaze, 24 x 16 x 13.75″.

Beatrice Wood, “Not Married” 1965, clay, glaze, 16 x 17 x 13″.

Betty Woodman, “Planter” ceramic, glaze, 27 x 5.5 x 8.5″.

“The Women” at Ferrin Contemporary in North Adams, MA. Work by Beatrice Wood pictured.

“The Women” at Ferrin Contemporary in North Adams, MA. Work by Kadri Pärnamets pictured.

“The Women” at Ferrin Contemporary in North Adams, MA. Work by Mara Superior pictured.

“The Women” at Ferrin Contemporary in North Adams, MA. Work by Robin Best pictured.

“The Women” at Ferrin Contemporary in North Adams, MA. Work by Cristina Córdova pictured.

“The Women” at Ferrin Contemporary in North Adams, MA. Work by Kadri Pärnamets pictured.

“The Women” at Ferrin Contemporary in North Adams, MA. Work by Caroline Slotte and Claire Curneen pictured.

The Women

Ferrin Contemporary presents selected works by women artists whose primary medium is clay. On view in the gallery and online, we introduce new works by emerging and established artists along with masterworks available from private collections and artist archives.

STUDIO POTTER: WOMEN IN CERAMICS

Winter/Spring 2017
Women in Ceramics Vol. 45 No. 1

In this issue: nine essays remembering the life of Karen Karnes, a deep investigation of the legacy of women in wood-firing, several narratives about artists’ personal journeys in clay, essays on the lives of California artist Ruth Rippon and Swedish artist Hertha Hillfon, a dynamic discussion of contemporary motherhood, international perspectives from Canada, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and India, a look at fourth-wave feminism, and more.

Click for info on Studio Potter.

Click to request complimentary issue online.

“Ruth Rippon, Her Story”
by Nancy M. Servis

Rippon’s artistic production is extensive and leaves an indelible mark on the artistic landscape of Northern California. … The breadth of her work mirrors the artist herself: technically accomplished, experimental, conceptually grounded, and quietly emotive.

Click here for more.

Artist Salon – Nancy M. Servis
Wednesday, November 8
at 6–8:30 pm

Project Art
54 Main St, Cummington, Massachusetts 01026

Join visiting scholar, Nancy M. Servis, from Sacramento, California, for an image-illustrated presentation ‘State of Clay: Bay Area Ceramics,’ followed by a potluck at Project Art.

From pottery to sculptural expression, Servis unveils the dynamic variety of ceramics found in Northern California. Long recognized as a vital and populous state with extensive clay deposits, California has been the home of refined vessel-makers and artistic rule-breakers for over 75 years, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Her lecture contextualizes clay’s extensive use that includes stylistic architecture in Oakland, impassioned potters like Antonio Prieto and Marguerite Wildenhain from the 1950s, and unabashed practitioners like Peter Voulkos and Robert Arneson. They along with select others like Viola Frey, Ruth Rippon, and Ron Nagle laid Nancy Servis’ groundwork for what exists today – a population of fine artist-makers whose work coexists with those who embrace sculpture or even defy ceramic tradition.

Nancy is a recognized art historian, gallerist, and author. She has served as curator, educator and arts administrator in the greater San Francisco Bay Area for over twenty years.

Click for facebook page.

Aug

2017

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

International ceramic artists interpret the visionary and surreal atmospheres of the masterpiece born of Lewis Carroll’s pen.

ON VIEW

Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Denmark
September 30–October 30, 2016

Alice in Wonderland
Officinesaffi, Milan, Italy
June 22–July 14, 2017

Click to view more work by Sergei Isupov.

Click to view more work by Alexandra Jelleberg.

Click to view more work by Kadri Pärnamets.

Click to view more work by Paul Scott.

Click to view more work by Mara Superior.

Click to view “Architectural Digest” article.

"Alice in Wonderland" on exhibit in Italy.

Mara Superior, “Queen Alice’s Tea Table” 2016, porcelain, 5 x 20 x 10″.

Alexandra Jelleberg, “Half a Dozen” 2016, stoneware, group: 11.5 x 30 x 2″; sculptures: ~11.5 x 4.5 x 2″.

Sergei Isupov, Fire Sculpture

Kadri Pärnamets, “Steam from Tea or (Tea Steam) tribute to Alice in Wonderland” 2016, porcelain, slip, glaze, decals, 17.5 x 6 x 15.25″.

Sergei Isupov, “Hidden Messages” 2016, porcelain, underglaze, glaze, 22.5 x 8.5 x 8″.

Paul Scott, “Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), A Flowerbed for Alice,” 2016, in-glaze decal collage on porcelain tiles on a brick structure by Lillemor Petersson. Guldagergård, Skælskør Bygarden, Denmark, 80 x 35.5 x 27.5″.

May

2017

NEW YORK CERAMICS & GLASS FAIR 2017

ABOUT THE NYCGF

New York Ceramics & Glass Fair
Bohemian National Hall, New York, NY
January 19–22, 2017
Click here for more

Bringing together a carefully selected and distinguished international group of around 28 galleries offering all things “fired” — porcelain, pottery, and glass, in a setting perfect for the exhibition and sale of important small objects.

EVENTS

HIGHLIGHTED LECTURES

“The Feminine Clay”
with Shannon Stratton
Friday, January 20, 12 noon

“Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery”
with Glenn Adamson
Friday, January 20, 4pm

“Buy, Sell, or Give? What Happens When the Kids Don’t Want It”
Panel discussion lead by Leslie Ferrin
Saturday, January 21, 2pm

Click here for more.

May

2017

RE—Reanimate, Repair, Mend and Meld

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

January 21–24, 2016
NEW YORK CERAMICS & GLASS FAIR
Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street, New York, NY

February 13–April 17, 2016
Ferrin Contemporary
1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA, US

Oct 10–Nov 14, 2015
Bluecoat Display Centre
Liverpool, England, UK

Co-curated by Paul Scott and Andrew Baseman

This group exhibition examines the contemporary artistic interest in repaired ceramics. It focuses on materially related forms and graphic material by leading contemporary artists who exploit and explore the surrounding issues of conservation, restoration, over-consumption, reuse, and recycling.

“Before the advent of modern glues, broken ceramics or glass objects were drilled, wired, stapled or riveted together, textiles used to be darned or patched. Home-made or improvised ‘make do and mend’ repairs were made to a loved plate or jug and finer variations of these techniques used by serious conservators. The preciousness of these intimately repaired objects faded with time and in conservation circles practices which interfered with the ‘integrity of the object’ became actively discouraged and disapproved. A few years ago, in spite of their beauty, rivets in plates and wired handles hugely devalued a piece of antique tableware. In some museum collections even the evidence of a staple or riveted repair would be removed and hidden if new conservations took place.

“In more recent times, as we struggle to come to terms with our over consumption of finite resources, the concept of re-cycling has become a central tenet of modern life. There is an increasing interest for crafted, restored, once loved objects so that the obviously repaired,‘traditional’ processes again appear beautiful, functional and intriguing. Whilst their display is not yet common in our public museums, private collections and interests are building. Enthusiast Andrew Baseman has a comprehensive archive of beautifully repaired glass, and ceramic objects, which he makes available to wider public though his wonderful blog.

“For many artists, re-cycling and reuse has long been a natural part of practice; as well as ecological soundness, trash is generally cheap (if not free). Existent, damaged worn or broken objects carry messages, they have already had a life and carry evidence of their journey in material fabric. This realized physicality can be used or exploited in aesthetic form, as conceptual device or collateral evidence. Discarded graphic material has long been used in collage and more recently material from industrial archives are also being used to create new iterations.”

— Paul Scott, co-curator and artist

Click here to view or download press release.

Click here to view press coverage of “Mended Ways: The Inventive Art of Repair.”

Click here to view press coverage from C-File April 28, 2016.

Click here to view the video of Paul Scott presenting work from this exhibition at the Bluecoat Display Centre in October 2015. (His segment begins at 11:55 minutes.)