Project Type: PRIVATE COLLECTION DISPLAY

SERGEI ISUPOV

SERGEI ISUPOV

INSTALLATIONS & SERIES


SERGEI ISUPOV: ANCESTOR


2024 – 2025 | Solo Exhibition at Anderson Gallery, Bridgewater State University

Isupov’s ANCESTOR unites the collection of figurative works that show the evolution of ideas in his work. As expressed in the characters he portrays, the sculptures’ eyes and gestures activate relationships that are universal and timeless. Isupov explores narratives from the past as well as the present in multiple pieces, bridging memory and place into displays of his work. Born into a family of Russian artists during the USSR, he spent his childhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, educated in Tallinn, Estonia and now lives and works in Western Massachusetts. 

“Regardless of our backgrounds or wherever in the world we came to be, our shared experiences as humans are interwoven and passed on from generation to generation. The exhibition Ancestor allowed me to reflect on these works and my sources of inspiration and motivation … When I think of myself and my works, I’m not sure I create them, perhaps they create me.” – Sergei Isupov

Traditional Family

We Are All from The Sky

Modern Family

Family Chess

FIGURAL SCULPTURE


“Art is a life style for me.  Everything that surrounds and excites me is automatically processed and transformed into the final result: an artwork.  It is fascinating to watch the transitions from life to art. The essence of my work is not in the medium or the creative process, but the in human beings and their incredible diversity.  When I think of myself and my works, I’m not sure I create them, perhaps they create me.

I find ceramic to be the most versatile material and it is well suited to the expression of my ideas.   I consider sculpture to be a canvas for my paintings. All plastic, graphic and painting elements of the piece function as complementary parts of the work.

In this series of two-legged figures, Statuettes, the form is classical but the characters are comical.  I like the contrast of serious to humorous – the front is cartoon like but the back of each figure features an intimate painting of the being’s spirit.  

While each one expresses an individual personality or character, as a group, they become a population, inhabitants of my imaginary world or visitors from my imagination.”

Hidden Messages

Game Changer

Puppeteer

Silver Anniversary

ANDROGYNY


HEADS & BUSTS

The Androgyny series of heads and busts, often with surrealistic features and complex facial expressions, was first presented by Ferrin Gallery in 2008 (Pittsfield, MA Location). The works were exhibited in his groundbreaking solo show at Mesa Contemporary Arts Center (Mesa, AZ) and traveled to the Daum Museum of Art (Sedalia, MO) in 2009. Isupov returns to this scale and series with the most recent work Heritage featured in Alliances (Keene, NH) in 2023, and Ancestor (Bridgewater, MA) in 2024. Select pieces remain in the artist’s archive available for exhibition, public and private collections. 

Soul of the Planet

Heritage

2009 | “Androgyny: New Work by Sergei Isupov”, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO, October 3 – December 6, 2009

2009 | “Androgyny”, Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa, AZ, April 10 – August 2, 2009

2008 | “Androgyny, The Preview, Solo Exhibition: Sculpture, Painting, Drawing”; Ferrin Gallery, Pittsfield, MA

“My work is about contrasts and relationships. I explore contrasts of human condition with my story lines such as male-female and human-animal relationships, and accompanying emotions of warmth and aggression, love and rejection, and nurture and abandonment. Dynamic and interactive narratives are developed using two and three dimensions at the same time with the sculpted form and painted surface. I use a visual vocabulary and classic tools of design, proportion, perspective and silhouette to both sculpt and paint. Eyes show emotional relationships. Facial and figural gestures develop personalities. Illusionary objects and perspectives suggest motion. As a viewer moves around the work, they see each angle and focus point leading to new chapters and story lines. Combined, these clues tell an overall story.”

Busker

Chosen One

Guardian

Horsepower

Man

Midnight Son

HUMANIMALS


Humanimals, transform anthropomorphic sculptures that explore human relationships by blending the expression and gesture of the combined species.

A sculptural surrealist, Isupov first created works in the Humanimal Series around 2011, with a set of “standing figures” (animal/human hybrids) and “riders” (animal figures on animal/human hybrids)

In 2015 Isupov returned to his iconic form of the Humanimal, a series of standing oversized figurines. New groups and works emerge as the artist delves into the right form for each of his concepts. Close Your Eyes Open Your Eyes, Burden II, Butterfly Catcher, Life’s Work, and Strong hail from multiple eras in the artist’s exploration of the series.

“The animal faces and features represent the beast or natural animal instincts that are often in conflict with reason and intellect.

The hand represents the hand of a human or god – both a comforting support for humanity and a force of opposition or challenge to animal instincts.

The two sculptures explore these ideas of opposing forces of nature and humanity, man and beast, integral and constant throughout life.  There is nothing literal intended in the choice of imagery or narrative.  The images and expressions are of male/female/animal – symbolic, metaphoric, and intended to provide for individual interpretation. ”

Close Your Eyes, Open Your Eyes

Butterfly Catcher

Burden II

Life’s Work

Strong

Amaco

SERGEI ISUPOV: PAST & PRESENT


2022 | Solo Exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary

Ceramic sculptures are presented with both a multi-dimensional, mixed-media wall installation and independent pedestal-based works. Isupov and Ferrin Contemporary have had exhibitions internationally since 1996. This was the artist’s third solo show in our North Adams gallery location.

Both of Isupov’s 2022 exhibitions include works in porcelain and mixed-media drawings produced at Project Art in Cummington, MA. 

Past & Present

Full Moon Addiction

Like An Eternity

Marriage for the Ages

LARGE WORKS, INSTALLATIONS, & TABLEAUS


Challenged by opportunities to expand his scale, Isupov’s recent exhibition Alliances featured a wall relief sculpture using the carved plywood printing plate (left) and the resulting print (right) bringing together ceramic sculpture, assemblage, and printmaking practices to show the full scope of creative versatility and process. Towering larger than life figures and animated life size tableaus anchor his solo exhibitions in galleries and museums. 

Lips Eyes Ear Eyebrow

Woodblock & Print | Installation

Directions

Coffee & Milk

On the Way

PUBLIC ARTWORK


MAIN STREET | CUMMINGTON, MA

Fire sculptures, public art, engage the public in community based projects. 

Visible from Main Street, Isupov currently has 3 public works on view along Main Street in Cummington, MA and more around the world. Works are visible by car or foot, neighboring other temporary and permanent public works on Main Street as part of the Cummington Cultural District Art Walk.

To learn more about the Cummington Cultural District and other public art sculptures along Main Street: @cummmingtonculturaldistrict

Everything is Upside Down

Miss Comet

Branch Dragon

SERGEI ISUPOV


Sergei Isupov Artist Portrait, 2021, Photo Credit: John Polak

ABOUT


Estonian-American, b. 1963 Stavropole, USSR,
lives and works between Cummington, MA, USA and Tallinn, Estonia

Sergei Isupov is an Estonian-American sculptor internationally known for his highly detailed, narrative works. Isupov explores painterly figure-ground relationships, creating surreal sculptures with a complex artistic vocabulary that combines two- and three-dimensional narratives and animal/human hybrids. He works in ceramics using traditional hand-building and sculpting techniques to combine surface and form with narrative painting using colored stains highlighted with clear glaze.

Isupov has a long international resume with work included in numerous collections and exhibitions, including the National Gallery of Australia, Museum Angewandte in Kunst, Germany, and in the US at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Crocker Art Museum, Everson Museum of Art, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Museum of Arts and Design, Museum of Fine Arts–Boston, Museum of Fine Arts–Houston, Mint Museum of Art, and Racine Art Museum. In 2017, his solo exhibition at The Erie Art Museum presented selected works in a 20-year career survey titled Hidden Messages, followed by Surreal Promenade e, another survey solo in 2019 at the Russian Museum of Art in Minnesota.

ON HIS WORK

Often called an erotic Surrealist for his daring representations of sexuality, relationships, and human encounter, Isupov takes narrative subject matter and merges it with ceramic sculptural form. Drawing on personal experience, and human observation, he creates works that integrate autobiography with universal narrative.

He states, “Everything that surrounds and excites me is automatically processed and transformed into…an artwork. […] The essence of my work is not in the medium or the creative process, but in the human beings and their incredible diversity. When I think of myself and my works, I’m not sure I create them, perhaps they create me.”

While the robust, and racially distinct facial traits make each sculpture unique, they also make the body of work capable of representing universal experiences. The bold color palette, heavily tattooed faces, and textured surfaces relate these works to the aesthetics of traditional Russian art, as well as to contemporary styles of illustration.

“My work portrays characters placed in situations that are drawn from my imagination but based on my life experiences.  My art works capture a composite of fleeting moments, hand gestures, eye movements that follow and reveal the sentiments expressed.  These details are all derived from actual observations but are gathered or collected over my lifetime.  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.  Universalism is implied and personal interpretation expected.   Through my work I get to report about 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.”

ANDROGYNY SERIES


HEADS & BUSTS

The Androgyny series of heads and busts, often with surrealistic features and complex facial expressions, was first presented by Ferrin Gallery in 2008 (Pittsfield, MA Location). The works and show traveled to Mesa Contemporary Arts Center (Mesa, AZ) and the Daum Museum of Art (Sedalia, MO) in 2009, and select pieces remain in the artist’s archive for use in contemporary installations as well as available for collections and client acquisitions. 

2009 | “Androgyny: New Work by Sergei Isupov”, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO, October 3 – December 6, 2009

2009 | “Androgyny”, Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa, AZ, April 10 – August 2, 2009

2008 | “Androgyny, The Preview, Solo Exhibition: Sculpture, Painting, Drawing”; Ferrin Gallery, Pittsfield, MA

FIGURATIVE WORKS


“Art is a life style for me.  Everything that surrounds and excites me is automatically processed and transformed into the final result: an artwork.  It is fascinating to watch the transitions from life to art. The essence of my work is not in the medium or the creative process, but the in human beings and their incredible diversity.  When I think of myself and my works, I’m not sure I create them, perhaps they create me.

I find ceramic to be the most versatile material and it is well suited to the expression of my ideas.   I consider sculpture to be a canvas for my paintings. All plastic, graphic and painting elements of the piece function as complementary parts of the work.

In this series of two-legged figures, Statuettes, the form is classical but the characters are comical.  I like the contrast of serious to humorous – the front is cartoon like but the back of each figure features an intimate painting of the being’s spirit.  

While each one expresses an individual personality or character, as a group, they become a population, inhabitants of my imaginary world or visitors from my imagination.”

HUMANIMAL SERIES


Humanimals, transform anthropomorphic sculptures that explore human relationships by blending the expression and gesture of the combined species.

A sculptural surrealist, Isupov first created works in the Humanimal Series around 2011, with a set of “standing figures” (animal/human hybrids) and “riders” (animal figures on animal/human hybrids)

In 2015 Isupov returned to his iconic form of the Humanimal, a series of standing oversized figurines. New groups and works emerge as the artist delves into the right form for each of his concepts. Close Your Eyes Open Your Eyes, Burden II, Butterfly Catcher, Life’s Work, and Strong hail from multiple eras in the artist’s exploration of the series.

“The animal faces and features represent the beast or natural animal instincts that are often in conflict with reason and intellect.

The hand represents the hand of a human or god – both a comforting support for humanity and a force of opposition or challenge to animal instincts.

The two sculptures explore these ideas of opposing forces of nature and humanity, man and beast, integral and constant throughout life.  There is nothing literal intended in the choice of imagery or narrative.  The images and expressions are of male/female/animal – symbolic, metaphoric, and intended to provide for individual interpretation. ”

FEATURED & PAST EXHIBITIONS

“Sergei Isupov: Ancestor”, Exhibition in the Anderson Gallery at Bridgewater State University, November 1 through February 18, 2025

SERGEI ISUPOV: Ancestor

2024 | Solo Exhibition at Anderson Gallery at Bridgewater State University | Bridgewater, MA

November 1 – February 18, 2025

View the exhibition page HERE

50 Years in the Making: Alumni Exhibition at The Clay Studio, June 13th – September 1st, 2024, featuring Sergei Isupov, Paul Scott, and Lauren Mabry

50 Years in the Making – Alumni Exhibition

2024 | Group Exhibition at The Clay Studio | Philadelphia, PA

featuring work by Paul Scott, Sergei Isupov, and Lauren Mabry

June 13th through Sep 1st, 2024

This Alumni Exhibition showcases artwork to reflect the current practice of the This Alumni Exhibition showcases artwork to reflect the current practice of the over 150 artist who have participated in The Clay Studio’s Resident Artist Program, Guest Artist Program, and Associate Artist Program over the 50 years since its founding.

View the exhibition page HERE

Kadri Pärnamets, "Fragments of Waves", 2024, porcelain, slip, glaze

Kadri Pärnamets, “Fragments of Waves”, 2024, porcelain, slip, glaze

Sergei Isupov & Kadri Pärnamets in CLAYTOPIA Summer Festival | Guldagergaard, Skælskør, Denmark

2024 | Group Exhibition at Claytopia at Guldagergaard | Skælskør, Denmark

featuring work by Sergei Isupov & Kadri Pärnamets

July 10th through August 10th, 2024

Claytopia is Guldagergaard’s initiative geared towards engaging the public, offering a unique space within the beautiful park surrounding Guldagergaard.

Among Claytopia’s activities are outdoor art exhibitions, concerts, discussion salons, and a design boutique.

View the exhibition page HERE

Ferrin Contemporary presents Paul Scott in "Our America/Whose America?". Installation for NCECA Richmond, 2024 at the Wickham House at The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA. Image courtesy of The Valentine Museum.

Ferrin Contemporary presents Paul Scott in “Our America/Whose America?”. Installation for NCECA Richmond, 2024 at the Wickham House at The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA. Image courtesy of The Valentine Museum.

OUR AMERICA/WHOSE AMERICA?

2024 | Group Exhibition in the Wickham House at the Valentine Museum | Richmond, VA

February 20, 2024 – April 21, 2024

Our America/Whose America? Is a “call and response” exhibition between contemporary artists and historic ceramic objects.

View the exhibition page HERE

Ferrin Contemporary “Our America/Whose America?” Dining Room Installation at the Wickham House, Richmond, VA, 2024

Sergei Isupov, "Ancestor", 2023, oil ink print on paper, 98 x 98". Photo by John Polak Photography.

Sergei Isupov, “Ancestor”, 2023, oil ink print on paper, 98 x 98″. Photo by John Polak Photography.

ALLIANCES

2024 | Solo Exhibition at Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery, Keene State College | Keene, NH

October 25, 2023 – December 9, 2023

Sergei Isupov’s 22nd Solo Exhibition, Featuring artworks from the artist’s archive and new productions from his studio.

View the exhibition page HERE

Installation Title Wall, featuring the artist's tools and drawings from Sergei Isupov's "Lips, Eyes, Ears, Eyebrows" and works in progress drawing series. Photo by John Polak Photography. "SERGEI ISUPOV: Alliances", Exhibition Installation at Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery, Keene State College, Keene, NH, October 25-December 6, 2023.

Installation Title Wall, featuring the artist’s tools and drawings from Sergei Isupov’s “Lips, Eyes, Ears, Eyebrows” and works in progress drawing series. Sculptures include “Crazy”, “Duel” (2006), and “Midnight Son” (2009). Photo by John Polak Photography. “SERGEI ISUPOV: Alliances”, Exhibition Installation at Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery, Keene State College, Keene, NH, October 25-December 6, 2023.


Ferrin Contemporary | July 15 – September 2, 2023

ARE WE THERE YET?

2023 | Group Exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary | North Adams, MA

October 25, 2023 – December 9, 2023

Isupov and Ferrin Contemporary have had exhibitions internationally since 1996, including key exhibitions and monumental installations that display various themes and series, which Isupov builds upon and pulls from to compose new environments and show content.

Isupov’s exhibitions include works in porcelain and mixed-media drawings produced at Project Art in Cummington, MA. 

View the exhibition page HERE

Are We There Yet? 2023, Chris Antemann, Sergei Isupov, Lauren Mabry

Are We There Yet? 2023, Chris Antemann, Sergei Isupov, Lauren Mabry

Sergei Isupov: Past & Present, 2022, Installation View

PAST & PRESENT

2022 Solo Exhibition | Ferrin Contemporary | North Adams, MA

CURRENT + RECENT EXHIBITIONS

NEWS & FEATURES

Sergei Isupov: Ancestor, 2024 Catalog Cover Page

DESCRIPTION

  • Catalog release: November 7, 2024.
  • 27-page, full-color PDF catalog
  • Installation Images & Artwork Highlights, Images by Sergei Isupov, John Polak Photography, and Ferrin Contemporary staff.
  • Copyright© 2024 and published by Ferrin Contemporary, Cummington, MA
  • Designed by Isabel Twanmo.

Special thanks to Jay Block,  associate director of collections and exhibitions at Bridgewater State University.

Sergei Isupov: ALLIANCES Exhibition Catalog

Sergei Isupov: ALLIANCES Exhibition Catalog

Buy now

 

$5.00

DESCRIPTION

  • Catalog release: December 1, 2023.
  • 15-page, full-color catalog
  • Installation Images & Artwork Highlights, All images by John Polak Photography
  • Exhibition Essay by Leslie Ferrin, Show Statements & Editorial by Ferrin Contemporary
  • Copyright© 2023 and published by Thorne-Sagendorph Gallery, Keene State College, Keene, NH
  • Design by Erica Pritchett.

Special thanks to co-curators, Paul McMullan, professor at Keene State College and Leslie Ferrin, director, Ferrin Contemporary and for editorial support by Alexandra Jelleberg, associate director, Ferrin Contemporary.

Isupov’s artworks form alliances with one another as they move between media, explore scale, and are presented in curated exhibitions. Recent opportunities to create public works like his fire sculpture production and performances, along with solo exhibitions that show the full scope of Isupov’s creative versatility and process, have led to new works on paper, prints and wall installations combining ceramics with other materials.

FREE ON ISSUU

DESCRIPTION:

    • Catalog release: November 1, 2022.
    • 26-page, full-color catalog
    • Installation Images & Artwork Highlights
    • Exhibition Release, Show Statements, & Artist Bio-CV

Ferrin Contemporary is proud to present new works from internationally renowned sculptor Sergei Isupov. Sergei Isupov: PAST & PRESENT features new ceramic sculptures presented with both a multi-dimensional, mixed-media wall installation and independent pedestal-based works. Isupov and Ferrin Contemporary have been working together and presenting exhibitions internationally since 1996 and this will be the artist’s third solo show in our North Adams gallery location.

Collection Focus: Sergei Isupov at RAM

Collection Focus: Sergei Isupov at RAM

Buy now

 

Collection Focus: Sergei Isupov at RAM

$5.00

DESCRIPTION:

  • Published in 2014 by Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
  • Essays and images explore the artist and his place at RAM and in the larger universe of art.
  • Captured Imagination: The Enigma of Sergei Isupov by Anthony Stellaccio
  • Collection Focus: Sergei Isupov at RAM by Lena Vigna
  • A Conversation between Leslie Ferrin and Bruce W. Pepich about Sergei Isupov

28-page, full-color exhibition catalog

SERGEI ISUPOV: ALLIANCES Exhibition Catalog

PURCHASE THE CATALOG HERE SERGEI ISUPOV: ALLIANCES Exhibition Catalog Thorne/Sagendorph Art Gallery Ferrin Contemporary is proud to present new works from internationally renowned sculptor Sergei Isupov. SERGEI ISUPOV: ALLIANCES Isupov's artworks form alliances with one another as they move between media, explore scale, and are presented in curated exhibitions. Recent opportunities to create public worksContinue reading →

The Clay Studio: Figuring Space Exhibition Catalog

Figuring Space Exhibition Catalog The Clay Studio: Figuring Space Publication Date: January 2023. This catalog features highlights on the artists in the exhibition and includes commentary by Jennifer Zwilling, Curator & Director of Artistic Programs at TCS, and Dr. Kelli Morgan, who are working together to make Figuring Space relevant to our audiences and the art historicalContinue reading →

Mastering Sculpture: The Figure in Clay

Mastering Sculpture: The Figure in Clay Explore the human form in-depth, from concept sketches and armatures to detailed instructions for constructing legs, torso, arms, hands, and head from clay. In Mastering Sculpture: The Figure in Clay, renowned sculptor and instructor Cristina Córdova teaches everything you need to know to replicate the full human figure usingContinue reading →

Sergei Isupov: PAST & PRESENT Exhibition Catalog

Sergei Isupov: PAST & PRESENT Exhibition Catalog Ferrin Contemporary is proud to present new works from internationally renowned sculptor Sergei Isupov. Sergei Isupov: PAST & PRESENT features new ceramic sculptures presented with both a multi-dimensional, mixed-media wall installation and independent pedestal-based works. Isupov and Ferrin Contemporary have been working together and presenting exhibitions internationally sinceContinue reading →

About Face: Contemporary Ceramic Scultpure Catalog

About Face: Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture About Face: Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture   This catalog features a foreword by Director Angie Dodson and two essays: one by Glenn Adamson, an expert in craft, ceramic, and contemporary art, and one by MMFA Curator of Art Jennifer Jankauskas, Ph.D. The exhibition catalog also includes color photography of select works inContinue reading →

RAM COLLECTION FOCUS: Sergei Isupov

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION February 23 - June 8, 2014 Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI A mid-career retrospective for an innovative artist who has pushed the possibilities of clay by combining two-dimensional narrative with three-dimensional ceramic form. Isupov explores the human condition. His vocabulary includes human beings and animals, gender, identity, and relationship issues, autobiography, artContinue reading →

EXPOSED: Heads, Busts, and Nudes figural ceramic sculpture from 1970 to the present

EXPOSED: Heads, Busts, and Nudes figural ceramic sculpture from 1970 to the present Work by 25 contemporary artists “working in clay and for whom the figure has been a rich and enduring motif.” Catalog includes work from the exhibit at Ferrin Contemporary as well as pieces available from private collections and artist studios. Introduction byContinue reading →

Sergei Isupov: 1996-2006

Sergei Isupov, "Ring of Fire", 2004, porcelain, 20 x 10 x 8". Sergei Isupov: 1996-2006 Published in 2006 by Ferrin Gallery, Lenox, MA This visual survey marks the tenth anniversary of the working relationship between the artist and Ferrin Gallery. Features works from 1996–2006 with short biographical essay and curriculum vitae. Sergei Isupov Catalog 1996-2006Continue reading →

Sergei Isupov: Androgyny

Sergei Isupov, "Say Nothing", 2008, stoneware, stain, glaze, 33 x 16 x 11". Sergei Isupov: Androgyny Published in 2009 by Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa AZ • Essay by Sonya Bekkerman, Senior Vice President, Russian Art, Sotheby’s • Introduction by Patty Haberman, Curator, Mesa Contemporary Arts • Project Summary by Leslie Ferrin, Director, Ferrin GalleryContinue reading →

INQUIRE


Additional works may be available to acquire, but not listed here.

If interested in lists of all works and series: Send us a message

CHRIS ANTEMANN

CHRIS ANTEMANN

AVAILABLE ARTWORKS & SERIES


+ View Antemann’s Collaborations with Meissen HERE

FROM THE STUDIO


Work produced in Chris Antemann’s US studio, including installations in Museums

Cameo

Love in a Time of Chaos

Embrace

Kissing Booth

Flames and Feathers I and II (A Pair of Tulip Vases)

Lovers Vase in Blue

FEATURED PAST INSTALLATIONS IN MUSEUMS


A Stage for Dessert

Dining in the Orangery

An Occasion to Gather

CHRIS ANTEMANN


ABOUT


American
b. 1970 Albany, NY
lives and works between Joseph, OR and Meissen, Germany

Chris Antemann is an American artist known for her frolicking, contemporary feminist parodies of 18th century porcelain figurines. For more than a decade, Antemann has worked collaboratively with the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen, Germany to create increasingly ornate and elaborate variations on her lifelong love of the narrative, porcelain figurine. Recent years have seen a tremendous culmination of her time working with MEISSEN. Between 2015-2019, her large-scale installation Forbidden Fruit: Porcelain Sculptor Chris Antemann toured the US, Germany, and culminated at the State Hermitage Museum, Russia. In 2022, her largest, most complex sculpture to-date was unveiled at Hillwood Estate, Museum, & Gardens in Washington, DC; An Occasion to Gather reveals its sumptuous narrative across an eight-foot-long, four-foot-high dining room centerpiece. The relationship with MEISSEN continues and a decade of collaboration will be celebrated with an exhibition at the Meissen Porcelain Museum in Meissen, Germany from July 15, 2022 – February 26, 2023.

Antemann earned her MFA from the University of Minnesota and her BFA in Ceramics and Painting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She has exhibited extensively in the United States, Europe, Russia, and Asia. Her work can be found in many private and public collections, including the Crocker Art Museum, High Museum of Art, Museum of Arts and Design, the Portland Art Museum, among many others. Her awards include the Virginia A. Groot first prize, and residencies with the Archie Bray Foundation, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.

ON HER WORK

Inspired by 18th C. porcelain figurines, Chris Antemann’s work employs a unity of design and concept to simultaneously examine and parody male and female relationship roles. Characters, themes and incidents build upon each other, effectively forming their own language that speaks about domestic rites, social etiquette, and taboos. Themes from the classics and the romantics are given a contemporary edge; elaborate dinner parties, picnic luncheons and ornamental gardens set the stage for her twisted tales to unfold.

ON MEISSEN WORK

The pieces Chris is making in the Meissen Art Campus use the literary technique of a frame narrative, a story within a story, to build relationships and create layers of information between the sculptural aspects and the painted surfaces. The main story is presented in the guise of the 18th century porcelain figurine as a context, which frames a parody or second narrative between the sculpted characters. Other stories and in many cases, the sources of inspiration for the piece are painted into the scene in elaborate detail.

ON VIEW & UPCOMING


PORTLAND VASE: MANIA & MUSE


Crocker Art Museum

Sacramento, CA

June 9, 2024 – September 24, 2024

Chris Antemann, “Cameo”, 2024, porcelain, decals, enamels, luster, epoxy, 27 x 16 x 15”, Kendrick Moholt Photography

Chris Antemann, “Cameo”, detail, 2024, porcelain, decals, enamels, luster, epoxy, 27 x 16 x 15”, Kendrick Moholt Photography

HEY! CERAMIQUE.S


Musee de la Halle Saint Pierre

Paris, France

September 20, 2023 – August 14, 2024

HEY! CERAMIQUE.S Exhibition Installation featuring Chris Antemann "Embrace" and "Kissing Flora", Musee de la Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, France, September 20, 2023 to August 14, 2024

HEY! CERAMIQUE.S Exhibition Installation featuring Chris Antemann “Embrace” and “Kissing Flora”, Musee de la Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, France, September 20, 2023 to August 14, 2024

Chris Antemann, “Embrace”, 2023, porcelain, decals, enamels, luster, 16 x 12 x 6″, Kendrick Moholt Photography

Chris Antemann, “Kissing Flora”, 2023, porcelain, decals, enamels, luster, 18 x 11 x 6″, Kendrick Moholt Photography

A STAGE FOR DESSERT


At The Mint Museum

Charlotte, NC

2023

Chris Antemann, A Stage for Dessert, On View at The Mint Museum of Art, 2023, 30” x 24” x 24", photos courtesy of The Mint Museum of Art.

Chris Antemann, A Stage for Dessert, On View at The Mint Museum of Art, 2023, 30” x 24” x 24″, photos courtesy of The Mint Museum of Art.

Chris Antemann, A Stage for Dessert, On View at The Mint Museum of Art, 2023, 30” x 24” x 24", photos courtesy of The Mint Museum of Art.

Chris Antemann, A Stage for Dessert, On View at The Mint Museum of Art, 2023, 30” x 24” x 24", photos courtesy of The Mint Museum of Art.

RECENT/PAST EXHIBITIONS


HEY! CÉRAMIQUE.S

Musée de la Halle Saint Pierre | Paris, France
September 20, 2023 – August 14, 2024
Featuring Chris Antemann, Crystal Morey, & Mara Superior

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...

PUBLICATIONS


  • 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.

HEY! CÉRAMIQUES Catalog Cover"HEY! CÉRAMIQUE.S" Musee de la Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, France, September 20, 2023 to August 14, 2024.

HEY! CÉRAMIQUES Catalog Cover “HEY! CÉRAMIQUE.S” Musee de la Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, France, September 20, 2023 to August 14, 2024.

NEWS & FEATURES


Chris Antemann in the 2023 Bray Benefit

Bray Benefit ONLINE Auction July 14 – July 21 Chris Antemann's work "Kissing Flora", straight from the artist's studio, will be part of the yearly fundraiser for The Archie Bray, in Helena...

NCECA PITTSBURGH

REVIVE, REMIX, RESPOND The Frick Pittsburgh 7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh Group show of contemporary artists who are breathing new life into the ceramic medium by reinvigorating age-old motifs, processes, and...

VIDEOS FEATURING CHRIS ANTEMANN


Rebecca Tilles, curator, explores the porcelain collections of Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964), Anna Thompson Dodge (1871-1970), and Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973), Hillwood’s founder.

In this lecture celebrating the installation of two elaborate centerpieces in the dining and breakfast rooms as part of “The Luxury of Clay: Porcelain Past and Present,” artist Chris Antemann describes the development of her ceramic artwork inspired by eighteenth-century porcelain figures. She will discuss how she drew inspiration from Hillwood’s French parterre, porcelain collection, and interiors, as well as many other sources for her sculptural tableaux and complex process of constructing them. Learn how Chris crafts new narratives from historical forms, informed by her ten-year collaboration on unique and limited edition artworks with MEISSEN, Europe’s oldest porcelain manufactory.

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Additional works may be available to acquire, but not listed here.

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KURT WEISER

KURT WEISER

AVAILABLE ARTWORK

Black and White Vase  #1 & 2



TEAPOTS


KURT WEISER INSOMNIA PRINT SERIES

“These prints are the beginning of an exploration into 30 years of private sketchbooks. Some books are 30 years old and others just weeks. The past stimulates the future and the present is a matter of interpretation. It’s the exploration into the familiar that is always a surprise.”

— Kurt Weiser

About the Prints

Each print is in an edition of 10, 24 x 36 inches on a 30 x 44 inch Somerset 250 gsm paper, printed from linoleum cuts by Dan Mayer at Pyracantha Press. The Press is part of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. Oleander and Flight Over Kansas are the first two of ten prints started in the summer of 2016.

Pyracantha Press is the independent publishing imprint in the Herberger Institute School of Art at Arizona State University. The Press is directed by Daniel Mayer who has produced inter-disciplinary collaborative works since 1986. Projects created under the Press are limited-edition books and prints that reflect our cultural landscape. Each project is unique and experimental in form and content. Press publications are in 105 national and international public collections such as Columbia University, Library of Congress, The Getty, Klingspor-Stadt Museum, Letterform Archive, Wellesley, Yale, and among others. Mayer’s private studio practices include award-winning large-scale public art projects, national and international exhibitions, collections, and artist’s residencies. Mayer was a nominee for the 2016 Arizona Governor’s Arts Awards, individual artist category.

CLICK ICONS BELOW TO VIEW

CIRCUMSTANCE

Kurt Weiser, "Circumstance" (Edition of 10), 2017, linocut print, ink on Somerset paper, print: 36 x 24"; paper: 44 x 30".

Kurt Weiser, “Circumstance” (Edition of 10), 2017, linocut print, ink on Somerset paper, print: 36 x 24″; paper: 44 x 30″.



FLIGHT OVER KANSAS

Kurt Weiser, “Flight Over Kansas” (Edition of 10), 2017, linocut print, ink on Somerset paper, print: 36 x 24″; paper: 44 x 30″.



NIGHTSHADE

Kurt Weiser, “Nightshade”(Edition of 10), 2017, linocut print, ink on Somerset paper, print: 36 x 24″; paper: 44 x 30”.



OLEANDER

Kurt Weiser, "Oleander" (Edition of 10), 2017, linocut print, ink on Somerset paper, print: 24 x 36"; paper: 30 x 44".

Kurt Weiser, “Oleander” (Edition of 10), 2017, linocut print, ink on Somerset paper, print: 24 x 36″; paper: 30 x 44″.



HOTHOUSE

Kurt Weiser, ‘Hothouse’ 2019, linocut print, ink on Somerset 250 gsm paper, 26 x 35.5″.



INSOMNIA

Kurt Weiser, “Insomnia” 2019, 2019, linocut print, ink on Somerset 250 gsm paper, 24 x 36″.



HIGHWAY 12

Kurt Weiser, “Highway 12″ 2019, 2019, linocut print, ink on Somerset 250 gsm paper, 36 x 28”.



MILKWEED

Kurt Weiser, “Milkweed” 2019, 2019, linocut print, ink on Somerset 250 gsm paper, 36 x 27″.



KURT WEISER


KURT WEISER

CV

ABOUT


American, b. 1950
lives and works in Tempe, AZ

Kurt Weiser’s ceramic work draws inspiration from rich evocations of plant life to narratives derived from myth and history, placed into highly detailed tropical landscapes. These images are meticulously painted onto porcelain teapots, globes and other vessels. As Weiser notes “the painting is the three-dimensional reality”.

His most recent body of work includes linoleum-cut prints, inspired by decades of drawings from his sketchbooks. He has paired these prints with black and white vessels, relying on his graphic and fantastical style as the means for relating these rich narratives.

Weiser has shown internationally and throughout the United States, including solo exhibitions at the Montgomery Museum of Art (Montgomery, AL) the Museum of Contemporary Craft (Portland, OR) and the Holter Museum of Art (Helena, MT). His work can be found in numerous public collections, including Smithsonian Institution, Alfred University School of Ceramics, and the Los Angeles Museum of Art among many others. Weiser received his M.F.A. from the University of Michigan and is currently the Regents Professor of Art at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.

Kurt Weiser, “Insomnia”, 2019, installation view, Ferrin Contemporary.

ON HIS WORK

“For years the work I did in ceramics was an effort to somehow express the beautiful nature of the material. Somewhere in the midst of this struggle I realized that the materials are there to allow you to say what you need to say, not to tell you what to say. So I gave up trying to control nature and decided to use what I had learned about the materials to express some ideas about nature itself and my place in it.” — Kurt Weiser

ON HIS PRINTS

“These prints are the beginning of an exploration into 30 years of private sketchbooks. Some books are 30 years old and others just weeks. The past stimulates the future and the present is a matter of interpretation. It’s the exploration into the familiar that is always a surprise.”

Prints are in editions of 10, 24 x 36 inches on a 30 x 44 inch paper, printed from Somerset 250 gsm linoleum cuts and printed at the Arizona State University Print Studio in Tempe, AZ, by Dan Mayer. Oleander and Flight Over Kansas are the first two of ten prints started in the summer of 2016. — Kurt Weiser

CURRENT + RECENT EXHIBITIONS

NEWS & FEATURES

Sabbath: The 2017 Dorothy Saxe Invitational

Sabbath: The 2017 Dorothy Saxe Invitational Nov 12, 2017—Feb 25, 2018 Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA Ferrin Contemporary artists Sergei Isupov, Jason Walker, Kurt Weiser, and Beth Lipman are among the...

Ferrin Contemporary’s 10 Best of 2013

[one_half content_align=”left”] New Blue and White Museum of Fine Arts, Boston important exhibition of contemporary cross-cultural interchange Robin Best Project Art visiting artist from Jingdezhen, China summer 2013 Animal Stories…

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Additional works may be available to acquire, but not listed here.

If interested in lists of all works and series: Send us a message