Art Reminds Us We Are Mortal Beings
by Jennifer Hubereau
July 18, 2019
“And while his basic premise of defining nature is still running throughout this new body of work, Walker is push ing his own boundaries with each piece…” –Huberdeau
More information on the work of JASON WALKER
Jason Walker, “You May Think You Are Alone…” 2019, porcelain, underglaze and sandstone, 22 x 25 x 15″.
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 techniques. In 2017, artists were invited to respond to and produce new works that reference the art, objects, and social history of the collections.
Chris Antemann, Robin Best, Stephen Bowers,Bouke de Vries, Ed Eberle, Evan Hauser, Steven Young Lee, Beth Lipman, Crystal Morey, Kadri Pärnamets, Peter Pincus, Justin Rothshank, Paul Scott, Cindy Sherman, Kate Roberts, Caroline Slotte, Dirk Staschke, Mara Superior,and Kurt Weiser.
Click here for more about the exhibition.
photo: Kurt Weiser
Go Figure
group show at The Clay Penn
511 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh
Revive, Remix, Respond
The Frick Pittsburgh
7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh
Click here for more about the exhibition.
“I will demonstrate the construction of a large scale torso through the use of slabs. Utilizing proportional references the building strategy will involve developing individual elements that will later stack into a four- to five-foot-tall piece.”
ONGOING:
CRISTINA CÓRDOVA: JUNGLA
solo exhibition at Alfred University Ceramic Art Museum, Alfred, NY
Revive, Remix, Respond
The Frick Pittsburgh
7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh
Click here for more about the exhibition.
Onview at the Carnegie Museum of Art
Eberle Studios
229 East 9th Ave, Homestead, PA
KATE ROBERTS
Structures of Atmosphere
group show
7800 Susquehanna St (5th floor), PIttsburgh
Revive, Remix, Respond
The Frick Pittsburgh
7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh
Click here for more about the exhibition.
Collaboration Companions
group show at Union Project
801 N. Negley Avenue, PIttsburgh
GrowlerFest
711 South 21st Street, Pittsburgh
Revive, Remix, Respond
The Frick Pittsburgh
7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh
Click here for more about the exhibition.
Supermud / Futuremud
group show of Penn State alumni and faculty
Union Project
801 N. Negley Avenue, Pittsburgh
Click here for more about the exhibition.
group show curated by Alexandra Jelleberg and Brad Klem connecting contemporary ceramics and the thriving craft beer movement
RECEPTION: Friday, March 16, 6-10pm
711 South 21st Street, Pittsburgh
Click for more on Brew House Arts.
Click for tickets and more about Growlerfest.
NCECA National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts, annual conference is in Pittsburgh, PA. Each year the host city provides collectors and artists the opportunity to see regional museum collections, explore established and pop-up galleries and meet up with colleagues. The exhibitions of ceramic sculpture and studio pottery are mounted throughout the city and provide an opportunity to survey current trends and discover young artists.
Click for link to exhibition guide.
Click for link to conference program.
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 diverse group of fifty-seven artists interpreting the Sabbath — the day of rest — from their own unique perspectives and engaging with its contemporary relevance. All work is three-dimensional as artists explore the theme through ceramic, wood, and glass.
Click for Contemporary Jewish Museum.
Click for more about Sergei Isupov.
Click for more about Jason Walker.
Click for more about Kurt Weiser.
PENN STATE NEWS: JASON WALKER INVITED ARTIST AT KOREAN CERAMIC FESTIVAL
Tammy Hosterman reports in the PENN State News:
Alumnus Jason Walker an invited artist at prominent Korean ceramic festival
May 23, 2017
Penn State alumnus Jason Walker is an invited artist in “Story Telling: About Life” at the ninth Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale (GICB) 2017 in Korea, presented by the Korea Ceramic Foundation. The exhibition began April 22 and runs through May 28 at the Icheon World Ceramics Center in Icheon Cerapia, Gyeonggi province.
“It is a great honor to be a part of this exhibition,” said Walker, who earned his master of fine arts degree in 1999. “I was invited to the event in 2003 to demonstrate and lecture. When I visited at that time I did not realize how celebrated ceramics is in South Korea. I have dedicated my life to making my ceramic work, and I feel very fortunate to have this kind of recognition.” More.
Join us in the gallery at Ferrin Contemporary
Connoisseurship: Buy, Sell, Give
on Sunday, July 10, 2016, 3pm
1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA
Click here to RSVP.
CLAY IS HOT! — CONNOISSEURSHIP: BUY, SELL, GIVE is a moderated panel discussion among art professionals and collectors presented in the Ferrin Contemporary gallery at 1315 MASS MoCA Way in North Adams, on Sunday, July 10, 2016, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Moderator Leslie Ferrin will lead panelists in a conversation-style discussion and exchange with the audience about issues surrounding changes taking place in and impacts on public and private collections. This event is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested.
Ferrin explained “We are in the midst of ‘The Great De-accession,’ the result of a generation of baby boomer artists and collectors downsizing simultaneously. Starting with the question of what to do ‘when the kids don’t want it,’ those who are in the midst of this dilemma are leading the way and finding successful approaches to shifting of collections, archives, and libraries. In the process, a by-product is the development of a new generation of collectors, curators, and art professionals who are involved in exploring various strategies to build collections and establish legacies for the artwork of the late 20th and early 21st century.“
The panel will address issues especially relevant to those who wish to sell and give and will discuss the challenges of sharing information about their collections. For many who were born before the computer was a commonly used tool, it is daunting to prepare documentation that establishes provenance and insures their legacy in what is now predominantly a digital world. For those who bought (and sold) at the peak of the market, the results from artwork sold at auctions now can be quite surprising as they create first time public records for living artists and establish new, lower values that are subsequently used in appraisals. While sellers are carefully considering their options, buyers are finding collecting in the 21st century increasingly easy due to the level playing field created by the Internet where access to information and markets are readily found with a Google search.
This conversation about how these trends are impacting each of the panelists and their answers to “what to do when the kids don’t want it” will also be available as a video on YouTube.
THE PANELISTS
The panel will consist of Doug Anderson, art collector; Mark Leach, independent curator and author; Suzanne Ramljak, art historian, author, editor, and independent curator; and Emily Zilber, Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts, MFA Boston.
DOUG ANDERSON
Dale and Doug Anderson began collecting studio glass in the middle of the 1970s. This led to an exploration of the Studio Crafts movement as well as Northwest Coast tribal art and Chinese cultural relics. At the turn of the 21st century, Dale began to collect contemporary photography (primarily Chinese) with an eye attuned to subject matter that both attracts and repels viewers. Dale was the primary collector with Doug playing a supporting role as an activist on behalf of artists through his positions on the boards of Creative Glass Center of America and the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. As their collection grew and Dale’s interests changed, Doug’s role was to arrange for donations and sales of more than 1,500 works from their collection to 14 museums in the United States and London. Doug and Dale were both members of the Board of Trustees at Pilchuck Glass School for 15 years and co-founded AIDA, the Association of Israel’s Decorative Arts.
MARK LEACH
A native of Pittsfield, Mark Leach is a contemporary arts curator, author, and consultant. He was formerly the Executive Director of the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and was the Founding Director of the Mint Museum of Craft & Design. Mr. Leach is a former trustee of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass and the American Craft Council and served on the Advisory Board of the National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). Leach has served as curator, essayist, and editor throughout his career. He has held curatorial posts in contemporary art in Arkansas, Montana, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Ohio. He has authored many articles for arts publications and published numerous texts featuring individual artists and craft genres. His book Michael Lucero: Sculpture 1976–1995, established this artist as a leader in the field of figural sculpture.
SUZANNE RAMLJAK
Suzanne Ramljak, an art historian, writer, and curator, is currently editor of Metalsmith magazine and curator at the American Federation of Arts, New York. Ramljak was formerly editor of Sculpture magazine and of Glass Quarterly, as well as associate editor of American Ceramics. She has authored several books and catalogues, among them Crafting a Legacy: Contemporary American Crafts in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Unique by Design: Contemporary Jewelry in the Donna Schneier Collection (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Her new book series, Art à la Carte, will launch next year with the first volume, Busted: Contemporary Sculpture Busts. Ramljak has been a contributor to numerous other publications including Objects and Meaning: Readings that Challenge the Norm; Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design; and Innovation and Change: Ceramics from Arizona State University. Ramljak has worked in the curatorial departments of the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Among the exhibitions she has curated are: “Elie Nadelman: Classical Folk,” “A Disarming Beauty: The Venus de Milo in 20th-Century Art,” and “Seductive Matter.”
EMILY ZILBER
Emily Zilber is the first Ronald L. and Anita C. Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is responsible for the MFA’s contemporary decorative arts program. Prior to joining the MFA, Zilber was Assistant Curator at Cranbrook Art Museum at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She has edited and written for numerous publications; speaks regularly on topics related to 20th and 21st century decorative arts, craft, and design; and is a founding member of the Boston-based consortium The Commonwealth of Craft.
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Click here to view or download press release.
Click here to read Leslie Ferrin’s blog post, “What happens when the kids don’t want it.”
SATURDAY JUNE 18 | OPENING RECEPTION of EXPOSED: HEADS, BUSTS, AND NUDES
Join us at Ferrin Contemporary, 1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA
on Saturday, June 18 from 4 to 6pm for the opening reception for
a group show of ceramic figural sculpture by masters 1950–present
June 18–August 7, 2016
Robert Arneson, Rudy Autio, Beth Cavener, Cristina Córdova, Claire Curneen, Stephen Dixon, Jack Earl, Edward Eberle, Philip Eglin, Viola Frey, Alessandro Gallo, Jeanclos George, Gerit Grimm, Sergei Isupov, Doug Jeck, Michael Lucero, Kadri Pärnamets, Esther Shimazu, Mara Superior, Akio Takamori, Tip Toland, Jason Walker, Patti Warashina, Beatrice Wood
Click here for more about EXPOSED.
Save the date: DISH + DINE July 10, 3–9
A review of last year’s highlights and trends with special thanks to all who made it possible with their art, interest, encouragement, and support.
The trend of international artists creating contemporary works embedded into centers of industrial porcelain production continues to grow. Our special exhibition of contemporary porcelain made in Jingdezhen, China was presented at the New York Ceramic & Glass Fair, New York, NY.
Julie Bartholomew, Caroline Cheng, Sam Chung, Future Retrieval (Katie Parker and Guy Michael Davis), Sin-ying Ho, Garth Johnson, Paul Mathieu, Paul Scott, Robert Silverman, and Vipoo Srivilasa
American museums are actively acquiring contemporary ceramics created from 1950 to the present through purchases of masterworks from private collections and the milestones by artists at mid-career.
Contextualizing 6,000 Years of Ceramics
Mount Holyoke College Museum
South Hadley, MA
A collection survey with contemporary artists
Sin-ying Ho
Steven Young Lee
Paul Scott
Kurt Weiser
image: Kurt Weiser, Pair of Cubist Vases, permanent collection of Mount Holyoke Art Museum
PAUL SCOTT
Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Mount Holyoke Art Museum, S. Hadley, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Newark Museum of Art, Newark, NJ
RISD Art Museum, Providence, RI
The Chipstone Foundation, Milwaukee, WI
On the River, Down the Road
solo exhibition
Bellevue Arts Museum
Bellevue, WA
Bridge 13
solo exhibition
Society for Contemporary Craft
Pittsburgh, PA
NCECA COLLECTORS TOUR
March 2015: All around Providence and environs led by Leslie Ferrin and Paul Sacaridiz in the annual, behind-the-scenes tour of private collections, museum exhibitions, and gallery shows in conjunction with the National Council on Education in Ceramic Arts.
“I’m goin’ to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.” Read more… NCECA March 2016
HISTORY INFORMS CONTEMPORARY
This year’s NCECA conference exhibitions in New England took full advantage of the exploding trend of showing contemporary art in historic contexts by artists who use history to inform their contemporary art practice.
OF EARTH & SEA: Contemporary Artists Respond to the New Bedford Whaling Museum Collection
group show including Sergei Isupov
New Bedford Whaling Museum
New Bedford, MA
PAUL SCOTT & ANDREW RAFTERY: Transferware Scenery — Gardens, Bridges, Trucks, Turbines, and Willows
Paul Scott
Andrew Raftery
Benson Hall Gallery
Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, RI
A PORCELAIN MENAGERIE: solo show of work by Mara Superior
Clark Gallery
Lincoln, MA
There is a lineage among artists working in clay. Our summer exhibition, GLAZED & DIFFUSED, is the first of a series curated by Leslie Ferrin to explore multigenerational trends in contemporary ceramics. The 2015 survey focused on color theory and abstract expressionism and presented works for sale from the secondary market side by side with important works by emerging and established mid-career artists.
GLAZED & DIFFUSED
Ferrin Contemporary
1315 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA
group show
Ramon Elozua, Peter Christian Johnson, Jun Kaneko, Jae Yong Kim, Steven Young Lee, Lauren Mabry, Sara Moorhouse, Ron Nagle, George Ohr, Peter Pincus, Robert Silverman, Linda Sormin, Toshiko Takaezu, Beatrice Wood, Betty Woodman
Sergei Isupov, Russian, born in Ukraine into a well-known family of artists, worked in his parents’ studios until he left home at age 11 for full-time art school. He continues the tradition in the USA by working in the studio he shares with his wife and daughter.
FAMILY AFFAIR
Sergei Isupov, Kadri Pärnamets, Roosi Isupov
Ferrin Contemporary
1315 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA
A never ending trend. The powerful visual result of applying cobalt to porcelain continues to inspire artists and curators, and influence design. In addition to ceramics, Laurent de Verneuil curated this important traveling exhibition that included painting, photography, styrofoam, and video.
MY BLUE CHINA
Foundation Bernadaud, Limoges, France
Museum Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland
group show including
Sin-ying Ho
Caroline Slotte
Bouke de Vries
There is a lineage among artists working in clay. Our summer exhibition, GLAZED & DIFFUSED, is the first of a series curated by Leslie Ferrin to explore multigenerational trends in contemporary ceramics. The 2015 survey focused on color theory and abstract expressionism and presented works for sale from the secondary market side by side with important works by emerging and established mid-career artists.
GLAZED & DIFFUSED
Ferrin Contemporary
1315 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA
group show
Ramon Elozua, Peter Christian Johnson, Jun Kaneko, Jae Yong Kim, Steven Young Lee, Lauren Mabry, Sara Moorhouse, Ron Nagle, George Ohr, Peter Pincus, Robert Silverman, Linda Sormin, Toshiko Takaezu, Beatrice Wood, Betty Woodman
Follow along as we travel to present lectures, attend art fairs, visit private and public collections and go behind the scenes in museum storage. In 2015, we thank our hosts in Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Atlanta, Asheville, Penland, Sparta, Charlotte, London, Cumbria, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Washington, New Haven, and of course, New York City.
solo exhibition
Ferrin Contemporary introduced Cristina Córdova to the international art scene in Miami with new sculpture and painting. One of the most recognized international figural sculptors working today and a recipient of the USA artist fellowship, her schedule in 2016 is set: studio time, new equipment, and a solo exhibition.
THANKS TO ARTISTS, FRIENDS, & COLLEAGUES
ARTISTS
Ralph Bacerra
Julie Bartholomew
Robin Best
Stephen Bowers
Caroline Cheng
Sam Chung
Cristina Córdova
Claire Cureen
Bouke de Vries
Richard Dillingham
Raymon Elozua
Viola Frey
Future Retrieval
Giselle Hicks
Sin-Ying Ho
Sergei Isupov
Garth Johnson
Jun Kaneko
Jae Yong Kim
Steven Young Lee
Lauren Mabry
Paul Mathieu
Sara Moorhouse
Ron Nagle
George Ohr
Frances Palmer
Kadri Pärnamets
Peter Pincus
Andrew Raftery
Paul Scott
Robert Silverman
Caroline Slotte
Linda Sormin
Vipoo Srivilasa
Mara Superior
Toshiko Takaezu
Jason Walker
Kurt Weiser
Beatrice Wood
Betty Woodman
Read more…
PARTNERS IN ART
Abmeyer & Wood Fine Art, Seattle, WA
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Ariana Museum, Geneva, Switzerland
Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
Benson Hall Gallery at RISD, Providence, RI
Bernadaud, Limoges, France
Blue Coat Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Blue Line, Roseville, CA
Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, PA
Ceramic Research Center, ASU, Tempe, AZ
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Concord Art Association, Concord, MA
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Cross MacKenzie Fine Arts, Washington, DC
Cynthia-Reeves, North Adams, MA
Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
David Austin Art Projects Inc., Palm Desert, CA
David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY
Deedee Shattuck Gallery, Westport, MA
Eutectic Gallery, Portland, OR
George Adams Gallery, New York, NY
The Grocery Store Gallery, Mountaindale, NY
Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA
Hunterdon Art Museum, Hunterdon, NJ
Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY
Kasher | Potamkin Gallery, New York, NY
Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA
MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA
Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa, AZ
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA
New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA
New York Ceramic & Glass Fair, New York, NY
Newark Museum of Art, Newark, NJ
PULSE Miami
Rago Arts & Auction Center, Lambertville, NJ
RISD Museum of Art, Providence, RI
Sienna Patti Contemporary, Lenox, MA
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
Waterfall Mansion, New York, NY
William Shearborn Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
IN SUPPORT OF CREATIVITY
Alturas Foundation, San Antonio, TX
AMACO Indianapolis, IN
Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, MT
Artist Legacy Foundation, Oakland, CA
Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, Asheville, NC
Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Craft Emergency Relief Fund, Montpelier, VT
International Academy of Ceramics
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, MCLA, North Adams, MA
National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Boulder, CO
Office for the Arts at Harvard, Ceramics Program, Allston, MA
Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
Placer Community Foundation, Auburn, CA
Sheffield Pottery, Sheffield, MA
Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME
MEDIA
American Craft
The Art of Inventive Repair (Andrew Baseman)
Artsy Guide
Asian in NY
Blouin Art Info
C-FILE
Ceramic Art & Perception
Ceramic Review
Ceramics Monthly
The China Press
Crafts Magazine
DXV American Standard (Lynn Bryne)
Hi Fructose
Hyperallergic
Juxtapose
Maine Antique Digest
New York Observer (culture)
New York Times: Art & Design
Rogovoy Report
Rural Intelligence
The Studio Potter
Take Magazine
Tondo
Wallpaper*
Read more…
LECTURE HOSTS
Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, Canada
Founders Circle, Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC
Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Skælskør, Denmark
Oslo Academy of Fine Arts, KHIO, Oslo, Norway
Royal College of Art, London, UK
University of the Arts, Central St. Martins, London, UK
IN REMEMBERANCE
Candice Groot
Anne Wollman
FERRIN CONTEMPORARY TEAM
Donald Clark
Jake Czaja
Dan Farrell
Alexandra Jelleberg
Bill Kelly
John Polak
Melissa Post
Rebecca Weinman
Lynn Zimmerman
PROJECT ART
June Ferrin
Chase Gamblin
Roosi Isupov
Sergei Isupov
Alexandra Jelleberg
Bradley Klem
Kadri Pärnamets
Paul Scott
Graeme Sloan
Lucy Sloan
Since his emergence, Walker has remained in the top tier of a group of artists who have defined a sub-genre of ceramic art with expert optical play between illustrated surface and form. The provenance of this prominence began with thrown and slipcast elements assembled into compact objects based on domestic functional forms. Read more, see more…
“In some very essential way, the same heady mixture of keen observation and self-awareness that nourished the spirits of America’s Transcendentalist explorers, artists, and naturalists also defines Walker.” from “Impenetrable Ambiguities, The Illustrated Sculpture of Jason Walker” by Anthony E. Stellaccio in Ceramics Monthly Sept 2013.
“Through his painted porcelain sculptures, Jason Walker asks us to ponder technology, wilderness, and our place in the world.” from “The Nature of Invention” by Joyce Lovelace in American Craft Magazine Aug-Sept 2012.
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