He’s also not one to complain about sleepless nights, as that is when he’s most productive.
“It’s hard to sleep when there’s too much to think about. It’s easy to stay awake and work,” Weiser said during a recent phone interview with The Eagle.
Naming his latest exhibition, “Insomnia,” now on view at Ferrin Contemporary, only seemed fitting to the ceramicist, who spent the last 30 years filling sketchbooks with the black and white drawings that appear on the porcelain vessels and accompanying linoleum-cut prints in the show….”
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.
at NCECA Conference
Convention Center Ballroom B
Thursday, March 15, 9am–12pm
Friday, March 16, 1–4pm
“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
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.
Showcases contemporary artists who are breathing new life into the ceramic medium by reinvigorating age-old motifs, processes, and techniques. Contemporary ceramicists were invited to respond to and produce new works that reference the art, objects, and social history of the collections at The Frick Pittsburgh, 7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh, PA.
photo: Mara Superior, “Kangxi Period, Qing Dynasty/ A Collection” 2018.
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 (pictured). Click for more.
photo: Beth Lipman working at John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
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.
Please note that parking will be limited. To visit the gallery, park in town and walk over or call ahead to make an appointment for a temporary pass, 413.346.4404.
This collaborative group of potters will bring their 17-foot van to connect with the community by making and inviting visitors to create simple ceramic pots.
An evening program of visual and performing art events including exhibitions, video screenings, and site-specific installations throughout downtown North Adams and the MASS MoCA campus.
Save future DOWNSTREET dates: July 27 & August 24.
MASS MoCA’s main parking area is adjacent to
Ferrin Contemporary in Building 13. Start or end your day with us. Explore The World of MASS MoCA and Downtown North Adams for more local art, food, and beer.
Visitors and the NY press were surprised and delighted with their discovery of the contemporary ceramics at the New York Ceramics & Glass Fair and spread the word about contemporary clay throughout the worlds of art and design. Here some of the highlights, along with links to read more.
Paul Scott, “Paul Scott, “Cumbrian Blue(s), American Scenery, Fracked No. 2″ 2013, inglaze decal collage, gold luster on ironstone platter (c.1860?), 8.5 x 1”.
Browsing at Metro Curates and the Ceramics and Glass Fair
by William Grimes
“A number of contemporary artists disturb the polite atmosphere of British tea sets and Chinese export pottery. Paul Scott, an English artist at Ferrin Contemporary, has updated English transferware, with its romantic evocations of American scenes, in the rudest possible way. ‘Turnpike No. 3,’ a rectangular tray showing a toll plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike, is one of a series devoted to such heartwarming sights as the Indian Point nuclear plant and a fracking derrick,” Grimes observed in his unabashed review of the oddities at two NY shows.
“Few slices of the art market have changed as radically, or, surprisingly, have been taken more seriously, in the past few years as the ever-so-sleepy ceramics and glass sector. … When it comes to contemporary ceramics, some dealers said, there’s a shift going on in terms of validity in the eyes of museums. ‘Glance back two decades only a handful of museums were incorporating such work in their holdings,’ said Massachusetts dealer Leslie Ferrin.”
In his review of our show “MADE IN CHINA, Darryl Wee observes, “Whereas traditional ‘export ware’ used to be adorned with European ideas and subjects…, Ferrin notes that this notion of cultural export has shifted somewhat in recent years due to internationally networked and cosmopolitan artists who produce their pieces at Jingdezhen Pottery Workshop while gaining exposure primarily in Western markets halfway around the world.”
Friend and blogger Andrew Baseman focused attention on contemporary ceramic “make-dos” including Paul Scott’s, Mara Superior’s, and Frances Palmer’s mended works. “It was heartening for me to see so many examples of antique and contemporary ceramics with inventive repair in such a prestigious venue. It gives me hope that beauty in imperfection is now being embraced by more artists, dealers and collectors than ever before.”
In her design blog, Byrne admitted, “I know very little about ceramics and glass. There. I have said it right up front. But I like to think I have a certain radar for the artistically innovative, and one place where I did not expect to see it was during my inaugural visit last week to the annual New York Ceramics and Glass Fair. But I was wrong. Very wrong. Talk about cool—it was there in abundance. “By far my favorite was the artists represented by Ferrin Contemporary. Leslie Ferrin had two booths at the fair and each was filled with edgy, thought-provoking pieces.”
Visitors were entertained by talks and presentations made by Ferrin Contemporary’s Paul Scott,Garth Johnson, Robert Silverman,Sing-ying Ho, and Leslie Ferrin. NCECA sponsored a day of modern lectures there for the first time. It was standing room only for Paul Scott’s lecture. Afterwards, the audience followed Scott to a book signing for the newly published Horizon: Transferware and Contemporary Ceramics.Scott’s ironic commentary on landscape drew media attention with his “American Scenery” series featured at the fair.
Visit our Press Coverage webpage for more links to fair coverage as well as articles and reviews about other curated projects with work by artists represented by Ferrin Contemporary.
Follow along as director Leslie Ferrin documents the objects, people, and experiences related to the many projects under the purview of Ferrin Contemporary. Leslie’s first-person coverage provides a subjective overview of the scene (and seen) along the path of her travels. Click on the links below to follow along: NEWS: Instagram facebook twitter tumbler instagram
Kurt Weiser, “Wildfall”, 2012, China Painted Porcelain, 9.5 x 8 x 4″
Walking the land and future studio sites with artists Garth Weiser and Francesca DiMatteo on the occasion of a dinner with Padre – Madre [Christy & Kurt Weiser] in upstate NY – Kurt’s ewer /teapot form “Wildfall” is at Red Star Studios, Kansas City opening June 7th.
Kurt Weiser, “Chinese Cubist I”, 2013, porcelain, 22 x 10 x 10″
Walking the land and future studio sites with Garth Weiser and Francesca DiMatteo on the occasion of a dinner with Padre – Madre [Christy & Kurt Weiser] in upstate NY – Kurt’s Cubist Vases are on view through July 14 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in New Blue and White.
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