“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.
Thursdays, July 30, August 27, and September 24, 6 to 8 pm
1315 MASS MoCA Way and throughout North Adams
FREE
Ferrin Contemporary and other DownStreet art venues and galleries, stores, and restaurants will extend their hours on the last Thursday of the summer months to celebrate the arts.
Artsy Magazine Your Daytrip Guide to the Art of the Berkshires
The July 15, 2015 editorial in Artsy Magazine lists the “six stops not to miss” on your art tour of the Berkshires. Among them are FERRIN CONTRMPORARY and CYNTHIA-REEVES galleries. Click here to read full article.
SUNDAY JULY 19 | CLAY IS HOT! GOOD BETTER BEST
Panel Discussion and Dinner in the Gallery
1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams
3 pm | PANEL DISCUSSION
1315 MASS MoCA Way
FREE
Collecting ceramics from George Ohr to Ai Weiwei — join specialists Suzanne Perrault, David Rago, and Daniel Farrell for a panel discussion moderated by Leslie Ferrin about provenance, connoisseurship, and values in ceramics, pottery, and porcelain from 1900 to the present.
Guests will have a chance to view the exhibition, GLAZED & DIFFUSED, before the panel discussion and afterwards during a wine and cheese reception in the gallery.
6:30 pm | DISH+DINE
1315 MASS MoCA Way
$75. Space is limited.
Enjoy this dinner event in the gallery with collectors, artists, and the panelists. Gramercy Bistro, MASS MoCA’s in-house bistro, will serve modern fare made from locally-sourced food. Ceramic artist Michael McCarthy will provide the handmade dinnerware.
Exhibition | “My Blue China: The Colors of Globalization” at Foundation Bernardaud
The July 7, 2015 edition of CFile presented an essay by Laurent de Verneuil, curator of the My Blue China: The Colors of Globalization exhibition at Foundation Bernardaud in Limoges, France (June 11 – Nov. 21). The exhibition assembles 13 international contemporary artists who explore the phenomenon of cultural globalization through blue and white ceramic wares.
“Fondation d’Entreprise Bernardaud Presents My Blue China Exhibition”
by Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, Blouin Art Info May 29, 2015
In their effort to “showcase how much ceramics is used around the world by artists and how creative the medium can be,” the Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud presents My Blue China in Limoges, France from June to November 2015.
A PORCELAIN MENAGERIE
a solo show of work by Mara Superior features painted porcelain platters, teapots and sculptures celebrating the beauty and fragility of the animal world. Co-curated by Dana Salvo and Leslie Ferrin. Clark Gallery, Lincoln, Mass
March 10–29, 2015
Mara Superior is known for her contemporary porcelain that uses imagery and form to convey theories of beauty and subtle social commentary. Her choice of porcelain, a medium known for its fragile beauty, is analogous to the nature of the subject of the work in this show — this planet with its diverse environments, the flora and fauna, and the delicate balance that holds them all. Using various forms of plates and constructed forms of teapots and tile relief, Superior creates commemoratives that deliver a message to preserve and appreciate our living world. They are a plea for attention to a world out of control. Porcelain and nature are fragile, breakable, and need careful handling to survive. “Wake up people! Preserve your planet!”
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.
Emily Zilber, curator and Mark Cooper, artist , listening to Thomas Michie – about newly reinstalled Dutch rooms in context of New Blue and White, MFA Boston through July 14. His site specific work is one of the nearly 40 artists, designers and collaborators who are showing recent works in ceramic, glass and mixed media. #newblueandwhite meets #oldblueandwhite at #mfa #boston with #markcooper (at Museum of Fine Arts)
Emily Zilber, curator and Mark Cooper, artist – in conversation about his recent installation New Blue and White, MFA Boston through July 14. His site specific work is one of the nearly 40 artists, designers and collaborators who are showing recent works in ceramic, glass and mixed media.
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