russell biles news

ARE WE THERE YET? Featured in the Berkshire Eagle

A JOURNEY IN CERAMICS

NORTH ADAMS — Sometimes, the only way to move forward is to look back.

Leslie Ferrin, director of Ferrin Contemporary, at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is doing just that with “Are We There Yet?” It’s an exhibition that is one-part retrospective, one part celebration. It’s a show about evolution, of transition.

It’s an introspective show, for Ferrin, who after 40-plus years in the ceramics market is pondering the next phase of Ferrin Contemporary.

Posted by AxelJ in News, Press Coverage

OUR AMERICA/WHOSE AMERICA? Featured in the Berkshire Eagle

Norman Rockwell’s illustrations with their “armies of perfectly imperfect girls” never resonated with artist Niki Johnson, a member of the “Atari 2600” generation, as they peered at her from porcelain commemorative plates that seemed to be everywhere during her youth — the pages of magazines, television screens, the walls of middle America’s homes.

And yet, some 30 years later, she would begin purchasing these commemorative plates, at thrift stores for just a few dollars each, tucking them away for a moment that felt right, for a project yet unrealized. Over a decade, she would amass a collection of a few hundred Rockwell plates, along with dozens of other motifs and designs featuring American landscapes, playing children, churches and historical landmarks, flora and fauna.

CRANK vases, installation view, 2019, Coiled Red Earthenware – Kid Tested Mother Approved, 13 x 13 x 22″

Posted by AxelJ in News, Press Coverage