Annual Utilitarian Ceramic Juried Show: WORKING POTS
Juried by: Simon Levin
Opening Reception: Friday, June 3rd from 5:30-8
exhibition runs June 3rd through June 27th
WORKING POTS
Show Statement
My children just returned from a trip out west, visiting family and getting to know cousins. Last night as one went to get some water before bed I could hear her relax into the hand made ceramic cup that she had picked from the cabinet. She said, “It’s nice to drink from a real cup again.”
I would not argue that the cups she used in Los Angeles lacked anything in realness, but I understand her sentiment. The cup she chose has weight, it has a rim that is a little fatter than the wall of the pot, and sits comfortably against a person’s lip. There is no other cup like that one in the cupboard, it is an individual in a sea of individuals. This means she is choosing, and interacting with the object in a way that is personal to her. The experience is intimate, and rich, and a return home.
This show is titled “Working Pots,” and the work I selected has a strong connection to utility. But utility is simply the discipline in which these artists have chosen to work. It does not define or limit the pots. I was excited to curate this show because of the myriad of forms, surfaces, techniques, voices and ideas represented in the applications. There are pots on the wall, pots that serve tea, pots that make us uncomfortable, pots full of color, sets of pots that interact with each other, pots that show the maker’s hand and others that reveal no touch at all. It’s a great time to be a potter and in this little microcosm you can see how much fun the artists are having in their ceramic playgrounds.
As you look through this show, consider that how well a pot serves food, pours liquid, or stacks efficiently are just a few ways to measure how well a it works. The plastic and commercial glassware my daughter used in L.A. definitely met these parameters. Instead I invite you to open yourself to which pieces draw you across the room, which ones make you smile, which ones you would want to live with, which ones made you sneak a touch when no one was looking. Which pots make you uncomfortable, which ones make you think, which ones speak of rarity, of specialness? Pots, because of their size and everyday nature, are delightfully accessible. Be your own juror and figure out which pots work for you.
-Simon
PROSPECTUS
Neil Celani
Rick Hintze
Nicole Gugliotti
Award Winners 2016. Juror: Simon Levin
1st Place
Jason Hess
Teapot
Reduction Cool Wood Fired Stoneware
2nd Place
Coleton Lunt
Tray
Soda Fired
3rd Place
Seth Green
Ritual Bottle With Rattling Stopper
Wood
Fired Stoneware
Honorable Mentions:
Aubrey Purdy Rude
1959 Elkie: “Mellow Yellow”
Porcelain
Chase Lilleholm
Serving Bowl
Stoneware
Zak Helenske
Purchase Awards:
Didem Mert
Baby Nesting Oval Bowlin’ Set
Terra Cotta
Purchased by
Patrick Rademaker
Pasta Bowl
Wood Fired
Purchased by James May Gallery
Jeanie Hill
Vase
Porcelain
Purchased by The Artists Guild
Alisa Holen
Backdrop Sake Set
Purchased by von Stiehl Winery
Participating Artists:
Michael Ashley
Lauryn Axelrod
Marian Baker
Micah Cain
Neil Celani
John Dorsey
Machiko Erhard
Seth Green
Michelle Grey
Nicole Gugliotti
Kyle Guymon
Rena Hamilton
John Hasegawa
Zak Helenske
Kendall Herdelin
Jason Hess
Jeanine Hill
Rick Hintze
Alisa Holen
Isaac Howard
Doug Jeppesen
Lucien Koonce
Karen Kubinec
Chase Lilleholm
Ken Lu
Coleton Lunt
Scott Lykens
Chaz Martinsen
Will McComb
Didem Mert
Courtney Michaud
Lucille Nilan
Vanessa Norris
John Oles
Kirsten Olson
Page Kelly Piccolo
Todd Pletcher
Patrick Rademaker
John Reinking
Aubrey Purdy Rude
Amy Smith
Mike Stumbras
Sam Thompson
Leili Towfigh
Joan Ulrich
Lisa York
Xia Zhang
