There will be a showing of Willi Singleton’s wood-fired stoneware in Washington DC over the weekend of December 6 and 7 at the home of Louise Cort and Leedom Lefferts. Louise Cort is the Curator of Ceramics at the Freer/Sackler Galleries and is the author of Shigaraki: Potters’ Valley. The time is from 1pm to 6pm and their address is 132 12th Street SE, Washington D.C. No RSVP required.

From January 11 — April 12, 2009, there will be a show of Willi’s work at the Allentown Art Museum.

Slow Clay: The Ceramic Art of Willi Singleton
Payne Hurd Gallery
“Making pots is like cooking. You have to start with good ingredients to get a flavorful, satisfying result,” says Willi Singleton, a local ceramicist whose ‘good ingredients’ come from the local clay found in his own backyard in Kempton, PA.  Singleton’s work is world recognized for its contemporary and elegant design, which he achieves using a very traditional wood-fired climbing kiln. He honed his skills in Mashiko, Japan, an area widely recognized for its superior ceramics. Singleton notes that as a student in Japan, he was taught that it is the potter’s job to express and bring out the character of the clay, the glaze and the fire. His teacher instilled in his students a respect for these materials as sources of creative potential. Aware of the perils of trying too hard and overpowering the clay, he constantly reminded them to “slow down, enjoy it!”

Singleton’s kiln, based on a Japanese prototype, requires round-the-clock stoking until an appropriate temperature is reached. The length of the firing depends on the volume of the kiln, and may take anywhere from 48 hours to 12 days or more. The burning wood not only produces great amounts of heat, it also produces fly ash, which settles on the pieces during firing and creates a natural ash glaze that cannot be achieved with any other type of firing. This glaze may show great variation in color, texture and thickness, ranging from smooth and glossy to rough and sharp, but always offers subtle enhancements achievable only through the slow rate of heating and cooling characteristic of the wood-fired process.

Support for this exhibition is provided by the S&R Foundation.

After these events, Willi is scheduled to have two shows in Japan during May and June. We’ll hopefully get some photos to post from those exhibits.

All Fired Up!“Spatial Meditations” at Mariani Gardens
September 20th, 1:00 to 4:00pm – Meet the Artists Reception
October 3rd to November 30th – “Spatial Meditations” Exhibition
Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday: 8:30am-6:00pm, Saturday: 8:00am-5:00pm, Sunday: 9:00am-5:00pm

Mariani Gardens serves as a venue for large-scale ceramic sculpture created by internationally renowned artists Paul Chaleff, Jeff Shapiro and Tim Rowan. Each piece is situated within the natural and inspiring setting inside and about the grounds. Such serene surroundings allow for creative, imaginative and meditative thought. A preview of the exhibition is currently underway at Mariani Gardens.

“Spatial Meditations” is part of All Fired Up! A Celebration of Clay in Westchester, sponsored by the Westchester Arts Council.

See related post below.

Function+Art in Chicago has a gallery show of Steve Hansen’s work on view until October 18, 2008.

Ceramist Steve Hansen’s artistic renaissance continues. Grounding his works in a trompe l’oeil version of Americana, his stoneware commentaries on the intersections of high and low art, commerce, and pop culture have struck a chord with critics and collectors alike.

This exhibition features works from his popular Gods of Commerce series, re-combinations of mythological icons which have been appropriated by marketers in their attempts to sell various products. Added to this, his new Propaganda series has widened the net - from products to ideology and the “permeable nature of truth” –continuing the theme but focusing on the selling of “truth” rather than products. While the connection to Pop Art in this new work remains strong, Hansen has revisited the consumerist vs. capitalist argument and enlarged it to bring into focus the irony of polemic truths living side-by-side on the same object.

Thanks to aj for bringing this to my attention.

Lacoste Gallery presents work by Tim Rowan at its new show, Tim Rowan: Ceramic Sculpture which runs from September 6-30, 2008.

Developing one’s work and fashioning it into a personal expression comes from investing oneself completely in what we make. Ideas about originality or making something new are not what concerns me, but rather making work that is representative of my self and my personal experience. The deeper I search in trying to come to some understanding of this existence and my own journey the more what I make takes on its own life.
Tim Rowan

OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 4 - 6 PM

ARTIST TALK: SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2 PM

Peter Callas and Paul Chaleff are among a group of seven artists, including Peter Voulkos, Toshiko Takaezu, Robert T. Cooke, Takao Okazaki and Rudolph Serra, showing at Grounds for Sculpture’s Masters of Clay exhibition which runs through September 28, 2008. The following information is from their website.

Masters in Clay

Through September 28, 2008
In the Museum and Domestic Arts Buildings

Masters In Clay presents seven globally known artists. All of whom have gone on to make monumental sculptures in clay and other mediums. But they have continued to produce ceramic works of small dimensions, though not stature. They share the fundamental belief that clay is a medium to be reckoned with - that it no longer has parameters of size, function, glaze or firing, and that its future is limitless.

Museum Building

Peter Voulkos and Toshiko Takaezu are two of a generation that changed the course of ceramics; their teaching careers spanned decades and their influence on their students and other potters cannot be over emphasized.

Voulkos and Takaezu come from opposite ends of the globe and results of each of their sensibilities are worlds apart; their educational backgrounds and aesthetics could not be more different. Yet the one defining word that comes to mind when seeing their ceramic sculptures is “masterpiece.” Scale is of no importance: some of the tiniest works have the power to inspire awe while some of largest have the delicacy to appeal to the most refined taste. Firing and surface finish… raku, pit-fired, glazed or unglazed… aer of great significance because each has its own qualities that produce unique results.

Toshiko Takaezu’s ceramics are a model for reflection on the importance of balance and a reminder of the continuous presence of emptiness. The harmonious natural forms give a shape to the void and reveal her attitude about space. The elegant glazes transmit an impression of great depth. Simplicity of form and her spontaneous and painterly technique give her art its distinctive characteristics.

Peter Voulkos is credited with bringing ceramics from a utilitarian craft to a fine art. He was the central figure in what has been called the “Revolution of Clay” of the 1950s; Voulkos expanded the boundaries of the medium, eliminating its functionality and raising it to expressive and heroic sculpture. Originally his art was manifested in thrown and decorated vessels, but he removed from the traditional to expressive clay forms, slicing and slashing the surfaces and creating his unique signature style.

Domestic Arts Building

Peter Callas, Paul Chaleff, Robert T. Cooke, Takao Okazaki and Rudolph Serra continue what is becoming a tradition of breaking new ground with a centuries old medium. These five artists have differences in tehir approach to clay yet there are similarities of philosophies, sensibilities and backgrounds that unify teh artists and give cohesion to the juxtaposition of their ceramics.

Peter Callas articulates his inner feelings through the style of abstract expressionism and his incredible technical skills. Paul Chaleff communicates his vision through exploration of human emotion. His works have implicit and is understood through the familiarity and universality of expression and feeling. Robert Cooke elaborates on the fundamental role chance plays in his work and his life. Takao Okazaki creates works that are filled with movement and action. Rudolph Serra works by intuition; his spontaneous pieces derive from no preconceived ideas but from a freedom of spirit.

All of the artists share the fundamental belief that clay is a medium to be reckoned with, that it no longer has parameters of size, function, glaze or firing, and that its future is limitless.

Dualis: Ceramic Invitational
curated by Ilena Finocchi
April 4th - June 14th, 2008
North, Souza, and Matthews Galleries.
Opening Reception: Friday April 4th, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
These events are free and open to the public.

Dualis is a thematic group exhibition of emerging ceramic artists that spans the genres of functional, sculptural, and spacial art. Over 20 artists from across the United States, and 1 from Thailand were selected for versatility and creativity in using clay as the main material in their work. The exhibition’s title, Dualis, is the Latin root word meaning two. Each artist is allowed to explore the theme both in style and genre. This exhibition is curated by Ilena Finocchi and features work by: Ben Alhvers, Jen Allen, Josefina Calzada, Tiffany Carbonneau, Tim Clark, Gisele Couturier, Amy Halko, Brian Harper, Jen Holt, Liz Howe, Miranda Howe, Maria Kretschmann, Stephanie Leach, Krisaya Luenganantakul, Lorna Meaden, Dulcie Miller, Jill Oberman, Tara Wilson, Lori Phillips, Hope Rovelto, Kristin Schimik, and Shalene Valenzuela.

In addition to the exhibition, the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts will launch the Artists-In-Residence Program in May. Through cross-collaboration between the Center’s Arts Education and Exhibitions Program, artists from the exhibition will travel to Tracy to offer a special ceramics workshop and Gallery Talks available to the public in May; dates and times to be announced.

Ilena Finocchi is an artist and independent curator from North Lima, Ohio. Across her career she has worked in graphic design, illustration, and as a ceramic sculptor. Ms. Finocchi received a B.F.A. from Youngstown State Unversity (Youngstown, OH) and a M.F.A. from the School for American Crafts, Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY). She has exhibited professionally since 2003 and Dualis is her first professionally curated international exhibition.

MARY ROEHM SOLO at Lacoste Gallery
April 12-30, 2008
Opening reception for the artist, Saturday,
April 12, 3-5 pm

MARY ROEHM SOLO is the artist’s first exhibition of a new body of work in over five years. It includes her recent series of black and white pods, punctuated sculptural forms for the wall, in addition to works highlighting the development of form and focus over her career.

“Sculptural truth has always been the objective of Roehm’s work. This is evident in her earlier large sculptural vessels, through the impossibly thin and pierced containers, which lead to the ripped and fused together thrown forms, and now most recently her purely sculptural punctuated wall pods.”
- Lucy Lacoste

Mary Roehm is known for her gravity defying, paper-thin vessels. Her signature pieces, large thrown bowls with small feet, seem poised between stability and flight. Some are “punctuated” and cut, further pushing the limits of the clay. Roehm’s extraodinary design and technical skills along with the subtlety and beauty of her work have led to residencies, exhibitions and travel in Japan, Korea and China. She is the Director of the Ceramics department at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Two Wall Pods, 40 inches long, unglazed porcelain

The American Museum of Ceramic Art will have an exhibition called Into the Woods, A Fiery Tale featuring the work of seven woodfire ceramic artists including Peter Callas and Jeff Shapiro.

The exhibit runs from March 8 to May 3, 2008.
There is an opening reception on Saturday, March 8, 6-9 pm.