We did alert you! When we showed Brian Rochefort’s cups at our Shop (to support our educational programs) we pointed out this was a remarkable talent who was going to soar. To emphasize the point the largest group sale of his work went to an internationally known couple in the fine arts. Those who believed us responded and they were all sold. As America’s first Pop art collector, Betty Asher, was fond of saying, “you snooze you loose.”
Vessels by Brian Rochefort.
Three months later Zachs Feurer has just given Rochefort his New York debut at The Armory Show. His prices have risen five-fold and Feuer sold 16 works at the vernissage.
Rochefort is one of the most impressive new entries into the growing field of what we are for the time being calling “baroque glazing,” an over-the-edge ascent of the phoenix from a volcanic cauldron of pyrotechnic maximalism.
Benedetto Pietromarchi, Pandora’s Flower V, 2014, ceramic
Given his success you can understand why we differ with Hyperallergic’s Jillian Steinhauer giving the “Best Lumpy Ceramics Award” to Benedetto Pietromarchi at Josh Lilly Gallery. “But I do enjoy these pieces by Pietromarchi; they strike just the right balance between beautiful and weird.”
Both the “award” and our reaction is tongue in cheek. To her credit she did admit that she had not seen Rochefort’s work or “any other lumpy ceramics on view at the fair” so this may be an unfair contest.
Steinhauser also missed out on one of the kings of lumpy, O’Brien who overwhelmed the Boesky Gallery with his massive polymorphically perverse glazed art. It was chosen by Artsy as one of the 11 must-see booths on the fair. We found it horribly installed, much to the detriment of the art. One thing about lumpy ceramics, they need space.
William J. O’Brien, Untitled, 2014, glazed ceramic, 15 x 20 x 19 inches
William J. O’Brien, Untitled, 2014, glazed ceramic, 20 x 17 x 18 inches
A critic for New York Times, Martha Schwendener, chose as her favorite ceramic a large totem by the 78-year old Iranian-born artist from Vancouver, Parvoz Tanavoli, entitled Beloved King (see below). It was in in the fair’s Pier-92 Special Projects with the Grey Art Gallery at New York University.
For those who do like lumpy (it’s almost a real genre) and those who do not, scroll down, the fair has a wide range of ceramic work on offer to satisfy any taste from crisp Pop to oozy expressionism. This includes in no apparent order: Louise Bourgeois, Richard Slee, Mona Hatoum (glass, but it’s a cousin), Lidya Buzio, Daisy Youngblood, Arman, Anne Agee, Manjunath Kamath, Yeesookyung and a 2D work by Ekart Kahn that just seemed to fit the suite.
Louise Bourgeois, Fallen Woman, porcelain biscuit and gold, 12 1/8 x 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 inches
After following fairs here and abroad for two years it is becoming apparent that American fairs have seized the ceramic baton with greater gusto and a sharper eye than their counterpoints in Europe (although Asia is a close second). Maybe it’s because we prefer ceramics and they prefer the clay look? Either way look at the post on the Arco Madrid fair and see if you agree.
Garth Clark is the Executive Editor of CFile.
Any thoughts about this post? Share yours in the comment box below.
Richard Slee, Blue White Saw, 2014, ceramic and metal, 14 x 34 2/5 x 4 1/10. Click to see a larger image.
Lidya Buzio XVII (set of 3), 2002, earthenware
Mona Hatoum, Turbulence (black) (detail) 2014, Glass marbles
Ann Agee, Winter Grapes, 2014, porcelain, 27 x 27 1/2 inches
Manjunath Kamath, You Know Me Better, 2014, wood and terracotta, 19 x 13 1/2 x 8 inches
Arman, Quatre etages de conversation, 1994, ceramic and wood, 126 x 145 x 21 inches
Yeesookyung, Translated Vase, 2011, ceramic shards, epoxy, 24k gold leaf 26 × 19 7/10 × 22 2/5 inches
Eckart Hahn, Dutch Flowers, 2015, 21 7/10 x 15 7/10 x 1 3/5 inches
Daisy Youngblood, 1981, low-fire clay 15 1/2 x 7 x 3 inches
It’s the lack of obvious slick technical stuff that makes ‘um sexy.
and is probably what is helping make them…… fine art.
Garth, could you elaborate on why Brian Rochefort’s cups are the hottest thing since slides bread? Quoting from your review:
“Rochefort is one of the most impressive new entries into the growing field of what we are for the time being calling “baroque glazing,” an over-the-edge ascent of the phoenix from a volcanic cauldron of pyrotechnic maximalism.” So for many people not that schooled in art speak…….
First who is/are the “we” calling it “baroque glazing?” If we define baroque as highly ornate, can you actually call these cups “ornate”? Not by a long shot. “Over the edge ascent of the phoenix….etc etc?” This tells me absolutely nothing. You may have warned us about Brian Rochefort as you state, but these are just plain rubbish. With glaze (at least I think it is glaze) just slopped on haphazardly, this is not baroque/highly ornate? I think of Lauren Mabry’s glaze compositions that at least show some thought towards composition, color, balance, especially her larger terra cotta pipe compositions. With the ascent of ceramics, yes finally, to be regarded as a valid art form, must this type of work be indicative be an example of the state of our art? I gotta disagree with you on this one, but I appreciate the dialog as well as images of the other work at the Armory show. Richard Slee’s “Blue-White Saw” is especially intriguing.
I agree with you Jonathan – I am not sure I would call these baroque either… I do think these cups are interesting, but they seem to be about material and chance, which if I am not mistaken are attributes of Abstract Expressionism.
I find it interesting that in the field of ceramics work like this comes along that clearly borrows from….lets say Jackson Pollock, and yet since it is done in ceramics it is something ‘exciting’…to be warned about.
Exciting work