Adam Silverman Ceramics
Skira Rizzoli, 2013
Design by Tamotsu Yagi. Photography by Stefano Massei and Katrina Dickson.
Text by Lisa Gabrielle Mark, Brooke Hodge, Julie Lazar and Katrina Dickson, Foreword by Shepard Fairey
Hardcover, 192 pages. 11.7 x 8.9 inches
Skira Rizzoli’s book Adam Silverman Ceramics has arrived, rightly, with a flood of rave reviews, many coming from media that often does not cover this medium. Thus reviews have been rife with commentary about his ceramics trying to sound authoritative, when it is not, and the praise that is given at the cost of patronizing the medium. It has set many ceramic teeth on edge. In particular, the reference to his pots as sculptures is a dead giveaway that the writer does not get what Silverman does. But it’s time to develop thicker skin and welcome this ravishing celebration of the pot by a young master potter that is a shoe in to make the finals of CFile’s Design Awards.
Architectural Digest‘s Mayer Rys was all aflutter calling it, “irresistibly, delectably, almost erotically gorgeous. I can’t stop looking at it. Designed with sublime restraint by Tamotsu Yagi, the stunning volume explodes antiquated distinctions between fine art and applied art, craft and design. Silverman’s work—traditional pots as well as more abstract sculptures and installations—is presented in a series of deeply seductive photographs by Stefano Massei that capture every nuance of dimension, color, glazing, and finish. The images convey not only the vessels’ tactile allure but also their weight and presence. Each piece is an object of wonder”.
It’s $60, but less if you go to you-know-where. Buy it now; it will sell out.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Silverman said, ““I wanted the book to be its own beautiful, self-standing object that is as good as the pots or better…I wanted it to have its own identity.” He got his wish.
The texts (there is an introduction by Shepard Fairey, essays by Lisa Gabrielle Mark and Brooke Hodge, and a conversation with independent curator Julie Lazar and architect Kulapat Yantrasast) are energetic and lucid. Silverman is also the studio director of Heath Ceramics, Los Angeles and was the designer of the superb installation for Beatrice Wood: Career Woman, part of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time project.
Garth Clark is the Curator and Chief Editor of Cfile.
A trailer for Adam Silverman Ceramics from Skira Rizzoli Publishing.
Spread of Adam Silverman Ceramics from Skira Rizzoli Publishing.
Visit Adam Silverman at his studio, Atwater Pottery
Find the book at Skira Rizzoli Publishing
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