Welcome to NewsFile, your Monday resource for news from the worlds of contemporary ceramics and contemporary ceramic art. Kicking off this week, we have a project to show you from the Denver Art Museum, which received a $25 million donation to renovate their north building, the only work in the United States to be created by Italian architect Gio Ponti. From ArtNews:
The Denver Art Museum today announced the largest-ever donation in the institution’s history: a $25 million gift from Board Chairman J. Landis Martin and his wife Sharon Martin, intended to help revitalize and enhance the museum’s North Building. The seven-storey structure, inaugurated in 1971, is the only project by Italian modernist architect Gio Ponti ever to be constructed in the United States, and was one of the first-ever high-rise art museums.
Photographs courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
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Over-all costs for the planned revitalization of the iconic structure under the helm of Fentress Architects and Machado Silvetti are estimated at approximately $150 million, with construction intended to start by the end of 2017, and completion scheduled for 2021, when the building celebrates its 50th anniversary. In appreciation of the couple’s engagement it will be renamed the J. Landis and Sharon Martin Building, according to the museum.
“The Martins’ longstanding commitment to our campus, major programs, special exhibitions and collection acquisitions has elevated the museum to a national and international destination,” Christoph Heinrich, the Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the museum said in a statement. “Their lead gift in renovating the North Building, a Civic Center anchor and modernist gem, will launch a new era for the museum and ensure the highest quality programs and service to more than 700,000 annual visitors.”
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Fiery Lava Tiles By Faye Toogood
New tiles created by London designer Faye Toogood come from the heart of the earth: volcanic stone taken directly from Mount Etna in Sicily. The designer partnered with Made a Mano to create the set.
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In addition to the material, Toogood presents the tile in fiery colors: bright red mostly, though some dark grays and blacks undercut the burning profundity of the red. From Dezeen:
Toogood also created white, grey and brown versions of the tiles, to represent the different colours of lava as it cools down. The stone is burnt in an oven at temperatures reaching 2,000 degrees Celsius to fuse it together with the glaze – a process that can take up to ten days.
Faye Toogood is a British designer, according to her creator’s statement. Her furniture and objects demonstrate a preoccupation with materiality and experimentation. All of her pieces are handmade by small-scale fabricators and traditional artisans, with an honesty to the rawness and irregularity of the chosen material.
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With an academic training in the theory and practise of fine art, and a vocational background at the forefront of the magazine industry, Toogood approaches product design with a singular and acutely honed eye. Her highly sculptural work, while showing an astute respect for the past, is derived from pure self-expression and instinct.
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