Welcome to NewsFile, your resource for top pots, news-y shards and current events from the world of contemporary ceramic art and contemporary ceramics. We launch this edition with a find that is said to to be the artist’s only surviving sculpture.
Da Vinci’s ‘Only Surviving Sculpture’
Renaissance scholars unveiled what they argue is Leonardo da Vinci’s “only surviving sculpture” in Florence, The Guardian reports. The work, which has belonged to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum since 1858, had been credited to another artist, Antonio Rossellino.
The Virgin with the Laughing Child is the miraculous exception, according to the curators of the exhibition Verrocchio: Master of Leonardo, at Palazzo Strozzi, where it has just gone on display. It has an unambiguous label: Leonardo da Vinci. He is said to have created it around 1472, when he was 19 or 20 and a pupil of the Florentine artist Andrea del Verrocchio.
Read more here.
Pritzker Prize Goes to Arata Isozaki
Arata Isozaki, who designed the Nara Convention Hall and Ceramics Park MINO, has been named the 2019 Pritzker Prize laureate for architecture, The New York Times writes.
“My concept of architecture is that it is invisible,” he said. “It’s intangible. But I believe it can be felt through the five senses.”
Crucial to Mr. Isozaki’s avant-garde approach to architecture is the Japanese concept of ma, signifying the merging of time and space, which was the subject of a traveling exhibition in 1978.
“Like the universe, architecture comes out of nothing, becomes something, and eventually becomes nothing again,” said Mr. Isozaki. “That life cycle from birth to death is a process that I want to showcase.”
The jury said of the Japanese architect, “…in his search for meaningful architecture, he created buildings of great quality that to this day defy categorizations, reflect his constant evolution, and are always fresh in their approach.”
Isozaki is the 49th architect and eighth Japanese architect to receive the honor.
Read more here.
CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark Celebrates 125th Anniversary of the Danish Craft Potters Association
CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art Denmark celebrates the 125th anniversary of the Danish Craft Potters Association with an exhibition featuring more than 50 members of the association, each with their distinct interpretations of cups and plates on display April 13 to December 22, 2019.
Museum guests are invited to tactily experience the more than 100 cups and plates, the museum writes.
Normally museum guests are asked to keep their hands away from the exhibited objects – but not in this case! The sensation of touching the ceramics is in many ways the essence of the potter’s product. Made by hands, made for hands. Hence, visitors are encouraged to grab the cups in their hands, feel the plates and examine the shapes, structures and colors of the work. In addition, potters will demonstrate their skills and the fascinating techniques in occasional workshops in the exhibition during museum opening hours. Hereby they provide an authentic atmosphere with a smell of wet clay and the sound of the potter’s wheel in action.
Everson Museum of Art Dedicates Paul Phillips & Sharon Sullivan Ceramics Center
The Everson Museum of Art formally dedicated the Paul Phillips & Sharon Sullivan Ceramics Center on February 28, 2019 celebrating the Ceramics Center’s new 3,500 square foot gallery, new curator, and new name.
Renovation of the Ceramics Center was made possible by Paul and Sharon’s generous $4.8 million gift to The Everson. First and Forever $17 million comprehensive campaign––the largest donation to the campaign to date and one of the biggest gifts ever given to a Syracuse arts organization.
“Sharon & I have called Central New York home for nearly forty years, and we are committed to seeing this wonderful community prosper and grow. Our gift will help ensure that ceramics remains a vital part of the museum’s program and identity for generations to come, and validates the exciting new mission and direction the museum has embarked upon.”
Paul Phillips
After the ceremony, noted ceramics scholar Garth Clark’s multi-media presentation provided insight into the Everson’s ceramic history.
Everson Museum of Art’s Winter Exhibitions Feature Suzanne Anker + Frank Gillette
“Strata is a fantastic celebration of the Everson’s history and way to look toward our next 50 years. Frank Gillette’s exhibition here in the early 1970s was one of David Ross’ first video exhibitions. It is wonderful to have him back. Suzanne Anker’s work confronts some of the most important environmental issues impacting our planet. Both projects installed together creates a meaningful dialogue about our past, present, and future dependence on technological interventions in the field of biology and ecology.”
– DJ Hellerman, Curator of Art and Programs of the Everson Museum of Art
A Farewell to Gallerist Peter Dingley
Known for promoting the best of British craft, especially studio pottery, gallerist Peter Dingley died at the age of 95 in February, The Guardian writes.
With other innovative gallerists such as Henry Rothschild and Pan Henry, he had an instinct for the handmade and how it could enrich life.
His gallery, which from 1966 was in Meer Street, then from 1983 in Chapel Street, showed pots along with wood, glass, weaving and pictures. The displays, put together by Peter’s partner, Guido Marchini, a textile designer, were memorably elegant, so much so that the potter Lucie Rie said she had never seen her work look as good as it did in her exhibition at the gallery in 1983.
Love or loathe this selection of top pots and ceramic happenings from the world of contemporary ceramic art and contemporary ceramics? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Suzanne Anger and Frank Gillette exhibit at the Everson is a Must See if you are in the area. Brilliant!!!
Very interesting , but has anybody visited the Hepworth gallery in Wakefield UK recently
Garth, any update on the CRC fiasco?
Ron