The Gallery
The Gallery at PNW has seen tons of clay---tons of clay transformed by the hands of students, resident artists, guest artists and even an occasional anonymous potter in the guise of a historical piece of great beauty. The Gallery exists for those who “collect”, and for those who simply enjoy the immense pleasure of using a handmade object on daily basis.
We are committed to helping you find that favorite cup, or the wall piece that you cannot explain your fascination with to anyone else, but nonetheless it speaks to you. The cup, the teapot, a figurative work, a mixed media installation, and even that archetypal pot, the bowl, all have relevance both for the field, and for its supporters. We have them and we look forward to sharing them with you.
In the next year we have scheduled a number of shows that will cover a wide range of work from people both within and without our studio. Please come and explore for yourself.
The Potter Northwest Gallery is open 10 am-5 pm Tuesday through Friday and by appointment.
Call 206-285-4421
On My Way — James Lobb
January 14- February 4
OPENING RECEPTION Friday, January 14, 6 - 8 PM
Pottery Northwest – the Pacific Northwest’s premier ceramics studio and a community of artists at many levels – is pleased to announce that it will host a solo exhibition of work by James Lobb entitled “On My Way.” The show will run from January 14 through February 4, 2011. The exhibition will take place in the South Gallery of Pottery Northwest’s historic home at 226 First Avenue North (between Thomas and John), just one block south of the Key Arena at the Seattle Center. An Opening Reception will be held on Friday, January 14, from 6 - 8 pm. The public is cordially invited to attend.
James Lobb is currently concluding his artist-in-residency at Pottery Northwest and is recipient of Pottery Northwest’s first RAP (Resident Artist Project) Grant. Lobb received his BFA in Ceramics for the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Crafts in 2003. He has been a special student at Northern Michigan University with Sam Chung and has assisted several workshops with artists and craftspeople such as Lana Wilson, Nan Smith, Susan Filley and Leah Leitson. Before moving to Seattle he worked for three years as the Ceramic Arts Technician at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Lobb’s work grows from his interest in the bond that people form with their things. Whether alone or gathered with many at a social function, the instruments of the ritual of eating become as important as the food itself. It is not simply the appreciation of the handmade, but the realization that the hand made vessel is much more than the containment of food. Pottery is also a vessel to explore desire, hunger, comfort and sensuality. Cups, vases, teapots, jars and bowls. The objects themselves are skin stretched over an interior structural space. This is something that is both inviting to touch and comforting to hold. In a medium where the aesthetics of tactility can be just as important as the visual, Lobb invites the viewer to touch. He continually returns to two ideas: the sensuousness of the human form and the lusciousness of vegetation, particularly the edible. While choosing not to make these references obvious or explicit, he simply flirts with and suggests, and encourages the viewer to make his own discovery.
The RAP (Resident Artist Project) Grant offered by Pottery Northwest is awarded to artists-in-residence to further their work during their stay at Pottery Northwest. Specifically, the grants are meant to stimulate and inspire a resident to take their work in a new direction or to take current work to new lengths. Lobb used the grant to explore new ways in which to present his work including designing and making wearing apparel with provision for display.
Duplicity — Alicia Basinger (space shared with Larry Laughlin)
February 19 - March 4, 2011
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, February 19, 2011, 6-8pm
The work in this exhibition is inspired from the turn of the century cabins in which I have been living in and remodeling with my partner. Since rebuilding we have made many interesting discoveries including a mummified cat, a baby grave, a skeleton key to a grand hallway, and a boat mast. This property is full of character and nostalgia from another era. The objects in this exhibition have transpired from my own personal narratives to celebrate, honor and preserve these mysterious relics.
Anne Drew Potter
March 14-27
CLOSING RECEPTION: Saturday, March 26, 6 - 8 PM (Artist Talk at 7pm)
Congratulations to Anne Drew Potter! She is the recipient of a German Chancellor Fellowship which will allow her to carry out a year long project at the Zentrum Fur Keramik in Berlin. We are pleased for her award, but will miss her in the studio and the presence of her powerful figures.
Take this unique opportunity to view a selection of Anne Drew's new work in the south gallery from March 14th through the 27th. Please join us for a closing reception with Anne Drew on Saturday, March 26 from 6-8 pm. Anne Drew will give an artist talk at 7 pm.
Flashback
April 9 - 29
OPENING RECEPTION Saturday, April 9, 6 - 8 PM
A showing of works from some of our recent artists-in-residence alumnae, this show will feature John Ellefson, Bill Evans, Jamie Kirkpatrick, Julie Lindell, Tammie Rubin and Stephen Sullivan. You will get a view to work they have created since leaving their residency stay at Pottery Northwest.
John Ellefson has been involved in the design and fabrication of custom furniture and architectural detailing at Gulassa & Co. since 1997 where he currently manages production flow in the metals department. John’s work explores the sculptural potential of the vessel. The organic, nonsymmetrical vessels that he creates incorporate anthropomorphic elements that are points of entry for engaging with the work. Viewers can then construct their own narratives about these objects.
Bill Evans has a degree in Architecture from the University of Washington. His work is figurative with a penchant for thin slab construction. In addition to being recognized for his figurative work, he has received awards for both painting and illustrating, and his work has been published in numerous books on architectural illustration.
Jamie Kirkpatrick obtained his MFA in Ceramics from East Carolina University after receiving both a BS and a MS in Geology. He has been concentrating on altering wheel-thrown forms, working with various teapot designs, as well as using line and carving as both decoration and surface texture. Historical references establish the foundation of his work. It is this historical inspiration and investigation that allows him to continue to enjoy the creative process.
Julie Lindell is a Seattle artist educated at Cornish College of the Arts. Her work has been included in numerous group shows, in Seattle, nationally, and internationally at the Natsuka Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. Her work looks at how natural materials are responding to environmental pressure.
Stephen Sullivan began making pots in high school and has continued to work in clay since that time. Following college, he spent a year traveling and studying Mingei pottery in Japan and working with master potter, Tatsuzo Shimaoka. Currently he practices architecture in Seattle as the founding partner of Sullivan Conard Architects, and maintains a clay studio on Lopez Island. In both architecture and pottery, Stephen enjoys the energy of creative collaboration and seeks to explore the interplay of the formal and the intuitive in the creative process.
Tammie Rubin, assistant professor of Ceramics at the University of Illinois, is in love with a thing called fiction: a story that is invented to entertain or deceive. This passion for invented stories, for mythology, informs her work. Her current work is an attempt to create mythic ornate contraptions that allow for communications beyond this world.
Handle with Care: Thomas Müller, Julie Poitras Santos, and Joanie Turbek
May 4 - 28, 2011
Opening Reception: WEDNESDAY, May 4, 2011, 6-8pm
Performance by Julie Poitras Santos: 6:45-7:15pm
Pottery Northwest is pleased to present “Handle with Care,” an exhibition exploring the concepts of vulnerability and fragility within the medium of ceramics. Curated by Seattle artist Jen Mills, “Handle with Care” presents the work of three artists who turn on its head the notion that breakage means defective. These artists use the notion of destruction as an end in itself and as a way to complete the conceptual ideas behind their work. Featuring the work of Thomas Müller, Julie Poitras Santos and Joanie Turbek, “Handle with Care” will run from May 4 - 28, 2011 in the South Gallery of Pottery Northwest’s historic home at 226 First Avenue North (between Thomas and John), just one block south of the Key Arena at the Seattle Center. An Opening Reception will be held on Wednesday, May 4, from 6-8 pm with a performance by Julie Poitras Santos. The public is cordially invited to attend.
Thomas Müller explores the fragility of language, using ceramics’ ability to break as the vehicle. In the pieces “The End of the World,” and “Vulture,” words and type are pulled into three-dimensional space, forced to deal with their own weight and gravity. The letters are constantly in danger of destruction, either by being placed directly on the floor or falling from a 4x4 beam mounted high on the wall. Muller creates a tension between ceramics as a material where the fragility is understood, and allowing it to break or collapse, which is counter-intuitive. With “Tomatoes,” the viewer is given the choice whether or not to break the ceramic tomato open to reveal the glaze inside, forcing them into the position of having to break the piece in order to complete the work.
Julie Poitras Santos, in her Pacific Northwest debut, will create two works specifically for this show: a site-specific installation with clay in the gallery, and a performance piece at the opening reception. Going beyond the “object-ness” and physical geology of ceramics, Poitras Santos will explore its potential for ephemerality. With Pottery Northwest’s architectural heritage as a former auto body shop as the backdrop, Poitras Santos will leave physical traces of her gestures in space in reaction to her surroundings, interacting in a direct way with the site. Placed in the middle of a walkway, visitors then must interact with the residue left behind as a result of her performance, slowly destroying the work over the course of the installation
Joanie Turbek, also showing in Seattle for the first time, has created a piece titled “$5 a pop: Destruction by Design.” Taking the form of a ceramic tree in full bloom, colored flowers cover its branches. For just five dollars, viewers are allowed to “pick” one of the flowers by breaking the porcelain branch that holds it to the tree. Turbek invites us to participate in the destruction of her work, and by extension, destruction of nature. And the price is right, or is it? Turbek’s work invites us for only $5 to destroy in an instant, what can, if left alone, survive thousands of years. Turbek uses ceramic sculpture as a prop for social interaction and to help us re-examine our relationship with our natural environment.
As curator Jen Mills explains, "These artists work attracted me because of their willingness to destroy their work in order to achieve something more. All three of these artists challenge us by putting us into the uncomfortable position of breaking something in order to become transformed. It is our imperfections that make us interesting, and so it is with art."
Thomas Müller holds an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, and has exhibited nationally and internationally. Recent exhibitions include Project 4 Gallery in Washington, DC, and the prestigious Scripps College 67th Ceramics Annual exhibition. His work has appeared in American Craft and Ceramics Monthly magazines.
Julie Poitras Santos holds an MFA from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and is the recipient of numerous grants and residencies, including the Vermont Studio Center and the European Ceramic Work Centre Residency in the Netherlands. She has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally in Iceland, Netherlands, Mexico, and France.
Joanie Turbek holds an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, has exhibited nationally at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA, Hunter College in New York, and at Project 4 Gallery in Washington DC. Her work is in numerous collections including the Daimler Chrysler Collection, Detroit, MI, and her work has appeared in Ceramics Art and Perception.
Just Dessert — Deborah Schwawrtzkopf
June 4 - 30
OPENING RECEPTION Saturday, June 4, 6 - 8 PM
Pottery Northwest – the Pacific Northwest’s premier ceramics studio and a community of artists at many levels – is pleased to present “Just Dessert,” a solo exhibition of work by Deborah Schwartzkopf. The show will run from June 4 through June 30, 2011 in the Gallery of Pottery Northwest’s historic home at 226 First Avenue North (between Thomas and John), just one block south of the Key Arena at the Seattle Center. An Opening Reception with the artist will be held on Saturday, June 4, from 6-8 pm. The public is cordially invited to attend and feast their eyes on dessert dishes filled with delectable sweets.
A critically acclaimed artist with a national following, Deborah Schwartzkopf is currently concluding her artist-in-residency at Pottery Northwest where she has been an inspiring member of this vibrant clay arts community since 2009. Schwartzkopf received an MFA from Pennsylvania State University and a BA from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Throughout the course of her travels and career, Schwartzkopf has taught workshops across the country and participated in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Her work has appeared in publications such as Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, Studio Potter, and The NCECA Journal.
Featured as a presenter at this year’s NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) annual conference, Schwartzkopf has been recognized for the innovativeness of her complex yet elegant forms defined by animated lines, soft planes, and dynamic surface designs. Her pots are intended to function in the kitchen, but they are also abstractions of emotion -- communicating vivacious energy and the playful, curiosity of the maker. In her artist statement, Deborah states:
Birds are starting places in my study of stance and expression. I want to capture their expressions of precision and breath. The awkward pelican and elegant, buoyant loon embody curious shapes I mesh with geometric, sensual, and architectural elements. On the surfaces of my work, I merge our culture’s signals and nature’s placement of hue. Even in the Seattle winter, humming birds flash and scoot for nectar from my rosemary bush. Traffic lights illuminate the night, demanding attention as I bike through the city. With intentional placement, these visual messages imply function, trigger associations, and call for exploration. I find the relationship between form and surface integral and defining.
360 degrees — Pottery Northwest Collaboration Show
July 8 - 30
OPENING RECEPTION Friday, July 8, 6-8 PM
Pottery Northwest – the Pacific Northwest’s premier ceramics studio and a community of artists at many levels – is pleased to present “360 degrees,” an exhibition of collaborative work by Pottery Northwest resident artists. The exhibiting artists include George Rodriguez, Drew Nicklas, Deborah Schwartzkopf, Adam Helenske, Alya Khan, Wally Bivins, James Lobb, Jessi Li, and Alicia Basinger. The show will run from July 8th through July 30, 2011 in the Gallery of Pottery Northwest’s historic home at 226 First Avenue North (between Thomas and John), just one block south of the Key Arena at the Seattle Center. An Opening Reception with the artists will be held on July 8th from 6-8 pm. The public is cordially invited to attend.
Pottery Northwest fosters a creative atmosphere through its resident artist program. Resident work ranges from figurative to functional, hand built to wheel thrown, oxidation to wood fired. In this unique exhibition, residents will combine their talents to create work outside of their normal practice. Each resident trades work with all 9 participants who in turn finish the piece. The finishing may be as simple as the choice of glazes, or it may be an elaborate re-working. The resulting collaborations capture the style of two artists in still “another” voice.
a dark red — Drew Nicklas
August 6 - 27
CLOSING RECEPTION: Friday, August 26, 6-8 PM
This show explores a new shade of soda firing. It matches an expressionist style of functional pottery with deep muted reds. The result is strong, iron rich work that exudes a quiet variation in color through the spontaneity of the firing process. The work is an expression of two years at Pottery Northwest. It is manifest of the time spent in the studio, a response to the hours of looking through the studio’s permanent collection and the energy of the organization itself. I really wanted to make a show clearly derived from my time at Pottery Northwest. I think this show is an expression of what it means to have an opportunity to work within such a wonderful organization and to become a Northwest Potter.
Griffith Fellowship Artists
October 8 - 28
OPENING RECEPTION Saturday, October 8, 6 - 8 PM
Beth Cavener Stichter |
Andy Nassisse | Josh DeWeese |
Richard Notkin | Tip Toland |
Pottery Northwest, the region’s premiere ceramic facility, will host the Jean Griffith Fellowship Fifth Anniversary Exhibition this October. This show of ceramic artists will bring together the work of the visiting artists that have been recipients of the Jean Griffith Fellowship award. The prominent list includes Beth Cavener Stichter, Josh DeWeese, Richard Notkin, Tip Toland and Andy Nasisse. The show will run from October 8 through October 28, 2011 in the Gallery of Pottery Northwest’s historic home at 226 First Avenue North (between Thomas and John), just one block south of the Key Arena at the Seattle Center. An Opening Reception will be held on Friday, October 8, at 6 pm. The public is cordially invited to attend.
The Jean Griffith Fellowship was created to honor the long-time director of Pottery Northwest for much of its first forty years. The fellowship brings artists of national stature to Pottery Northwest to pursue their art work. Fellowship artists are provided with a stipend in addition to having their materials and firing costs supported while working at Pottery Northwest. In addition to serving the field of ceramics, the program enriches the studio environment at Pottery Northwest with interaction between the fellowship artists and the artists-in-residence and students.
All five fellowship recipients are practicing studio artists whose work and time are in high demand. The group includes the former director of the Archie Bray Foundation, Josh DeWeese, and former Professor of Ceramics at the University of Georgia, Andy Nasisse. Beth Cavener Stichter and Tip Toland have both been honored with the Virginia A. Groot Foundation Award in sculpture and Richard Notkin is a United States Artist Fellow. Collectively the Jean Griffith Fellowship artists are representative of the diversity and quality of in the field of contemporary ceramics.
Student Show
October 8 - 28
OPENING RECEPTION Saturday, October 8, 6 - 8 PM
Each year we are amazed at the breadth and quality of the work produced here.
2011 UN-WEDGED — North American Ceramic Competition and Art Show
November 5-26
OPENING RECEPTION Saturday, November 5, 6- 8 PM
Pottery Northwest, the region’s premiere ceramic facility, will host its second annual ceramics competition and exhibition: UN-WEDGED 2011. UN-WEDGED is a North American juried show with artists applying from all over the United States as well as Canada and Mexico. Applicants submitted both functional and sculptural work as well as mixed media. The show will run from November 5 through November 26, 2011 in the north gallery of Pottery Northwest’s historic home at 226 First Avenue North (between Thomas and John), just one block south of the Key Arena at the Seattle Center. An Opening Reception will be held on Saturday, November 5, at 6 pm. The public is cordially invited to attend.
The 2011 UN-WEDGED juror is Chris Staley, Professor of Ceramics at Penn State University. An award winning artist and well respected educator for many years, Staley is also the recipient of the Jean Griffith Fellowship Residency at Pottery Northwest. As juror for the competition and show, Staley has had to hone down a large pool of submissions to a select group that reflects the show’s ambition of “exceptional work both in concept and execution.” At the same time, he puts his own personal stamp on the interpretation of exceptional by selecting the recipient of the Juror’s Choice Award. This year, the Juror’s Choice Award of one thousand dollars goes to David Hollander of Boulder, Colorado for his piece Horse Head, Hand.
A second Director’s Choice prize of five hundred dollars (selected by Wally Bivins, Pottery Northwest’s director) will be awarded to Dan Molyneux for his piece Xerxes. “We are casting a wide net with this show and defying the idea of a specific trend in the field. The trend in the field that we’re interested in is excellence, and that can come in many manifestations.” Bivins says.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm.
Founded in 1966 as a non-profits arts organization, Pottery Northwest is a long time and vibrant source of programming in the Seattle arts community. Artists from around the world come to Pottery Northwest in the spirit of artistic dialog and as a formative step in their professional career. World class professional artist residencies, exhibitions featuring traditional and contemporary work, community classes and an engaging lecture series spanning many years are all features of this fixture at Seattle Center.
Holiday Show
December 3-23
OPENING RECEPTION Saturday, December 3, 6- 8 PM
The Annual Holiday Show and Sale is an opportunity to experience the breadth and depth of the Artist-in-Residence program at the studio. This year we can expect exquisite functional stoneware pottery from Noah Riedel, sculpted figures in cast glass from Jessi Li, vessel forms including cups and trenchers from Adam Helenske deeply textured by the soda firing process. We'll also see deep cocoa red colored terra cotta clay in casseroles and baskets from Alya Khan, and porcelain bowls and cups accented with bright colors by guest artist Emily Free Wilson. George Rodriguez has just shown a series of "George" sculptures (self portraits) at Foster White Gallery and is sure to surprise with flower covered pots, often made in collaboration by other potter friends for George to decorate. Encompassing two rooms, one for smaller retail work and one for exhibition pieces, the event will give installation artists Akiko Jackson and Yoshinaga Kawamura, and sculptor Dane Youngren a chance to flex their aesthetic muscle. There is more to see and marvel at, and if you are in the gift seeking frame of mind it is an excellent time to pick out the unusual handcrafted item for a favorite someone. Dishwasher safe, microwavable, and most of all unique, made by an individual with consummate skill and a flair for expression. Expect to meet the artists in an opening reception Saturday, December 3rd at 6 pm.
Decadence — Jessi Li
January 14 - February 3
OPENING RECEPTION Saturday, January 14, 6- 8 PM
Jessi Li grew up in Jersey City, NJ and graduated from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Massachusetts in 2009. She moved to Seattle in 2010 as an artist in residence at Pottery Northwest where she has been able to pursue not only her passion for clay, but also kiln cast glass. Jessi was awarded the Resident Artist Project (RAP) grant at Pottery Northwest and the Art Bridge Fellowship through Pratt Fine Arts Center. These grants helped develop a body of work incorporating figures and architecturally inspired forms made from both clay and glass.
Decadence marks the completion of Li’s residency at Pottery Northwest. In this exhibition, she asks:
“How would we feel if our intimate moments were made public? Would we change our behavior? Sanitize our lives? In one breath the beautiful is transformed to repulsive. Whether divine or amoral, excessive or tasteful, is it not decadent?”
