C LI FF LEE PORCELAIN
Cliff Lee combines the tradition of historic Chinese ceramics with his own contemporary design aesthetic. The refined vessels he creates are the product of a keen eye and an inquisitive mind. His respect for the achievements of his ceramic forbearers is evident in his ongoing efforts to develop new glazes that respond to classic Chinese clay surfaces. Some of these glazes have been lost for centuries and Lee has introduced these after considerable research and experimentation. Going beyond mere recreation, Lee adds visual elements that distinguish his work as contemporary and individual. In these precise porcelain pieces, he attenuates the shapes of his vessels and carves forms. He also assembles increasingly complex and unusual plant, floral, and vegetative components as additions to the surfaces of some of his works. While referring to historic pieces, Lee’s resulting combinations of glaze and form are clearly the product of a 21st-century master. His intense gaze and deft hand also infuse Lee’s ceramics with a spirituality that is palpable and astounding. Bruce W. Pepich Executive Director and Curator of Collections Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin
©2014 Cliff Lee, all rights reserved Photography by Douglas Lee
“Cliff Lee's vessels are among the finest examples of American artists working in porcelain today.”
~ Michael Monroe, Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery
Cliff Lee’s work has been exhibited around the world and featured in numerous publications, including: The White House Collection of American Crafts Craft in America: Celebrating Two Centuries of Artists and Objects Skilled Work: American Craft in the Renwick Gallery History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational Best of Pottery, Volume I Best of Pottery, Volume II
The artist carves with X-acto knives, dental tools and duct-taped saw blades. He has never had an assistant or hired work out. He does everything himself, from mixing the clay and glazes to carving and ďŹ ring.
“This porcelain vessel with a classic celadon glaze ... has few equals in contemporary American porcelain.� ~ Kenneth R. Trapp Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery
The magic of Lee's vessels comes not only from the ďŹ neness of the porcelain but also from the way it holds and disperses light.
"If there’s no challenge, what is life for?" ~ Cli Lee
Cli Lee came into prominence in 1993 when he was invited to contribute a piece of his work to the White House Collection of American Crafts.
Two years later his work was in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery.
It took Cliff Lee 17 years to recreate the formula for the Imperial Yellow glaze of the 15th-century Ming court. The glaze is one of his biggest discoveries.
The artist’s “Prickly Melons” with Imperial Yellow glaze caught the eye of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which acquired a pair for its permanent collection - a rare distinction for a living artist.
“This is some of the most exquisitely made work I have ever seen in clay.” ~ Nicholas Bell Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery
Cliff Lee “stands alone in his sensitivity to the source and the intensity with which he channels China’s ceramic past into contemporary American work.” ~ From the exhibition catalogue 'History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011'
"I always want to keep moving, to do new work and new things, to go one step beyond, so I can grow." ~ Cli Lee
P�������� C���������� Carnegie Museum of Art - Pittsburgh PA Columbia Museum of Art - Columbia, SC Crocker Art Museum - Sacramento, CA Mint Museum of Craft & Design - Charlotte, NC New Britain Museum of American Art - New Britain, CT Racine Art Museum - Racine, WI Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery - Washington, DC University of Kentucky Art Museum Lexington, KT White House Collection of American Crafts - Washington, DC Yale University Art Gallery - New Haven, CT
E���������� Tampa Museum of Art - Tampa, FL Fuller Craft Museum - Brockton, MA Taft College Art Gallery - Taft, CA Palm Springs Art Museum - Palm Springs, CA Jimmy Carter Presidential Library - Atlanta, GA Colby College Museum of Art - Waterville, ME Art Museum of Western Virginia - Roanoke, VA Mint Museum of Craft & Design - Charlotte, NC Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester -, NY Los Angeles County Museum of Art - Los Angeles, CA Houston Center for Contemporary Craft - Houston, TX Portland Museum of Contemporary Craft - Portland, OR The University of Michigan Museum of Art - Ann Arbor, MI White House Collection of American Crafts - Washington, DC National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum - Oklahoma City, OK Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery - Washington, DC New Britain Museum of American Art, “Contemporary Combustion” - New Britain - CT
E���������� Virginia Museum - Richmond, VA Arkansas Art Center - Little Rock, AR Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, MA Museum of Fine Art - Springfield, MA Downey Museum of Art - Downey, CA Crocker Art Museum - Sacramento, CA Delaware Art Museum - Wilmington, DE American Craft Museum - New York, NY Decorative Art Museum - Little Rock, AK Carnegie Museum of Art - Pittsburgh, PA Art Association of Newport - Newport, RI Cranbrook Art Museum - Bloomfield Hills, MI Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York, NY Mingei International Museum - San Diego, CA Charles A. Wustum, Museum of Fine Art, “Once upon a Time” - Racine, WI Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University - Evanston, IL
”I want my work to express a sensitive and honest use of the material and technique. I hope it will embody the eternal quality of aesthetic joy.” ~ Cliff Lee
170 W. Girl Scout Road | Stevens, PA 17578 (717) 733-9373 | www.CliffLeePorcelain.com