SCULPTURAL CONNECTIONS
Front Cover: White, Nina Hole Back Cover: Caught Between the Interface, Don Reitz Catalogue Design: Sophia Marsh
SCULPTURAL CONNECTIONS Sculpture in Conversation
February 10 - 28, 2022
Lucy Lacoste Gallery 25 Main Street, Concord MA lucylacoste.com | info@lucylacoste.com
Featured Artists: Barbro Åberg, Sweden, b. 1958 Ashwini Bhat, India, b. 1980 Paul S. Briggs, USA, b. 1963 Ken Eastman, England, b. 1960 Lily Fein, USA, b. 1993 Nina Hole, Denmark, (1941 - 2016) Karen Karnes, USA, (1925 - 2016) Malene Müllertz, Denmark, b. 1945 John Reeve, Canada, (1929 - 2012) Don Reitz, USA, (1929 - 2014) Tim Rowan, USA, b. 1956 Jeff Shapiro, USA, b. 1949 Robert Silverman, USA, b. 1956 Lena Takamori, USA, b. 1990 Hans Vangsø, Denmark, b. 1950
Curator's Statement As the ceramic world turns toward sculpture, we thought it a good idea to do a show on some of our favorite sculptures in conversation with each other. We did not choose Japanese artists as that is primarily a show in itself. Artists we have recently shown, or are about to show, are not here for the sake of variation. I remember hearing Julian Stair say that all work made from clay is sculpture. He went on to say that the mug is sculpture as well. I agree. Every vessel of Karen Karnes can be seen as sculpture and in the Ken Eastman here, the negative space holds as much power as the positive, like the best of three dimensional work. Central to this exhibition are four wood-fired sculptures by Nina Hole (1941 – 2016), which relate to architecture. White and Double Cross Church are abstractions of a church near her village. The fourth sculpture, Spiral is a masterpiece of the elemental. John Reeve (1929 – 2012) delights us with his Yellow Sculpture with Turquoise in which the Five Parts can move around as he did as the Zen beatnik potter. Ashwini Bhat (1980-)’s Self Portrait as Kali is full of intentionality bringing together an abstraction of her own torso, her mother’s sari and the energy and ferociousness of the goddess Kali. Paul S. Briggs (1963 -) who has gone from meditative pinch pots to sculptural series based on the inequities of the prison system, especially to people of color, here presents A Hill to Climb in tribute to Amanda Gorman from his poetry series dedicated to Black poets.. Malene Müllertz (1945-) gives us the early White Lidded with Box Grey Lines (1988) which signals all her brilliant baskets with individual coiling. It is the power within these abstract sculptures that leads to conversations with each other and ourselves. -Lucy Lacoste, 2022
Paul S. Briggs A Hill to Climb II (Amanda Gorman), 2021 15.75h x 7.50w x 9d in
Excerpt from The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry. A sea we must wade. We braved the belly of the beast. We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace, and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn’t always justice. And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it. Somehow we do it. Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished. We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one. And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge our union with purpose. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man. And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all. Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried. That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious. Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division. Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made. That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare. It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit. It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.
Nina Hole (1941-2016) White, 2003-2006 Wood-fired stoneware, 8h x 14w x 10d in
Paul S. Briggs Profiling, 2021 Glazed stoneware, oxidation, c6 13h x 8w x 10d in
Ashwini Bhat Self-Portrait as Kali, 2020, Clay, glaze, gold leaf and swatch of unstitched silk sari 22h x 8.50w in
Ashwini Bhat Beginning is the End is the Beginning Clay, underglaze, glaze, & paint, 20h x 16w x 14d in
Barbro Åberg Double Dark Porcupine, 2020 Clay w/ volcanic grit, 1140° C, 14h x 14w x 3d in
Malene Müllertz White Lidded Box with Grey Lines, circ. 1988 Stoneware, 8h x 8.50w in
Nina Hole (1941-2016) Spiral, 2008 Wood-fired stoneware, 7h x 10w x 7d in
Hans Vangsø Vessel Ridges, Fluted Oval White Stoneware, 10 1/4h x 8w x 7d in
Nina Hole (1941-2016) Double Cross Church, 2003-2006 Wood-fired stoneware, 11h x 15w x 8d in
Nina Hole (1941-2016) Folded Architecture, Blue and Violet Stoneware, 8h x 15.50w x 9.50d in
Karen Karnes Slit Vessel with Lacquered Lid, 1986 Stoneware, 8h x 13w x 13d in
Ken Eastman Rootie Tootie, 2020 Ceramic, 11h x 9.75w in
Ken Eastman Urishay, 2020 Ceramic, 10.25h x 10.50w in
Robert Silverman Untitled, 2018 Glazed porcelain, 10h x 8w in
John Reeve Yellow Sculpture with Turquoise Conceptual Sculpture, Earthenware, 7.25h x 15w in
Lily Fein Tripod Vase, 2019 High Fired Porcelain w/ Turquoise glaze, 11h x 8w x 7d in
Lena Takamori Double Cloud, 2021 Stoneware, 11.50h x 22w x 11.50d in
Tim Rowan Box, Shoe Form Wood-fired native clay, 7.25h x 11.50w x 7.25d in
Jeff Shapiro Sculptural Vessel, Oribe Reborn, 2020 Stoneware, 21h x 12w x 7.50d in