On my last day in the USA, I spent in Los Angeles with Bari Ziperstein – most recently our juror for the 2019 Portage Ceramic Awards. She had helpfully arranged some visits for us. We had three, in different parts of the city – about all that’s possible in such traffic. Following a visit to her studio, we visited Brian Rochford in east LA and his spotlessly clean enormous studio space with many displayed completed vessels. Arrayed in sizes I could not be clear if I was viewing glaze/texture tests or if the mug-size bowls and small vessels (slip cast) were actually pieces for display/exhibition and sale. The two larger sizes were clearly destined for exhibition somewhere and it seemed there were a number of shows lined up at galleries around the world in various cities. That appeared to be his main interest – travelling to various places for exhibitions of his work and who could blame him? (He’s been making pots, he said, from age 14). Colour and texture are his principal concerns for the work while form and the foundational clay/ceramic, often made for him, serves as simply a support medium. He certainly appeared to have reached maximum potential in both surface categories, which are also requisites for a few NYC white cube galleries, I spoke with, that are currently seeking ceramic artists.
Bari’s studio in east LA. Clean, well-lit and efficiently laid out.
New production work under development and below, Bari’s personal work in storage.
Below, Bari and Brian Rochford in his studio…
The cup shelves.
Two cup close-ups.
Approx 12-13cm H. x 8-9cmDia.
Brian Rochford and a piece still warm from the kiln.
Below -another view of above work – Variably 38cm H.
I asked how many kiln shelves get ruined in a month and he said he had that pretty well under control now! This work approx 24cmH.
Two final close-ups…
Next we visited Stan Edmondson in Pasadena whose studio roamed in varying measure all around his large garden and into his large house (wherein was his almost 100 year old mother!) Many are the memories of Voulkos, Frimkess and Mason playing cards there with Stan’s father who also was an artist. While Stan’s personal work concentrates, currently, on painting, his clay work is a lot about facilitating other artists, trained mainly outside ceramics, to achieve their vision in clay. He has large kilns, a Soldner clay mixer, a unique slab roller plus ample space and lots of experience as assistant for artists, such as the late John Mason, so I’m sure they receive the best of support. One recent client was our own Robert Rapson who was in LA for an exhibition with South Willard Gallery which has carried his work for some years.
Stan with one of his small kilns and that’s his slab roller at his feet!
The trusty Soldner where clay bodies are made to order or individual requirement.
A piece left behind by Peter Voulkos some years ago….
Currently some large scale figurative work is happening. This young artist, preparing for a white cube gallery show, is working to a time-honoured technique – carving and modelling through slip painting on terra-cotta cylinders. These measure about two metres high.
Again, surface seems to be the primary concern and supporting form kept simple and basic.
Our last call of the day was to Los Angeles’ far-to-the-south/west Long Beach College campus where Tony Marsh has taught for close to thirty years. Apparently each summer break, for many of those thirty years he has gathered the best talent he can muster for an intense workshop session where, ‘ having the person next to you making great work is a major spur!’ This was a philosophy that had certainly worked as it was warm and sunny, beaches were nearby and it was vacation time but inside the very spacious ceramics department were over a dozen artists drawn from many quarters all working away with great energy and enthusiasm. Everyone did not want their work imaged yet and others had not developed work to where it could be photographed, while others’ situations made it difficult to get a shot that might do it justice. However here are a few of the works in progress…
Then I flew home! Some more about what was in between will come shortly…
Cone Ten and descending... 