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September Issue 2003
W.D.O. Gallery in Charlotte, NC, Hosts Two Exhibits
From Sept. 2 through Oct. 11, 2003, W.D.O.
Gallery in Charlotte, NC, will hosts two exhibits featuring works
by ceramic artist, Karen Karnes and The Memory of Shadows
featuring Junichiro Baba's cast glass.
Vermont artist Karen Karnes is one of the foremost ceramic
artists living in the US today. Born New York City, 1925, educated
at Brooklyn College and Alfred University, Karnes was a student
at Black Mountain College during the summer of 1946. In the early
fifties she and her husband headed the ceramics department at
the short-lived, but influential Black Mountain College. The avant-garde
artists, Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage were among the many
creative minds at Black Mountain College during this period in
history. Another leading figure in ceramic art today, the late
Peter Voulkos also taught a summer course in the early 1950's.
After leaving Black Mountain College she moved to Stony Point, VT, a rural area one hour from New York City. It was during the twenty-five years spent here that she honed her skills in traditional manner of pottery. Karnes reveled in her role as the local potter because it allowed for personal relationships. This simple way of life awarded her great pleasure with modest economic rewards.
Karnes currently lives in Morgan, VT. She, more than anyone else alive, is the grandmother of American ceramics. Known for her stoneware casseroles, she also makes wheel-thrown sculptural vessels that have heft and grace, often with a soft sensuous mouth; her palette is focused on greens, blues, and purples. She first exhibited with the Ceramic National at the Everson Museum in 1950, won the Fletcher Challenge Merit Award in 1992 and a gold metal from the American Craft Council in 1998. Public collections that include her work are Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
In Karnes' wood-fired pieces, the ash from the kiln creates a speckled effect which gives it a light and airy quality. The anthropomorphic shapes of the vessel lend a sensual quality. Light flows through the space of the vessel through a small opening in the center. Her work unmistakably remains grounded in the traditions of pottery even though her latest pieces are rooted in Modernism.
When her studio and house in Morgan, caught fire in 1998, Karnes knew it would be only minutes before the entire structure burned to the ground. By the time the firefighters arrived, nothing could be done except keep the fire, which had started spontaneously in the old wooden framing above one of the kilns, from spreading to the nearby guest cabin.
With the support and encouragement of the craft community, she reestablished her studio and has continued to produce significant work. Garth Clark Gallery in New York is planning a major retrospective for Karnes.
Karnes is a major figure in the world of contemporary craft. W. D.O. is honored to have the opportunity to show such important work.
For more information check our NC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 704/333-9123, or on the
web at (www.gallerywdo.com).
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