October Issue 1999
Clay Exhibition At Waterworks Visual Arts Center
Contemporary Carolina Clay will be on view at the Waterworks Visual Arts Center, in Salisbury, NC, from Oct. 1 - Nov. 28. Artwork by students from West Rowan High School will be featured in the Young People's Gallery during the same time span.
Contemporary Carolina Clay, supported in part by Wachovia Bank, Salisbury, features the work of internationally known NC clay artists Mark Hewitt from Pittsboro, NC and Ben Owen III from Seagrove, NC, as well as emerging artists Sean Kenny from Charlotte, NC, and Brent Smith from Salisbury.
Both Mark Hewitt and Ben Owen III were born into powerful clay dynasties. Hewitt's father and grandfather were Directors of Spode, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and he continues that tradition of excellence in his Pittsboro studio. Owen III is the grandson and namesake of a pioneer in the NC clay tradition. Owen III maintains a studio in Seagrove, yards away from where his grandfather, Ben Owen, made the first family pots. While both Hewitt and Owen are recognized internationally, each is committed to supporting the regional clay community. Hewitt recently completed his term as a member of the NC Pottery Center Board of Directors, and Ben Owen will serve on the board through 1999.
The Waterworks exhibition coincides with two international clay conferences on wood-firing techniques. Both men are leading presenters at these prestigious conferences, Different Stokes in Iowa City, IA, and Pyrochromatics in Greenville, NC. Both artists were featured in the Smithsonian Magazine article, Fired with Finesse, Oct. 1998.
Hewitt, born in England in 1955, specializes in the production of very large garden planters, storage jars and vases, ranging from ten to thirty gallons, along with a full range of tableware. Firing in a 900 cubic foot wood burning kiln, Hewitt mines and refines his own stoneware clays and glaze materials from the local area, specializing in traditional Southern alkaline glazes and salt glazes. Not only is his work recognized by his peer group but his work is also overwhelmingly supported by the general public. People line up at dawn prior to his kiln openings, and his large clay pieces often are spoken for several years in advance.
Born in NC in 1968, Ben Owen III spent after-school hours in his grandfather's clay studio, and as early as age 12, he hoped to become a "Master Potter." His current work pays homage to his grandfather's love of oriental shapes and glazes that have become a familiar part of the NC tradition. Owen continues to develop his own style, producing beautiful functional ware, combining the NC clay tradition with contemporary influences, including his trips to Japan. He supports change within a tradition, supplementing wood firings with a gas kiln, using premixed porcelain as well as stoneware clays mined on his property. His work is in great demand by collectors, and he was featured in an article by Brenda Biondo in USA Weekend, May 21-23, 1999.
Sean Kenny recently arrived in Charlotte, NC with a MFA degree (1997) in Ceramic Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, and he is currently teaching at UNC-Charlotte. Using a sgraffito technique with engobes and glazes on large earthenware slab surfaces, his nonfunctional wall pieces reflect a tradition rooted in abstract expressionism. Brent Smith and Ben Owen III are both 1993 BFA graduates of East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. Smith's functional work reflects his respect for the NC folk pottery tradition and is marked by thoughtful restraint. He has built both an anagama style wood-firing kiln and a catenary arch gas kiln at his Salisbury studio and is currently teaching ceramics at the Waterworks Visual Arts Center.
Hewitt, Owen, and Smith create primarily functional pieces in stoneware with a variety of surfaces including wood-fired, salt glazed, and reduction stoneware. Kenny's nonfunctional wall pieces in low-fire clay would seem to be the antithesis of the more traditional pieces.
Sculpture by Frank Holder is also on exhibit in the Taylor/Johnson Courtyard. Holder's large organic abstract shapes in a variety of metals have a wonderful sense of fluidity and motion, and often times, whimsy. A self-taught visual artist, Holder received an MFA in Dance from UNC-Greensboro in 1972. His love of dance and movement is an intrinsic part of his sculpture. Holder's sculptures may be seen publicly at NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill, Elon College, and the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro.
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