by Carole Epp | Jan 3, 2018 | Uncategorized
“For four decades, Canadian ceramic artist Steven Heinemann has been turning clay into mesmerizing works of art. Heinemann has been widely recognized around the world with several national and international awards and prestigious residencies under his belt, and he came by the q studio to speak with guest host Ali Hassan about the challenges of working with clay, and the life lessons he’s learned from his art form.”
Read more and have a listen here on CBC.
by Carole Epp | Nov 7, 2017 | Uncategorized
Steven Heinemann: Culture and Nature
On now till Jan 21, 2018
Curated by Rachel Gotlieb
From the Gardiner Museum Site:
For the past thirty-five years, acclaimed Canadian artist Steven Heinemann has transformed the medium of ceramics in Canada. Working in varying scale, Heinemann explores the paradoxes between culture and nature, deliberation and chance, interior and exterior surfaces.
This first major retrospective examines Heinemann’s fascinating and evolving process to reveal how he uses form, texture, pigment, and imagery to achieve his wondrously tactile bowls, pods, and other universal shapes that embody the polarities between life and nature.
Heinemann’s process can stretch over months or even years, firing a piece multiple times, and reworking the surface by sandblasting, scratching, polishing, and stenciling to evoke glyph-like imagery. His studio is evoked in the gallery through an installation of sketchbooks and source material, including original photographs and a wall of ceramic test tiles. A time-lapse video shot by the artist documents a treated clay surface as it dries, warps, and cracks according to chance and calculation.
Click here to see Steven Heinemann in his studio discussing one of the works in the exhibition.
Wednesday November 8, 6:30 – 8 pm
Artist Lecture: Steven Heinemann
Steven Heinemann reflects on his career as a Canadian contemporary ceramist and how philosophies of ecology, cosmology, and ancient artifacts have inspired his work.
$15 General / $10 Gardiner Friends
Learn more
Saturday November 11, 2 – 4 pm
Steven Heinemann: Culture and Nature Exhibition Walk-Through
Join Steven Heinemann and contemporary ceramics collector Raphael Yu for a walk-through of Culture and Nature.
$30 General / $25 Gardiner Friends
Learn more
Saturday November 18, 10 am – 4 pm
Master Potter at Work: Steven Heinemann
Steven Heinemann leads an intimate observation-based workshop in our Community Clay Studio for emerging, established, and curious ceramic makers, exploring key elements of his artistic process.
$30 General / $25 Gardiner Friends
Learn more
www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/event/steven-heinemann-culture-nature/
Read more about Steven Heinemann in the Globe and Mail this week.
by Carole Epp | Oct 18, 2016 | Uncategorized
Hey Everyone,
I hope you can forgive the fact that a week went by without our usual emerging artist/monday morning eye candy and such posts. It’s been a crazy busy time around here lately. Rather then try to play catch up I thought I’d let you guys in on what’s been going on around here lately.
This past weekend I was in Toronto for the Fusion Clay and Glass Exhibition. Bringing together artists from across Canada it was a weekend filled with some of the great ceramic work that our fine country has to offer. I’m pleasantly exhausted and returned home feeling inspired and appreciative of those in our community that work tirelessly to bring events and artists together like this. Celebrating it’s 20th Anniversary this year the Fusion Clay and Glass Exhibition is known for the diversity and talent that it presents year after year. I highly encourage Clay and Glass artists from all over Canada to take note of this prestigious event and to reach out to the organizers to get involved for next year.
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| #canadianceramics Family picture at Fusion |
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| such an incredible space at the Artscape Wychwood Barns |
While in Toronto I always try to stop by and visit some of my favorite pieces at the Gardiner Museum. Lovely to see some of Edmund DeWaal’s pieces there this time. And they also have a sweet exhibition on mapping the influence of Scandinavia Design in Canada highlighting both older as well as contemporary works by artists across the craft disciplines not just ceramics. If you have a mid-century chair obsession (as i do) then it’s a show worth catching.
Also took in the opening reception for Clint Neufeld’s new exhibition at General Hardware Contemporary and the opening of the new (incredible) Craft Ontario retail and exhibition space.
I also had to steal a few minutes to run over to Harbourfront Centre to see the Lindsay Montgomery exhibition that was on in their vitrine gallery. She’s one of my favorite Canadian artists right now so I was pretty excited to get to see the work in person.
And fellow make and do ceramics member Shane Weaver gave us a tour of his latest project: dex(terity) lab. More on that very soon as he will be opening his doors to the public in November…very exciting to see such a beautiful ceramic work and retail space in Toronto. Every city needs one of these!
Okay….so that was just Toronto…
I’m also super excited to invite you to the Void Gallery exhibition of make and do ceramics which opens runs from October 12th to November 6th. This is our first exhibition as a collective. A reception will be held Thursday, October 20th, from 7 to 9pm. Please stop by if you’re in the area or you can view/purchase work online as well. www.voidgallery.ca/makeanddo
I’m sure I’m missing things I need to say… I especially want to thank all those that were involved with making this trip our to Toronto so amazing. It was the break from the routine and the inspiration I needed. xoxoxo carole
by Carole Epp | Oct 11, 2016 | Uncategorized
October 13, 2016 to January 8, 2017
Produced by the Gardiner Museum and curated by Rachel Gotlieb and Michael Prokopow
Exhibition design by Andrew Jones Design / Graphic design by q30 design inc.
This landmark exhibition explores more
than seven decades of Nordic aesthetic influence in Canadian design.
Examining the ways that modern Scandinavian design was introduced to
Canada and how its aesthetic principles and material forms were adopted
and adapted by Canadian artisans and designers, True Nordic will present a comprehensive, critical survey of Canadian furniture, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, and glassware.
Scandinavian design initially reached
Canada’s elite consumers and style-makers via museum and gallery
exhibitions, showrooms, small retail shops and articles and
advertisements in popular decorator magazines. However, it was the
dynamic influx of émigré craftspeople from Scandinavia who both affirmed
and vernacularized the aesthetic in Canada and who shaped profoundly
the country’s design and craft movement from the 1930s onward. What was
broadly known as “Danish modern” became synonymous with ideas about good
design, and “comfortable and gracious living.” Capitalizing on the
market opportunities presented, Canadian manufacturers added
Scandinavian design to their conservative repertoire of colonial and
historicist offerings and called these lines, Helsinki, Stanvanger,
Scanda and so on. The culminating section of the exhibition will ask why
Scandinavian and Nordic aesthetics continue to resonate with so many
contemporary Canadian designers and artisans at work today.
Featured artisans include: Carl Poul
Petersen, Ernst and Alma Lorenzen, Janis Kravis, John Stene, Karen
Bulow, Kjeld and Erica Deichmann, Lotte Bostlund, Thor Hansen, Rudolph
Renzius, Sigrun Bulow-Hube, Ruth Gowdy McKinley, Niels Bendtsen, Sean
Place, Mjolk, Stephanie Forsythe, and Todd MacAllen.
by Carole Epp | Apr 6, 2016 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, technical tuesday
The Gardiner Museum’s Ceramic
Sculpture Competition is challenging artists from across the country
working in all mediums to create a new Toronto landmark using clay. The
monumental sculpture will be installed in front of the Museum on Queen’s
Park, along the busy Bloor and Avenue Road Corridor, joining the Jun
Kaneko “head” as a focal point of the Museum’s plaza.
The
winning sculpture will be selected by a five-person jury made up of
artist and novelist, Douglas Coupland; Director of the Power Plant
Contemporary Art Gallery, Gaëtane Verna; Associate Dean of OCAD
University, Michael Prokopow; Gardiner CEO and Executive Director,
Kelvin Browne; and Gardiner Chief Curator, Meredith Chilton.
The
competition will promote the benefits of public art, and demonstrate
both the versatility of clay and its potential for outdoor art. It will
also build appreciation for artists who work in the ceramic medium and
encourage artists to experiment with it for the first time.
The
Gardiner is grateful to La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso for
commissioning the artwork and to the City of Toronto for their support
of the Ceramic Sculpture Competition, and would like to recognize
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam and Emmanuelle Gattuso, in particular, for
their leadership in helping this important civic initiative to proceed.
Who can apply?
This competition is open to Canadian artists who work in all mediums and reside in Canada. Artists may apply individually or can submit a collaborative team proposal, providing at least one artist resides in Canada. Artists directly involved with the Gardiner Museum are welcome to participate.
Full details here.
