Esoteric Survey

80th Scripps College Ceramic Annual Starting in 1945, Scripps College has been mounting these legendary annual exhibitions. This year, they combined two major California collections for  In the Hands of the Collector: The Fred Marer and Forrest L. Merrill Collections.  Guest curated by Nancy Servis, there are over 100 pieces by more than 60 artists. Fred donated his collection of over 1,500 pieces to Scripps. Forrest has over 4,000 and counting. They both acquired many works directly from the artists and California ceramics are at the core. Since Fred was in southern California, these direct purchases came from people working at Otis and other institutions around LA. Forrest started his collection through direct purchases in the Bay Area, since he's from Berkeley. He's also still at it.   There are some classics. This Laura Andreson teapot is the first piece collected by Fred Marer.  Glen Lukens Antonio Prieto from Forrest James Lovera was so good and is still s...

  Doyle Lane: Weed Pots , an exhibition curated by Ricky Swallow at David Kordansky Gallery in New York. Featuring nearly 100 works, Doyle Lane: Weed Pots is an expanded iteration of a related exhibition of sixty pots that took place at David Kordansky Gallery’s Los Angeles location in 2020.  I'm so fortunate to have been able to make the trip to New York to see this one in person. Ricky is so deep into Lane--not only as a longtime collector but also as the author of the book,  Doyle Lane : Weed Pots . He put together an amazing selection of pots that nobody else could have accomplished. The examples of glazes and forms are most certainly the best selection of weed pots that have ever been assembled. They really show what an amazing artist Doyle was--and this is just the weed pots! The ephemera case.  Doyle's business card and a keychain by him. OBJECTS : USA represented Here come the pots! One of my favorites in the show. This one came from the estate of a promine...