Esoteric Survey

  This past weekend AMOCA hosted a Panel discussion as part of the  Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape exhibition. It was a packed house. Someone from the museum said it was the most people they've had for an event like this. The first panel included three people who were personally connected to the Architectural Pottery.  Jo Lauria on the far left curated the exhibition and moderated the talk. To her right is Lee Whitten, then Marilyn Kay Austin in the middle and Damon Lawrence is on the right. Lee Whitten earned a master's degree in 1964 at UCLA under Laura Andreson and Bernie Kester. His first job in ceramics was at Architectural Pottery working under David Cressey. He was recommended to David by Andreson. This photo is a planter Cressey let Lee buy for $1.50, his hourly wage at the time. Lee said he liked the process of pushing the clay out from the interior of the form. Earth Cells were another favorite of his.  Although he was only at ...

Architectural Pottery: Ceramics for a Modern Landscape Curated by Jo Lauria, at AMOCA Jo, Dan Chavkin, Jeffrey Head, Gary Wexler and the AMOCA team put together a wonderful exhibition. Displaying this many pots is not an easy undertaking. The wall graphics and photos are great as well. It all started with La Gardo Tackett in 1949.  Tackett assigned his students at the California School of Art to create forms for modern homes. They held an exhibition of their work at a Evans & Reeves nursery, where Max and Rita (pictured with Tackett above) Lawrence saw the work. In 1950, the Lawrences partnered with two of the students, John Follis and Rex Goode, on a company they named Architectural Pottery.   LaGardo Tackett with a group of his designed Totems; Photo: George Szanik, 1957 Courtesy of Monacelli Press from the accompanying book, Architectural Pottery Ceramics for a Modern Landscape.   by Daniel Chavkin, Jeffrey Head, and Jo Lauria From the collection of JF C...

  Angelo Testa, Marilyn Kay Austin and others.

Marilyn Kay Austin, David Cressey, Robert Maxwell and Bill Curry Design Line lamp. This bowl seems pretty special. It's a typical Cressey flame glaze but I don't remember seeing a piece decorated on the inside like this. This weekend of picking was really good but this Ubunji Kidokoro chair is what I was most excited to find. It's made of bamboo and was designed in 1937. I included a similar design in a post I did on  Charlotte Perriand in Japan .  Early Peter Voulkos Tapio Wirkkala Puukko Knife   I had one of these years ago and had to throw it away. I brought it with me to a trip to Arcosanti and accidentally left it in my bag until my next trip, which was to Detroit. TSA made me throw it away. I'm glad to have one back in my life. It's the ultimate package opener. Large Soleri bell

  Nathan Lerner, Marilyn Kay Austin, David Cressey and some other stuff. Nathan Lerner at my normal stop along the 5.  Japanese things Mel Bogart for Felmore