Jonathan Kaplan on wed 10 jul 96
I would add some relevant thought to the show as I viewed it in its
entirety on Thursday July 4th.
The clay work was some of the poorest I have ever seen in a show touted to
have such high quality. Yes there were some exceptions...Richard Aerni's
beautiful sized and glazed stoneware, and Rick Foris' vessels. The rest of
the pots in my view were poorly executed, low on content, and lacked, IMHO,
the necessary stuff to be included. Why?
OK here's my thing. I have always been rejected from this show and quite
frankly, am pleased to be in such good company of my fellow rejectees. My
observations are not, I hope, so tainted from never being annointed to this
venue, but solely from the point of view that it is not a level field from
a jurying standpoint.
Having been both accepted and rejected into many many shows over my 30 plus
years in this gig, I accept that I must compete with my peers. This is
fine. No beef here. But lets get this jurying thing straight. I don't think
that museum curators, art directors, educators, or the like have any idea
whatsoever as to what is out there in the real world of art. Nor do they
have any idea as to what standards they need to apply to potters, glass
blowers, sculptors, etc., who are on this type of show circuit. Lets level
the playing field by having working artists, potters, glassblowers,
jewelers, on that jury and jury it by media. Sure one of the above
mentioned curators, etc.,. could be on the panel, but lets have a system
that works for us, by us, and with us. One can find a myriad of faults with
the ACE juring system, but at least IMHO, having participated on that jury,
I feel fair and equitable. While I'll put my work out there with any one
elses, to what aim does it serve to have a painter, printmaker, etc. look
at ceramic work to be juried into a street show? By the same token, I sure
would feel un- qualified to jury paintings or prints, let alone jewelery.
So why do I feel that the jury system for this show is inherently biased?
The clay was all the same to me. I was not left with a sense of awe, a
sense of being swept off my feet by work that was new, innovative, and well
executed. There were well under 25 ceramic artists, and about a third ( in
all media) are asked back..award winners, best of show.. etc.etc. and the
show for years has looked the same. What I saw in clay, except for the two
exceptions above, was work that was so highly technique oriented, with out
any sense of form. Poorly executed scraffito on rather poorly made forms,
etc.etc. There is such a great pool of ceramic talent out there that was
not presented at the show...no sawdust, pit, or saggar, no majolica,
etc.etc. the list goes on. And I do indeed fault the promotors and the jury
for being so blatently dismissive of the rest of the world of clay. I would
be very interested to hear from a painter or printmaker who viewed the
show. The deeply evocative nature of both painting and printmaking, in my
opinion, in surface embellishment seemed to me to be a standard that was
imposed by the jury, albeit, unsuccessfully on the potters, and to me, it
failed many times over.
I am in no way faulting the exhibiting artists. I think it is quite
fortuitous to be in this show and hope they all did very well, as I am sure
they did. But quite frankly, I was in awe of the 2 dimensional work, swept
off my feet by some of the photographers work and the graphic arts..in
fact, what really stuck out in my mind were two basketmakers.
I think that the promotors are not addresing the issues of fair jurying.
One can't compare the same standards for content in paintings that one can
in pottery. It reflects more on the ego of the promotors to have their show
rated in the top 5 best in the universe than to have an equitible system
and level playing so that all of us stand an equal chance for this venue,
not jsut the select few year after year in clay.
Jonathan
Jonathan Kaplan
http://www.craftweb.com/org/jkaplan/cdg.shtml
(aka "Scooter)
jonathan@csn.net
Ceramic Design Group Ltd./Production Services Voice:
970-879-9139 POB 775112
FAXmodem: same
Steamboat Springs, Colorado 80477, USA CALL before faxing
"Arrive on time, tell the truth, be a good listener, and don't
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humor!"
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