Scale and Presence is an exhibit of masterly crafted large scale ceramics on display at Mitchell•Giddings Fine Arts, 183 Main Street, Brattleboro Vermont. The show will run through April 26, 2015 highlighting a new body of work by Brattleboro artist, Stephen Procter.
Known for the disciplined lines and unglazed surfaces of his historically-inspired monumental vessels, Procter’s more recent work revels in the sensuality of curves and the painterly effects of layered glazes. Whether austere or exuberant, these vessels transcend the usual experience of pottery and broach the realm of sculpture. Alongside human-sized vessels, Scale and Presence will introduce a series of smaller pieces and non-traditional shapes including colorful wall pieces, called “orphan lids.”
The process of creating these vessels has a resemblance for Stephen, also a musician, to making music. “Leonardo Da Vinci described music as ‘shaping the invisible’ says Stephen. “In my previous profession as a classical guitarist I spun those shapes out in time. Now, sitting at the potter’s wheel, I spin them out in space. The musician and the potter work with essentially the same elements: repetition and contrast, tension and release, harmony and dissonance, movement and stasis. Above all, both are concerned with finding and rendering the beautiful line.“
Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts celebrated its debut in September 2014 and regularly features oil stick paintings by Jim Giddings, lyrical abstract landscapes by Petria Mitchell, Doug Trump’s poetic highly structured abstract mixed media paintings, and Lauren Olitski’s strongly textured abstract acrylic paintings, chromatic contemporary blown glass art by Josh Bernbaum, cameraless photography by Christine Triebert, hand carved hardwood furniture, sculpture, and vessels by David and Michelle Holzapfel, and glazed monumental ceramics by Stephen Procter. In March Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts welcomes invited artist, abstract painter Robert Moorhead to the gallery. Guest artist Emily Mason will also continue to have work on display through this exhibit.
Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts is located at 183 Main Street, Brattleboro, Vermont. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 11-5 pm, MGFA’s distinctive gallery space is home to rotating exhibits of contemporary fine art and craft.
Contact: Petria Mitchell, Co-Director (petria@sover.net)
Mitchell•Giddings Fine Arts
183 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
mailing: PO Box 2125
W Brattleboro, VT 05303
(802) 251-8290
info@mitchellgiddingsfinearts.com
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Fun with Lines
I really enjoy Steve’s giant vessels. They are simple and elegant, yet stunning at the same time. They are also always recognizable as his work – something true of good potters.
The size is fun. They make us feel smaller.
The discussion of line, above, is not unique to pottery or guitar playing. Those same elements come into drawing and animation. I look for lines of action and movement.
Animated shapes rely on strong outlines that can be clearly read by the viewer. Controlling this shapes and lines is where the art comes in.
There are architectural lines, useful for perspective. There are weak lines, uncertain lines, bold lines, broken lines, and so on. Lines that contain. Lines that propel.
(Chuck Jones won an Academy Award for his animated version of the Dot and the Line.)