Historic & Significant Ceramics Featured in Sebastopol Gallery

SEBASTOPOL, Calif. - Aug. 8, 2014 - PRLog -- “Big Ideas 1950-1970: Influences in Modern Ceramics,”, the upcoming show at Sebastopol Center for the Arts, is an exhibition which focuses on the evolution and contemporary re-interpretation of earlier groundbreaking ceramic works by 13 seminal artists. The artists and their works, featured in this show (dating from 1950 to 1970)  have inspired a generation of contemporary ceramic artists. Intertwined with these influential pieces is a juried exhibition of contemporary ceramics. These contemporary works will be exhibited alongside original “Big Idea” ceramics from which they were inspired.

Robert Brent, a show curator and widely recognized ceramics innovator, reflected on the uniqueness of pairing the original “Big Idea” ceramics with the work it inspired.   “This show brings together the modern with the historical, giving a sense of the progression of ceramics as art in the post war period.  It will be displayed on contemporary craftsman made furniture to create a sense of being in a collector's home”, Brent notes.

The featured 13 “Big Idea” artists in this show include - Carlton Ball, Shoji Hamada (A Japanese “Living National Treasure”), Peter Voulkos, Robert Arneson, Marguerite Wildenhain, among others. All of these artists have introduced original thought and design in their sculpture and functional ware, which continues to influence generations of teachers and students. The show also includes select works from private collections from these artists.

The exhibition  “Big Ideas 1950-1970: Influences in Modern Ceramics”,  runs from September 11 - October 25 at the Sebastopol Center For The Arts (SCA) - Galletta Gallery, located at 282 S. High Street, Sebastopol, CA 95472.

“Big Ideas” kicks off with an Opening Reception, complete with the “Best –In-Show” award, on Thursday, September 11 from 6-7:30 pm at the SCA Galleries, and is open to the Public. Admission is free.

Curators for this show are : Robert Brent, Founder;  Brent Equipment; Bill Geisinger, Emeritus Professor of Ceramics, De Anza College; and Joel Bennett, Ceramics Instructor, Santa Rosa Junior College.

Concurrently in Gallery II, “The Legacy of Luther Burbank” will feature botanical drawings of plants from the Experiment Gardens and the Luther Burbank Home & Garden in Santa Rosa by fourteen Sonoma County colored pencil artists. Colored pencil on a variety of papers and films was used in presenting botanically accurate depictions of fruits, flowers and trees created through Burbank’s experiments.  The artists worked directly with specimens in both locations and have created a florilegium of Burbank’s work in Sonoma County.

For more information please call the SCA directly at 707.829.4797 during normal gallery hours (Tuesday through Friday from 10am-4pm, and Saturday from 1pm-4pm), or see the SCA website at www.sebarts.org for additional information.