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"Selection from High Fire Culture" Summer 2013
Counterclockwise from front: Cris Giuffrida, "jar," circa 1983-1988 and "lugged jar," 1988; Andrew Wong, "lugged vase," 1977; Ron Vallis, "jug," 1984. Photo: Michael R. Barrick.
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"Bottle"
Vincent Massey, "Bottle," 2003, stoneware, faceted, black slip, salt fired, 5.5” x 4.3” x 4.3”. Collection of Geoffrey Massey. Photo: Michael R. Barrick.
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"Vase"
Sam Kwan, "Vase," circa 2002-2007, stoneware, faceted, salt fired, 11.8” x 5.3” x 5.3”. Collection of Guity Moareff. Photo: Michael R. Barrick.
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"Basket vase"
Andrew Wong, "Basket vase," circa 1981-1988, stoneware, luster glaze, wood fired, 20.7” x 6.9” x 7.7”. Collection of Andrew Wong. Photo: Michael R. Barrick.
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"Jar"
Lari Robston, "Jar," circa 1987, stoneware, lidded, faceted, apple ash glaze, 4.8” x 4.8” x 4.7”. Photo: Michael R. Barrick.
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"Selection from High Fire Culture" Summer 2013
Counterclockwise from front: Cris Giuffrida, "jar," circa 1983-1988 and "lugged jar," 1988; Andrew Wong, "lugged vase," 1977; Ron Vallis, "jug," 1984. Photo: Michael R. Barrick.
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"Andrew Wong’s wood kiln, Ruskin, B.C"
Andrew Wong’s wood kiln, Ruskin, B.C., 1981, c-print. Collection of Andrew Wong.
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"Heinz Laffin on Hornby Island, B.C., circa 1969"
Heinz Laffin on Hornby Island, B.C., circa 1969, gelatin silver print, 6.4” x 4.2”. Collection of Heinz Laffin.
High Fire Culture: Locating Leach/Hamada in West Coast Studio Pottery
Satellite Gallery, Vancouver, May 24 to July 6, 2013
By Portia Priegert
This scholarly exhibition presents a range of stoneware and porcelain by nine West Coast potters whose lineage traces to the late Bernard Leach, a founder of the studio pottery movement in 20th century Britain. At the same time, it considers the influence of Japanese traditions through Leach’s colleague, Shoji Hamada, and their shared philosophy that pottery should be simple, functional and harmonious. The latest in a number of recent shows that have stepped over the divide between art and craft to direct critical attention to the development of studio pottery in British Columbia, it explores the movement’s idealism and counterculture influences as well as its materials and technical concerns.
Included are more than 100 pitchers, vases, bowls and other pottery produced between 1970 and 2010 by key members of what’s described as the Leach diaspora – Heinz Laffin, Ron Vallis, Martin Peters, Vincent Massey, Andrew Wong, Sam Kwan, Lari Robson, Cris Giuffrida and Hiro Urakami – who typically studied with potters trained by Leach and, in many cases, met Leach themselves. The first of two rooms displays seven to 10 pieces from each potter, arranged in minimalist fashion on individual shelves on the gallery walls. Down the centre is a medley of work laid out on a simple plank table. The effect is somewhat reminiscent of an old-style banquet hall.
The work has a modest and unassuming air with sombre tonalities ranging from off-white and grey through deep brown and charcoal. Fired at high temperatures with live flames, the pots often feature traditional Asian glazes such as celadon, shino and kaki. Some are marked with the lovely speckling created in salt firing. Most striking for anyone who has frequented West Coast pottery markets and studios is the familiarity of the work’s vernacular – particularly regarding what Wong has characterized as Vancouver’s “melting pot” of Eastern and Western pottery traditions – demonstrating the movement’s ongoing influence in the province.
The second room presents an array of historic material about the era – photographs, sketchpads, exhibition brochures and the like, as well as a Leach-style kick wheel. Nora Vaillant, a potter and independent researcher who organized the show with Shelly Rosenblum, a curator at UBC’s Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, also seeks to illustrate how much intermingling occurred between artistic disciplines. For instance, a scrapbook by modernist painter B.C. Binning, who visited Japan in 1958, includes photos of traditional potters and notes: “My Japanese experience has marked a new direction in my painting which will take some time to work out.” Included is one of those paintings, Three Islands in a Cove, along with pieces by Takao Tanabe and Roy Kiyooka, who visited Japan around the same time. The exhibition is rounded out by a display of yunomi, simple Japanese drinking cups, and three historic videos, including a 1952 documentary about Leach, whose studio in Cornwall is now a heritage site.
