SOFA NEW YORK 2004:
SPOTLIGHT ON CERAMIC SCULPTURE

Carlo Zauli Black Shape, 1973 Stoneware with Black Glaze 19.68”h x 8.66”w x 11.02”d Photo Credit: Museo Carlo Zauli

SOFA NEW YORK 2004 will again spotlight ceramic sculpture, with its special focus on the volumetric presence of form. Central to the emphasis on the sculptural potential of ceramics, is a Special Exhibit at SOFA NEW YORK, Carlo Zauli (1926-2002) and Contemporary European Ceramics: A Survey, presented in conjunction with the Museo Carlo Zauli, Faenza, Italy, and Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY, an exhibitor at SOFA NEW YORK 2004.

Carlo Zauli (1926-2002) at work. Photo Credit: Museo Carlo Zauli

This Special Exhibit will present the US with its first survey of Carlo Zauli’s sculptural genius. Considered to be one of the greater ceramics sculptors of the twentieth century, Zauli comes from an Italian ceramic lineage that began with abstractions of Lucio Fontana and Leonardi Leoncillo.

Carlo Zauli White Shape, 1982-83 Stoneware with White “Zauli” Glaze 22.83”h x 20.47”w x 13”d Photo Credit: Museo Carlo Zauli

Critic and ceramic art historian, Garth Clark writes: “Carlo Zauli’s approach to art was a dialogue between structure, material, geometry and nature. There is no sign of the hand on his work and he was careful to ensure that the work appeared not “hand-made” but more as the result of an organic process, like rocks formed in shapes by water over thousands of years yet miraculously leaving the water’s foam alive on the surface. To advance this idea he developed a glaze (Zauli white). It was not his only glaze but it was his favorite and it became his visual signature. From a distance the surface is soft and bubbly, but when examined more closely it has a toughness and a white surface shot with steely grey and hard black. Zauli began as a potter in the 1950’s but soon moved onto sculptural form that stressed the plastic energy of the clay.”

Wouter Dam Yellow Piece, 2002 Stoneware 9 x 11 photo: Noel Allum

The Special Exhibit will also juxtapose the recent works of a dozen contemporary European artists, all dealing with abstraction and mostly with minimalism, working with explorations of volume (whether of vessels or not), Babs Haenen and Wouter Dam from the Netherlands, Lawson Oyekan, Martin Smith and Nicholas Rena from Britain, Michael Cleff from Germany, Piet Stockmans from Belgium, Carme Collell and Claudi Casanovas from Spain, Bodil Manz and Michael Geertsen from Denmark, and Alev Siesbye from France.

Nicholas Rena Asymmetrical Bowl, 1999 Earthenware 25” d

Garth Clark Gallery, NY, NY will also present work for sale in its exhibitor booth by Sir Anthony Caro, Richard Notkin, Beatrice Wood, Ron Nagle and Paul Day, among others.

Many of the galleries and dealers at SOFA NEW YORK 2004 will exhibit master ceramic artists including

• John Mason, Kenneth Price, and Peter Voulkos (Franklin Parrasch Gallery, NY, NY); • Gordon Baldwin and Gertraud Möhwald (Galerie b15-Renate Wunderle, Munich, Germany); • Xavier Toubes and Margie Hughto (Loveed Fine  Arts, NY, NY);
John Mason	Gertraud Möhwald	Xavier Toubes
• Sun Koo Yuh, Nicholas Arroyave-Portela, and Robert Turner (Helen Drutt: Philadelphia); • Richard DeVore, Michael Lucero and Betty Woodman (Donna Schneier Fine Arts, NY, NY); • Shoji Hamada and Rosanjin Kitaoji (Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd., NY, NY);
Nicholas Arroyave-Portela	Michael Lucero	Rosanjin Kitaoji
• Robert Arneson (John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA), Jim Leedy (WEISSPOLLACK, NY, NY and Bridgeport, CT), and Jack Earl (Nancy Margolis Gallery, NY, NY); • Julian Stair, Claire Curneen and Steven Dixon (Clay, Venice, CA); • Yasuo Hayaski and Kosuke Kaneshige (Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd., NY, NY).
Jim Leedy	Claire Curneen	Yasuo Hayaski

Sergei Isupov Devotion, 2004 Porcelain 21.5 x 9 x 7

Nelli Isupov Untitled Figure, 2004 Ceramic 19 x 7.5 x 6

Ceramics dealer Ferrin Gallery, Lenox, MA will present A Family of Artists at SOFA NEW YORK, a focus show of works by four members of the Isupov family. In 1991, Sergei Isupov, a ceramic sculptor, immigrated to the US where he has enjoyed a successful career as an artist, with pieces in the permanent collections of many world museums. Prior to that, for several years, he lived in Estonia while his family, who are also artists, remained in Kiev, Ukraine. His father, Vladimir Isupov, is a painter; his mother, Nelli Isupova is a folk artist working in ceramics; and his younger brother, Ilya Isupov, is also a painter. The family is well known for their artwork in Kiev. SOFA NEW YORK will be the first time their work will be shown together in the US. Critic Greg Kapelyan writes, “The Isupov family story is an outstanding example of the archetypical Old World way of artistic upbringing, when talent and craftsmanship were the result of domestic nurturing rather then schooling in the public domain. That’s the way Mozart was made Mozart, after all.”