A silvery bulbous teapot resembling a miniature Buck Rogers rocket ship; another teapot in the shape of an exquisite, go
lden, three-dimensional French fleur de lis; still another in a whimsical mood, the body shaped like a metallic X-ray machine, the “bones” of a teapot visible, with a “professor” owl with a pointer explaining teapot anatomy adjacent.
These are teapots for brewing the imagination, rather than vessels for steeping water and leaves.
They won’t be found in the china departments of your favorite store but can be seen this weekend at SOFA Chicago 2000, the world’s largest marketplace for contemporary sculpture, art objects and furnishings. There, inspired by the restorative lift these teapots give one’s creative spirit, one can envision entire busloads of Mad Hatter collectors cruising the aisles at Navy Pier for the ultimate teapot for their next party in Wonderland.
If you join them, you will find SOFA as big as it has ever been, featuring 91 galleries exhibiting the work of 1,000 of the world’s foremost artists working in glass, ceramics, wood, metal and fiber, says Mark Lyman, president of Expressions of Culture Inc., organizer of the show.
“If I was asked what is a new strong point, I would say works in ceramics with a more sculptural presence are the new thing this year,” he says.
This year, SOFA Chicago will present the most comprehensive survey of modern and contemporary world ceramics ever exhibited at this exhibition. Many galleries, including six from Britain, will present a broad cross-section of ceramic work tracing pottery from its roots in pure functionalism to the non-functional, and into early 21st Century exploration of ideas and content over material and craft.
Chicago’s ceramic sculptor Ruth Duckworth will be there, showing work in stark, totally unglazed white porcelain.
“For me, the form of a piece is more important than any decoration,” says the 81-year old Duckworth, considered among America’s top artists in clay. Though she doesn’t make functional pieces except for personal dishware, even this abstractionist says “the teapot has become an art object because it is a complex thing, and you can put something together that is sculpturally interesting.
“The teapot is something people can really understand and since it is such a broad area, collectors can get in there and find teapots made of silver, mixed materials, knotted linens, recycled materials, even out of precious gemstone,” says Leslie Ferrin, owner of Ferrin Gallery of Croton on Hudson, N.Y.
At SOFA Ferrin will present a very large display of work by artists her gallery represents. On one side of the aisle will be the teapot sculptors, many of whom are in Ferrin’s new book, “Teapots Transformed: Exploration of an Object” (Guild Publishing, $30). The non-teapot sculptural work will be on the other side of the aisle.
Who wants to place bets which side of the aisle will be more popular with the public?
Teapots are a genre of collecting that started 400 years ago, says Ferrin, and is now moving into high gear, thanks to its appeal to collectors, who find these vessels amusing, affordable and accessible. The teapots come in a wide range, from down-to-earth, wood-fired functional stoneware to the other end of the spectrum, “the artist-made teapots that are a symbol, an object that represents certain ideas or is part of a still life, a canvas for their ideas,” says Ferrin.
Others are abstractions of a teapot, an exaggerated form, like Michael Sherrill’s golden fleur de lis-shaped piece titled “Halcyon Tea.”
“All areas are moving forward at the same time,” Ferrin adds. “Most artists do one or the other.
Balancing act
“The teapot is a really challenging form for the artists,” says Ferrin. “They have to balance the handle, body, spout, lid and the base. They have to be able to make visual sense of the elements. But they also have to handle it technicallytoo. It is a challenge to see that the parts don’t fall off or break apart in the firing.”
And then there is the challenge of glazing.
West Coast artist Ralph Bacerra, represented by Garth Clark Gallery of New York, uses a very rich palette of color for his highly decorative teapots. Each color reacts to firing at different temperatures and colors have to be applied from hottest to coolest. If the artist makes a mistake in that lineup, “he can burn away the previous color or change the color from darker to lighter,” says Garth Clark. “I don’t know how someone can keep it all together in this case.”
Not only are ceramic artists confronted with these issues, but there is also the recent trend of moving on to purely sculptural forms or using mixed media, says Ferrin.
“The year 2000 is really about diversity,” says Clark. “I think you’re going to find few people committed to one material. Artists are people who make visual poetry out of any material. The older guard is committed to one material, but now there is a much broader spread and not just in the claywork or glass work.”
Michael Sherrill is one artist who is practicing this diversity. He believes “the teapot is the most sculptural of all objects in clay, it is both male and female, it embodies a dual gender, both open and closed qualities.” Still, he says, “my work has moved on to this new abstract botanical thing I’m in,” inspired by a move to a new studio in the South and what is outside his door.
Ceramic artists are just as diverse as the people who create literature. Some are making fiction, and some turn around and prefer real life. . . . The bottom line for me was to entertain the eye, not to entertain the belly with warm tea.”
The great interest by collectors in buying teapots and other ceramic work is firing up the market and stimulating artists to produce more of these pieces.
“What I see” is [that] more people are getting into ceramics,” says Lyman, the show’s organizer, “and finding [that] very good works by key people are available at very attractive levels, compared to the painting market.”
Some, like Lyman, see object art as the “antiques of the future” and bound to increase in worth.
But, for the moment, these decorative and functional art objects still offer great value as they invite us to sit down to a tea party of the creative spirit.
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THE FACTS
The International Exposition of Sculpture, Objects & Functional Art, SOFA Chicago 2000
What: For the seventh year, Navy Pier will be transformed into the premiere showcase for contemporary fine craft. More than 90 world-class galleries will exhibit at SOFA, presenting for sale three-dimensional fine art in glass, ceramics, wood, metal and fiber.
Where: Navy Pier, 600 East Grand Ave.
When: Friday to Nov. 5
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridayand Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Nov. 5.
Admission: $12 at the door, or $20 for a three-day pass. For groups, tickets are $10 per person, but these tickets must be purchased in advance.
Special exhibits: SOFA Chicago will present a British Initiative, showcasing leading decorative arts galleries from Great Britain. Six British galleries will exhibit, enhancing the British presence at the exposition. Both contemporary and modern British decorative arts will be presented.
Special event: An Opening Night Gala takes place on Thursday, as a benefit for the Northwestern Memorial Foundation. Admission at 5 p.m., which includes the VIP cocktail reception, is $300; admission at 6:30 p.m. is $175 per person
Lectures: The SOFA Chicago Lecture Series, up to 17 daily, explores the history and aesthetics behind the art, artists, processes and materials. Daily admittance is free to SOFA attendees holding a general-admission ticket. Open seating. See catalog, or call for listings of lectures.
One highlight: Bruce W. Pepich, director of the Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wis., will talk on “Gathering Collectors & Artists: Crafts at Wustum Museum of Fine Art” from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday.
Call: 312-654-0870
