Richard Notkin Workshop

Ceramic Art / Sculptural Teapots:
A Plethora of Innovative Techniques

Over the past 40 years, Richard Notkin has established a reputation as an artist who follows his own passions, and not the prevailing winds of doctrine. This intensive, fast-paced three-day workshop will cover the diverse technical and aesthetic approaches which Notkin uses to create his unique works in clay. Throughout the workshop, Notkin will discuss various aesthetic considerations, including: format and compositional devices, alteration and metamorphosis of form and imagery, choice of scale, creating a narrative, etc.

The first day of the workshop will consist of several hands-on sessions, and will provide the students with unique working experiences, challenging each to explore clay in unusual and unexpected ways. Day one class size 18. All levels welcome.

The second and third days will mostly consist of various demonstrations and slide lectures by Richard, covering a wide range of aesthetic and technical information, including: handbuilding, small- and large-scale carving, surface textures and detailing, clay body alterations through the addition of non-ceramic materials, clay layering techniques, plaster mold-making, slip-casting and press-molding, and more. By encouraging participants to think beyond the traditional parameters of the standard pottery studio, this workshop is designed to expand the aesthetic and technical horizons for beginning through advanced students, as well as the professional ceramist. Day two class size 35. All levels welcome.

Participants may register for Day One hands on for $135, Days 2-3 demonstration for $135, or the full workshop for $270.

Richard Notkin Bio

Notkin, Richard (b. 1948, Chicago, IL, lives in Helena, MT). A full-time studio artist in Helena, MT, Notkin's teapots, ceramic sculptures and tile murals are visual explorations into social and political commentary. Through the 1960's, 70's and 80's, when large scale abstract expressionist vessels and gestural ceramic sculptures were the rage in contemporary American ceramics, Notkin worked with a tightly controlled, high degree of craftsmanship, creating works which were often criticized as being too small, tight and precious. He took this as a compliment. He is perhaps most known for his series of unglazed stoneware teapots, inspired by the remarkable Yixing wares of China (circa 1500 AD to the present), but consciously maintaining a separate cultural identity, "reflecting the current dilemmas of our contemporary human civilization".

For over three and a half decades, his work has been exhibited internationally, and is in numerous public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan. Notkin's awards include three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation.

Richard Notkin Artist Statement

We have stumbled into the 21st Century with the advanced technologies of "Star Wars" and the emotional maturity of cavemen. If we can't find more creative solutions to solving worldwide social and political problems than sending young men and women to shred and incinerate one another's flesh with weapons of ever increasing efficiency, we will not survive to celebrate the passage into the 22nd century. And to make a dangerous situation worse, our country and too many of our fragile planet's nations are now in the hands of right wing thugs and fundamentalist tyrants who are fumbling the planet towards
World War III.

It is for these reasons, and far more, that I have chosen to continue to make ceramic sculptures which reflect on the social and political dilemmas of our world. As André Malraux observed, "Art is a revolt against man's fate." Need I say more?

Richard Notkin Resume

Selected One-Person Exhibitions

2006, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR

2003, Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY (also 2000, 1997, 1995, 1993, 1991, 1988, 1987, 1985)

2001, Margo Jacobsen Gallery, Portland, OR

1999, "Passages" (A Ceramic Installation), Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT and traveling: Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls, MT; (2000) Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT (catalog)

1997, University of Montana, Missoula, MT

1996, Byron Cohen/Lennie Berkowitz Gallery, Kansas City, MO

1992, Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (also 1990, 1988, 1984)

1990, "Strong Tea: Richard Notkin and the Yixing Tradition", Seattle Art Museum, WA + traveling: University of Missouri-Kansas City; Honolulu Academy of Art; Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, OR; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; The Newark Museum, NJ; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY (catalog)

Garth Clark Gallery, Kansas City, MO

1988, Lawrence Gallery, Portland, OR

1987, Esther Saks Gallery, Chicago, IL

1985, Traver Sutton Gallery, Seattle, WA

1981, Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1981, Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

1975, Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago, IL

Selected Public Collections

Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Seto, Japan

Arizona State University Museum of Art, Tempe, AZ

Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA

Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, NY

Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY

The George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Kunstindustrimuseet, Oslo, Norway

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO

Newark Museum of Art, NJ

Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim, Norway

Portland Art Museum, OR

Seattle Art Museum, WA

Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Grants and Fellowships

2006, Jerry Metcalf Foundation, Helena, Montana - Artist Fellowship (also 1999)

1991, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation - Fellowship

1990, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation - Fellowship in Sculpture

1988, National Endowment for the Arts - Visual Artist Fellowship (also 1981, 1979)

1985, Oregon Arts Commission - Individual Artist Fellowships

1976, Western States Arts Foundation - Artist Fellowship