Preview
Earthy
Perfection
American Museum
of Ceramic Art
Harrison McIntosh:
A Timeless Legacy
Pomona, California
September 12, 2009 -
January 9,2010
ceramicmuscum.org
The life and work of Harrison
McIntosh, a quiet legend in the
rich, often flamboyant history
of California craft, is being cel-
ebrated in this retrospective
covering 60 years of his pottery
and sculpture and coinciding
with his 95 th birthday. Born in
Vallejo, California, McIntosh
showed a talent for art at a
young age and was encouraged
by his parents. He was intro-
duced to clay by Glen Lukens
at the University of Southern
California in 1940. Later, after
he had served in World War II,
he studied with Richard Petter-
son at the Claremont Graduate
School, attended a Bernard
Leach seminar at Mills College
and enrolled in a workshop with
the Bauhaus potter Marguerite
Wildenhain. There was expo-
sure to the Japanese Mingei
tradition as represented by
Shoji Hamada, whose throwing
demonstrations on his famous
I
952 -53
u .s. tom- McIntosh
observed. He was also inter-
ested in architecture (in the
30s he had helped persuade his
parents to have their house
designed by the avant-garde
architect Richard Neutra) and
in the developments in West
Coast interior and exterior
design in the postwar years.
McIntosh set up his first
studio in Claremont in 1954
with fellow potter Rupert
Deese and proceeded to pro-
duce pottery that blended the
diverse design and craft influ-
ences in his background into
a style distinctly his own, char-
acterized by balanced propor-
tions and subtle but graphic
decorative elements. He made
his technical choices early: a
single stoneware body, cone 5
glazes and oxidation firing.
The show at A M OCA high-
lights the variety of McIntosh’s
vessels: groupings of elegant
bottles in subdued colors, such
as
Double Gourd Bottlesf);
a
lidded jar resembling an otto-
man in turquoise and white;
platters with designs that are
geometric but not rigidly sym-
metrical; a black-and-white
compote dish swelling out
gracefully from its cylindrical
foot. Impeccably crafted, these
works seem perfect yet retain
enough surface variations to
remind the viewer these are
handmade objects. In the late
60s, McIntosh ventured into
sculpture, creating closed round
or egg-shaped or podlike forms,
which he would mount on wood
blocks or metal bases. As these
evolved, the artist would attach
his rounded forms to a mirrored
metal surface that reflected the
object above, offering the illu-
sion of its floating in space.
Unlike Peter Voulkos, an-
other California ceramist ex-
posed to similar influences but
whose gestural style seems the
very opposite of his own, McIn-
tosh seldom taught. He was at-
tracted to industrial design,
however, and from 1970101980
he was a consultant for the
Mikasa Corporation of Japan,
collaborating with his wife,
Marguerite, on dinnerware and
crystal designs for the company.
The artist’s disciplined ad-
herence to a cohesive, simplified
aesthetic was not unappreci-
ated. Hazel Bray, former cura-
tor of art at the Oakland Mu-
seum, once remarked: “ Over
the years his work has accumu-
lated a virtuosity that has be-
come as rich as a Bach fugue in
its variations upon a theme.
Resisting superficial flirtations
with novelty or partially real-
ized expressions is a mark of his
strength of personal conviction
and maturity.” Bray was not the
only appreciator resorting to
music to characterize McIn-
tosh’s oeuvre. In an article in
American Craft in 1985, the
ceramist and writer Mac Mc-
Cloud observed: “The aerody-
namic shapes of McIntosh’s
pots resemble the compositions
of Erik Satie—sophisticated,
complete, airy and instantly
rhapsodic.”—
b . s .
The hardcover catalog is $39.95.
016 ainerican craft oct/novoç
M A / Brockton
G
Fuller Craft Museum
The Perfect Fit: Shoes Tell Stories
to Jan. 3
fullercraft.org
A mix of footwear, like Jan Hop-
kins's
Orange Peel High Heels,
honors Brockton’s legacy as the
world’s one-time shoe capital.
MI / Detroit
Pewabic Pottery
Peter Lenzo and Andy Nasisse:
On the Edge Between Whimsy
and Fear
to Nov. 1
pewabic.com
Lenzo’s face jugs and memory
pots are different from yet simi-
lar to Nasisse’s more enigmatic
expressions of human form.
MO / St. Louis
St. Louis Artists’ Guild
Roxanne Phillips: Blending
Traditions
to Nov. 6
stlouisartistsguild.org
Hand-printed fabrics are cut,
sectioned and quilted to adorn
the gallery walls.
NE / Lincoln
Elder Gallery, Nebraska
Wesleyan University
The Art o f Fine Craft 2009
Oct. i-Nov. 8
luxcenter.org
Viewers are engaged through
a wealth of concepts and
processes at this juried show.
NY / New York
Museum of Arts and Design
Read M y Pins: The Madeleine
Albright Collection
to Jan. 31
madmuseum.org
More than 200 of Secretary
Albright’s pins explore jewelry
as a political and social tool.
www.freedowns.net & www.journal-plaiza.net
McIntosh photo/Cynthia Madrigal.
