Once again, the Lacoste Keane gallery in Concord MA presents a stunning new show–in which ceramicist Ani Kasten uses the concept of visual poems to reflect on issues such as environmental collapse, social collapse, and inner and outer strife. 

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In the show, Kasten creates sculptural compositions from fragments and debris. While some vessels are quite large, other, smaller pieces Kasten calls “poems,” are three-dimensional objects which she likens to written verse. A poem, says the one-time literature major, ” shears away everything but the most essential, evoking an emotional response through the sparest communication, constructing concepts and feelings into a hewn verbal form, without engaging narrative or logic.”

Kasten uses earth materials like clay and rocks as a metaphor to explore ideas of decay, disintegration and renewal. “Working in clay is about the search for balance between the natural tendencies of the materials and the craft that is brought about by contact with the human hand,” according to the gallery writeup. “Faced with monumental forces of nature and entropy, a sadness and feeling of futility is provoked with the notion that human hubris seeks to create lasting structure and survival in the face of decimation by forces outside of our control—earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, tornadoes, violence and war. “

In this work, Kasten “reveals emerging structures and constructs under stress, made by the human hand but fighting against collapsing infrastructure. They show the cracking, warping and erosion that are natural expressions of the material, and explore the beauty and sadness in building from wreckage, such as a little robot made from scavenged shards of something former, with two little ears made from fossilized hornets’ nests.

Kasten says that “In the act of scavenging, building and creating the visual poems, ” she is “searching for beauty and harmony in the act of piecing back together what may seem like meaningless detritus of a collapsing world, reclaiming a tenuous and fragile feeling of meaning and purpose.”

In my view, she is successful in doing so. The pieces look delicate–as if they could fall apart at any second. But with their pastel colors and seemingly -haphazard-yet-powerful shapes reaching out in many directions, they exude tremendous energy–inviting the viewer to enter into Kasten’s exploration and expression of the tenuous-yet-enduring relationships of natural and human forces.

At Lacoste Keane Gallery, 25 Main St Concord MA 01742, through February 8, 2020.

—Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA. New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and digital marketing agency, also in Cambridge.

On Chance and Materiality: sculptor Rafa Pérez’s first East Coast exhibition

I’m looking forward to East Coast solo exhibit of the Spanish sculptor Rafa Perez–to be held from 3-5 pm at the Lacoste/Keane Gallery, 25 Main Street, Concord, MA, on August 3, 2019.

Born in 1957 in Haro, La Rioja, Spain, Perez studied ceramics at the Massana School of Art and Design in Barcelona. According to a gallery press release, he has been making abstract sculptures for over 30 years.

Though prolific and well exhibited in Europe, Pérez has been largely under represented in the United States –his only previous US solo show was at Minnesota State University in 2018.

Perez’s work is the result of two important factors – his masterful handling of the clay body while letting the unpredictability of the firing be an active participant in the process. This is achieved by mixing his own clay body and experimenting with firing temperatures. It is the element of surprise that motivates him to continuously tests materials until he is satisfied, he wrote, “I try to keep a balanced relation with the fire. I mean the fire has to work by its own as I do, but finally we are a team.” In the work Untitled #8, 2014 (pictured), Perez applied his own special formula of glaze on wire mesh which crawls during firing, giving the piece a dramatic affect.
Lucy Lacoste, the founder of our gallery surmises, “I have been watching Rafa Pérez’s career for some time and to me, he is exciting because of his handling of the materials which is innovative and unorthodox much like Jackson Pollock or Jasper Johns.”

Born in 1957 in Haro, La Rioja, Spain Perez studied ceramics at the Although prolific and well exhibited in Europe, says Lacoste/Keane founder and co-owner Lucy Lacoste. “He has been largely under represented in the United States –his only previous US solo show was at the Minnesota State University in 2018.”

Lacoste describes Pérez’s work as the result of two important factors: “… his masterful handling of the clay body and the unpredictability of the firing, which becomes an active participant in the process. This is achieved by mixing his own clay body and experimenting with firing temperatures. It is the element of surprise that motivates him to continuously tests materials until he is satisfied. “

Perez writes “I try to keep a balanced relation with the fire. I mean the fire has to work by its own as I do, but finally we are a team.”

In the work Untitled #8, 2014 (pictured), Perez applied his own special formula of glaze on wire mesh which crawls during firing, giving the piece a dramatic affect.

Lacoste says, “I have been watching Rafa Pérez’s career for some time and to me, he is exciting because of his handling of the materials which is innovative and unorthodox– much like Jackson Pollock or Jasper Johns.”

An opening reception with Rafa Pérez will be held on Saturday August 3, 3:00 – 5:00 pm, with an artist talk on Sunday August 4, 2:00-4:00 pm. For details call 978-369-0278 or email info@lacostekeane.com.

The new show at Lacoste/Keane Gallery in Concord, MA features both painting and ceramics—a new approach for the gallery in that it combines both the fine art of painting with (what is sometimes considered) the “lowly” craft of ceramics–and establishes a dialogue between the forms.

The show, entitled “Tim Rowan: Presence: Unifying Presence of Sculpture and Painting” features sculptures by Rowan, a leading ceramic artist in the Northeast, and abstract paintings by internationally-known Bernd Haussman,  whose works were  selected to compliment Rowan’s’ work.

The exhibit, at 25 Main Street in Concord, MA, runs through Dec. 1.

Tim Rowan
According to a gallery press release, “The ceramics elements of the show take visitors into the experience of an object’s presence and show how, by contemplating the materials and processes, the artist becomes ‘present’ with the work.

“Also, this significant new body of work by Rowan uses darker clay body with a darker firing— reflecting on how he sees our turbulent time.

“Among the upright vessels and boxes, a group of the intriguing elliptic forms (see Untitled Vessel VIII, below, left) resemble a capsule, missile or rocket mimicking a futuristic machine.

“The sense of irony is not lost to the artist as he examines the notion of man-made versus technology made works,” the writeup continues.  “What has been a study of technological forms like cogs and turbine in Rowan’s early works has evolved into abstract concepts.

“In Untitled Vessel X with Silver Tips (pictured below, right) a sleek dark grey hollow egg form with silver luster glaze conveys this and the artist’s energy.”

Shown in the gallery since 2000, Rowans work has taken a new direction, according to Gallery co-owner LaiSun Keane.

“In the past, it was the glorification of machine and this show is the critique of it – how one finds meaning in everyday life through man-made works and finding the energy of these objects as they are given in the making process.”

Bernd Haussman

Haussman’s paintings, chosen specifically by Keane and her co-owner Lucy Lacoste to compliment Rowan’s ceramic pieces, are, by and large,  two dimensional.

But, like ceramics, some are highly textured , with clay-like or even “fired” surfaces. Their colors and shapes coordinate with those of nearby ceramic pieces—and establish a dialogue with them.

Also like the ceramic pieces, the paintings show the artist’s process–and express the energy that goes into creating them.

As Haussman explained at the show’s opening on Saturday, November 10, many of his paintings express relationships–establishing dialogues– of colors, shapes and ideas– within themselves.

As artist-in residence at the Board Institute of Harvard and MIT from 2012-2015, Haussmann engaged scientists in a non-verbal dialogue through artistic work called “Dialogues.” He also participates in transatlantic exhibitions such as “KunstTraject langs de Leie”, Belgium, and “Art in Embassies.

Born in Tuebingen, Germany, Haussman has lived in the USA since 1994.

In my own view, the provocative ceramic works and beautifully crafted paintings amount to more than the sum of their parts. The novel combination—or dialogue– of objects and paintings makes a statement on the relationship of fine art to crafts–and to artistic creativity. And it turns the Lacoste Keane exhibition space into a work of art in itself.

At Lacoste/Keane Gallery 25 Main Street • Concord, MA 01742 978.369.0278 • www.lacostekeane.com* through December 1, 2018.

–Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA. 
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, also of Cambridge. 

Lacoste Gallery was founded 28 years ago by Lucy Lacoste with a focus on ceramics. In May, 2018, Lacoste joined forces with LaiSun Keane to form Lacoste/Keane Gallery– marking a new chapter in this gallery’s life. This gallery remains deeply committed to clay as an art medium focusing on showing contemporary, post WWII ceramic artists both established and emerging. In conjunction with its main ceramic shows, the gallery will present a 2-D art focus several times a year to broaden the dialogue between its ceramic works and audience. the gallery also offers for sale functional ceramic works by many well-known potters.

I found Ani Kasten’s latest ceramics exhibit, which opened yesterday at the Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA, inspirational.  The work, comprised mainly of vessels of irregular shapes and sizes,  is  delicate, with seams sometimes held together with thin wires, and replete with beautiful, unexpected embellishments, cracks. colors and patterns that make the viewer stop to contemplate.

Entitled From the Ruins, the show focuses on vessels and sculptures that are “deconstructed…  ‘barely holding together’, ‘coming apart at the seams’, and searching for a cohesive beauty in their tenuous state of existence,”  according to the exhibit writeup.

I mentioned to Kasten that her work “spoke” to me, especially because too many of my close friends and family members have passed away, recently, and that I’m working on writing and photography projects that I hope will help bring shape, beauty, meaning and new life to past experiences.  Kasten responded that she, too, has gone through several major losses, which in part, inspired her current work.

Ani Kasten

 “Investigating the materiality of the clay is the foundation and focal point for all of my sculptural vessels. I create wheel-thrown and hand-built forms in families, and these sculptural groupings explore the meeting point between natural and man-made worlds. The vessels take their influence from plants, water, rocks and clay, as well as from architecture, industry and machinery.

“They investigate the nature of change, the compiling of memory, and a feeling of profound loss– the recognition of temporal beauty bound inextricably with grief. The pieces are like remnants, a landscape of objects that remain after some kind of significant change, grave markers, or organic matter that has survived a great fire.

According to a gallery publication, Kasten was drawn to the medium of clay as an apprentice to British ceramist Rupert Spira, Then she headed a stoneware making facility in Nepal for four years before returning to the USA to set up ceramic studios in California, Maryland and most recently Minnesota.  She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally with works in the permanent collections of the Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin; the Weisman Art Museum Minneapolis MN; and the Sana’ a Collection, the US Embassy, Sana’ a Yemen.

Walking into the Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA I was struck by the  lightness, strength and movement in the work of Shozo Michikawa, a Japanese ceramicist who combines both slab and wheel methods to create pots resembling objects formed by nature.

Michikawa is “inspired by the power and energy of nature in its every form” and the belief that “nature will  ultimately triumph over science and civilizations,” he writes. “The beauty that nature offers as seen in the formation of rocks, mountains, deserts and the seas are unparalleled and conversely natural disasters brought on by tsunamis, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes cannot be underestimated.”

Accordingly, Michikawa throws clay to build block-like formations on a potter’s wheel, and, often, places a stick in the interior of the form and spins the wheel in different directions–thus creating, according to Atlanta’s  Catherine Fox “torqued, spiraling forms and a sense of dynamism.”   The pots, some of which resemble rocks, riverbeds, or other natural formations, may appear to be as unpredictable as forms created by natural forces.

Writing in Artsati, Fox  describes the pots as “irregular in shape, asymmetrical, roughly textured, and deceptively primitive.” She points out that, ” Unlike most ceramists, who center the clay o n the wheel and build up the walls of the vessel with two hands — one on the interior, one on the exterior — Michikawa effects his sculptural forms by working the decentered clay from the inside out, often poking the interior with a stick to get the shape he wants.” After spinning it on the wheel, Michikawa may “cut away at the exterior with a wire to shape the rodlike protrusions, wedges, flaps and origami folds that give his work an earthy tactility.”

Each piece is then faceted and glazed to mimic the effects of nature, according to Lucy Lacoste, the Concord gallery proprietor.”Built on the potter’s wheel and often twisted on an internal axis, ” the works are sculptural yet retain a core of functional pottery.” That functional core is critical, the artist says, because pottery has been so integral to people’s lives in Japan.”.

Shozo Michikawa at Lacoste Gallery, Concord June 4, 2017

Michikawa was born on the Island of  Hokkaido, the most northern area of Japan, in 1953. After graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University in 1975, he worked in business until evening classes “gave him a passion for clay,” according to a gallery writeup.  Ultimately, he settled in Seto,  one of the sites of the six ancient kilns in Japan.   His exhibitions are held widely in Japan and also internationally, such as Philippines, Mongolia, France, USA, and UK.
“Michikawa’s is a unique talent based on his personal expression of pottery as an art form, Lacoste says.  “His voice is contemporary and poetic. ”

 At  the Lacoste Gallery, 25 Main Street
Concord, MA until June 28, 2917.

–Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is a Cambridge writer, photographer and communications consultant based Cambridge, MA.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, also located in Cambridge.

Darcy Badali, Lacoste Opening

Earlier this month,  I much enjoyed the opening of  Lacoste Gallery’s current exhibit, “The Transcendent Vessel,” which features astonishingly-large thrown stoneware vessels by California ceramicist Darcy Badiali.

I especially liked the delicacy of his works, which, in some cases, resemble giant eggshells. Other pieces, he explains, “are reminiscent of plants, stones coral and other objects found in nature, ” with surfaces that look or feel like elephant skin or craters.  While the forms have their origin in function, ” he adds, “the scale lends itself to sculptural issues of space.

Darcy and Tracy Badiali, and assistant

Badiali’s works are included in the permanent collections of Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for the Arts, Alta Loma, CA, American Museum of Ceramic Art, Los Angeles, CA, Kathryn H. Herberger Museum, Tempe, AZ, Daum Museum of Art, Sedalia, MO, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT, and in Shigaraki, Japan in the Shiro Otani Collection. 

At the Lacoste Gallery in Concord MA through May 27. 

—Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is a writer and photographer based in Cambridge, MA.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, also in Cambridge.