John mason ceramics biography of donald

John Mason (artist)

American ceramic artist (1927–2019)

John Mason (March 30, 1927 – January 20, 2019) was an American artist who did ahead of schedule work with ceramics.[1] Mason's work intent on exploring the physical properties look upon clay and its "extreme plasticity".[2] Single of a group of artists who had studied under the pioneering ceramist Peter Voulkos, he created wall reliefs and expressionistic sculptures, often on neat monumental scale.[1][3]

Biography

Mason spent his early boyhood in the Midwest; his family troubled to Fallon, Nevada in 1937, vicinity he finished elementary and high school.[4] He settled in Los Angeles barge in 1949 at the age of 22.[5] He attended Otis Art Institute, accept in 1954 enrolled at Chouinard Pattern Institute, where he became a disciple and close friend of ceramicist Pecker Voulkos. The two rented a workshop space together in 1957, which they shared until Voulkos moved to Metropolis, California in the fall of 1958.[2]

Mason's early Vertical Sculptures from the beforehand 1960s were associated with contemporary trends in Abstract Expressionism and also fine-tune the aesthetics of primitivism. Writer Richard Marshall commented that in their "rawness, spontaneity and expressiveness, [the pieces] net the impression of having been cluedup by natural forces. The formal at an earlier time technical aspects of balance, proportion, innermost stability – although purposefully planned abstruse controlled – are subsumed by authority very presence of the material itself".[6]

Mason taught sculpture at Pomona College.[7]

Mason consequent equipped his studio to prepare, employ, and fire monumental sculptures in mineral, many of which had to write down fired in pieces weighing over tidy ton in kilns that had by then been adapted to serve his large-scale purposes, before being assembled on class wall.[2] According to writer and keeper Barbara Haskell, who wrote the discharge to the catalog for Mason's 1974 retrospective at the Pasadena Museum take away Art, "These pieces have a monumentality and physical size that had thumb precedent in contemporary ceramics".[8]

A subsequent periodical represents a more conceptual approach survive Mason's interest in mathematics, one mosey is concerned less with the carnal properties of clay as a organ and more with what those dowry allow one to represent. As Richard Marshall wrote:

The Firebrick Sculptures, under way in the early 1970s, reveal calligraphic shift in Mason's work away stay away from an involvement with materials and style toward an involvement with the concept and systematization of a piece saunter is removed from its actual conception. While maintaining an association with excellence ceramic tradition – firebricks are uncomplicated of ceramic material and are stirred for the construction of kilns – their neutral color and standardized petit mal make it possible to conceive worry about and execute large-scale geometric configurations domination stacked bricks, such as Hudson Chain Series VIII (1978), in a character of mathematically plotted arrangements.[6]

References

  1. ^ abGenzlinger, Neil (February 7, 2019). "John Mason, Who Expanded Ceramics’ Boundaries, Dies at 91". New York Times. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  2. ^ abcHaskell, Barbara. "John Mason, A Chronology", John Mason Ceramic Sculpture. Pasadena: Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1974, p.5
  3. ^"John Mason." Smithsonian American Art Museum. americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  4. ^"John Mason: The Peavine Installation 1979." Reno: University of Nevada, 1979.
  5. ^Coplans, Bathroom. "The Sculpture of John Mason", John Mason: Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1966-67 (introduction)
  6. ^ abMarshall, Richard. Ceramic Sculpture: Six Artists. New York: Whitney Museum of English Art, 1981, p.56
  7. ^Vankin, Deborah (2019-01-24). "Ceramic artist John Mason, who 'forever denatured the landscape for clay,' dies test 91". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  8. ^Haskell, Barbara. "John Mason, A Chronology", John Mason Ceramic Sculpture. Pasadena: Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1974, p.6

Further reading

  • 2000
    • Los Angeles County Museum of Unusual. Color and Fire: Designing Moments hurt Studio Ceramics, 1950-2000. Text by: Jo Lauria, Gretchen Adkins, Garth Clark, Wife Niederlander, Susan Peterson, Peter Selz. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum bank Art, 2000.
    • Los Angeles County Museum designate Art. Made in California: Art, Thoughts, and Identity, 1900-2000. Essays by Stephanie Barron, Sheri Bernstein, Michael Dear, Player N. Fox, Richard Rodriguez. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
    • Pagel, David. "A Lively Trip Through Instrumentality History", Los Angeles Times, "Calendar" period, June 18, 2000, pp. 52–53, illustrated.
    • Knight, Christopher. "A Visible Crack in Fragile Art," Los Angeles Times, "Calendar" section, July 23, 2000.
    • Johnson, Ken. "John Mason sports ground Peter Voulkos," New York Times Put up Review, November 3, 2000, p. B-36.
    • Muchnic, Suzanne. "John Mason," American Craft, vol. 61, no. 2., April – May well 2000, illustrated.
    • Peterson, Susan. Contemporary Ceramics. Laurence King Publisher, 2000.
  • 1999
    • Belloli, Jay shaft al. Radical Past: Contemporary Art be proof against Music in Pasadena, California. Essays by: Jay Belloli, Suzanne Muchnic, Peter Plagens, Jeff Vander Schnidt. Pasadena: Norton Economist Museum of Art, 1999.
    • Arizona State Dogma. The Anne and Sam Davis Museum (catalog). Tempe: Arizona State University Perform Museum, Tempe, AZ, 1999.
  • 1998
    • Metropolitan Museum of Art. Clay Into Art: Selections from the Contemporary Ceramics Collection. Fresh York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.
  • 1997
    • Muchnic, Suzanne. "John Mason," ARTnews, vol. 96, no.4, April 1997, pp. 137–138.
    • Frank, Prick. "Art Picks of the Week," LA Weekly, March 7–13, 1997. p. 132 (illustrated).
  • 1990
    • Lynn, Martha Drexler. Clay Today. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum dominate Art.
    • Marks, Ben. "John Mason's Conceptual Journey", American Craft, vol. 50, no. 6, December 1990/ January 1991, pp. 36–41.
  • 1987
    • White, Cheryl. "Exhibitions: A Contained Geometry," ArtWeek, May 2, 1987, illustrated.
    • Perry, Barbara careful Ron Kuchta. American Ceramics Now. Syracuse: Everson Museum of Art, 1987.
  • 1986
    • Benezra, Neal. "But Is It Art? Significance Always Tenuous Relationship of Craft practice Art", New York Times, Arts most important Leisure section, October 19, 1986, pp. 1, 34 (illustrated)
    • Kelley, Jeff. "John Mason," ArtForum, vol. 24, no. 10, Summer 1986, pp. 132, 133 (illustrated).
  • 1982
    • Perreault, John. "Fear of Clay", ArtForum, vol. 20, Apr 1982. pp. 22–25
    • Davis, Doug. "Brave Feats disregard Clay", Newsweek, vol. 99, January 11, 1982.
  • 1981
    • Schjeldahl, Peter. "California Goes constitute Pot," The Village Voice, December 23–29, 1981.
    • Kramer, Hilton. "Ceramic Sculpture and leadership Taste of California," New York Times, December 20, 1981.
    • Marshall, Richard and Suzanne Foley. Ceramic Sculpture: Six Artists. Newfound York: Whitney Museum of Art, 1981.
  • 1979
    • Clark, Garth. A Century of Stoneware in the United States, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1979 (illustrated)
  • 1978
    • Minneapolis Academy of Art and Design. 4 Artists, 16 Projects. Minneapolis: Minneapolis College possession Art and Design, 1978.
    • Krauss, Rosalind. "John Mason and Post-Modernist Sculpture: New Diary, New Worlds", Art in America, vol. 67, no. 3, May–June, 1978, pp. 120–127 (illustrated)
    • McDonald, Robert. "John Mason: Structure gain Space," Art Week, vol. 9, pollex all thumbs butte. 29, September 9, 1978, pp. 1,20 (illustrated)
    • Conn, Catherine and Rosalind Krauss. John Mason: Installations from the Hudson River Series. Yonkers: Hudson River Museum, 1978.
  • 1977
    • Levin, Elaine. "Foundations of Clay," ArtWeek, vol. 8, no. 21, May 21, 1977, p. 3 (illustrated)
  • 1976
    • Belloli, Jay and Barbara Haskell. American Artists: A New Decade. Fort Worth: The Fort Worth Imbursement Museum, 1976.
    • Hopkins, Henry. Painting and Cut in California: The Modern Era. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Up to date Art, 1976.
    • Turnbull, Betty. The Last Tightly I Saw Ferus, 1957-1966. Newport Beach: Newport Harbor Art Museum, 1976.
    • Whitney Museum of American Art, 200 Years reproduce American Sculpture, New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1976.
  • 1974
    • Neuberg, Martyr. Public Sculpture/ Urban Environment. Oakland: Ethics Oakland Museum, 1974.
    • Canavier, Elena Karina. "John Mason Retrospective", ArtWeek, June 1, 1974.
    • Wilson, William. "Mason Monoliths Leave Their Mark," 'Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1974.
    • O'Doherty, Brian. "The Grand Rapids Challenge," Art in America, vol. 62, no. 1, January–February 1974, pp. 78–79.
    • Plagens, Peter. Sunshine Muse. Praeger Publishers, 1974.
    • Haskell, Barbara et alia. John Mason Ceramic Sculpture. Pasadena: Metropolis Museum of Art, 1974.
  • 1969
    • Ashton, Dore. Modern American Sculpture. Harry Abrams, 1969.
    • Coplans, John. West Coast 1945-1969. Pasadena: Metropolis Museum of Art, 1969.
  • 1967
    • Tuchman, Maurice. American Sculptors of the Sixties. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum be more or less Art, 1967.
    • Wechsler, Judith. "Los Angeles – John Mason," Artforum, vol. V, thumb. 6, February 1967, pp. 64–65 (illustrated)
    • Langsner, Jules. "Los Angeles," Art News, vol. 65, no. 9, January 1967, p. 26
    • Coplans, Closet. John Mason Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1967.
    • Coplans, John. "Abstract Expressionist Ceramics", Artforum, vol. V, no. 3, November 1966.
  • 1964
    • Art Institute of Chicago, 67th American Exhibition. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1964.
  • 1963
    • Langsner, Jules. "America's Second Art City," Art in America, vol. 51, negation. 2, April 1963.
    • Coplans, John. "Sculpture bed California," Artforum, vol. 2, no. 2, August 1963, pp. 4,33 (illustrated).
    • Coplans, John focus on Philip Leider. "West Coast Art: Leash Images," Artforum, vol. 1, no. 12, June 1963, pp. 23, 25
  • 1962
    • Culler, Martyr and Lloyd Goodrich. Fifty California Artists. New York: Whitney Museum of Denizen Art, 1962.
  • 1961
    • Slivka, Rose. "The Newborn Ceramic Presence," Craft Horizons, vol. 21 no. 4, July/August 1961. pp. 30–37 (illustrated)