Monumental
Monumental
96 pages, full colour
8 x 10 in, softcover
ISBN 978-1-928022-57-2
$29 in the Gallery Shop or Shop Online
A gold lustre cup, glass orbs, and a pair of rabbits embracing on a boat. These works are among the hundreds held in the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery’s Permanent Collection. Each one is unique, meaningful, and tied not only to the life and legacy of its maker, but also inherently connect ed to this institution and the people and events that have made it grow and change for thirty years.
Monumental shares a selection of works from the Gallery’s permanent collection, as well as two borrowed works important to the history of the institution. These works speak to the role of ceramics, glass, and vitreous enamel in Canada, and to the strength of the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery as the only institution dedicated to contemporary Canadian art in these mediums. Our success was not always guaranteed, but through the dedication and tireless work of countless individuals, the Gallery persevered and continued to rise to new heights.
Featured in this exhibition are the people, memories, and stories that have made this institution—as well as the seeds for the future. These are the legacy that lives on in the Gallery and each of these works, and the potential that they hold for the next generation of artists and makers.
This catalogue features images of each artwork in the exhibition as well as essays by Virginia Eichhorn, Peter Flannery, Denis Longchamps, Cheyenne Mapplebeck, and Katherine Marshall. Foreword by Devin Santos.
Monumental is generously supported by The Pioneer Group Inc. and the Hogarth Family Foundation Fund at the Hamilton Community Foundation.
Arkangels and Guardians
Arkangels and Guardians
18 pages, full colour
8 x 10 in, soft cover
ISBN 978-1-928022-51-0
$10 in the Gallery Shop or Shop Online
The Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery is pleased to present Guardians and Arkangels by Patricia Brennan. The pieces presented are only a few examples of the collection, which spans an undertaking of more than 38 years. The artist writes:
The Arkangel Project functions as traveling mythology, reflecting its stories of real people involved in earthly action and inspired by heavenly ideals. From my ever-expanding circle of connections, the models arise, embodying both the reflective and the affective, the repulsive and the enlightening. In the relentless circular movement of coiling and manipulating clay, the life-like terra cotta portraits emerge to echo the process of life in a human form—imaginative possibilities presented through changing positions, intervals and attitudes.
This catalogue features images and information about a selection of works from the Guardians and Arkangels series, accompanied by thoughtful writings about the artist and her work.
The Decorated Surface
The Decorated Surface features essays by Scott Barnim, Peter Flannery, Suzann Greenaway, Paul Greenhalgh, Denis Longchamps, Cheyenne Mapplebeck, and Diana Reitberger.
100 pages, full colour
8 x 10 in, hard cover
ISBN 978-1-928022-43-5
$35 in the Gallery Shop or Shop Online
Decorating pots has a long history and its study allows us to explore and understand cultures from around the world. From its beginning, pottery offered a surface for decoration. For example, the earlier pots of the Jomon culture (Japan, 14,000 to 7,500 BCE) used for cooking or storing food, had cord-markings imprinted on their surface. Painted Greek pottery dates to the Stone Age (4000 to 2000 BCE) and more elaborate decoration appeared in the Bronze Age (3300 to 1200 BCE) depicting the lifestyle of the times as well as myths and legends. Their study gives us a glimpse into their religious beliefs, rituals, and cultural practices.
This project, The Decorated Surface, has been percolating for a long time. It is meant both as an homage to the late Matthias Ostermann (1950-2009) and as a look at contemporary decorated surface in the work of six Canadian artists. Ostermann became known for his maiolica, the three books and many articles he published, as well as the workshops he gave internationally. The artists presented are Carole Epp (Saskatchewan), Debra Kuzyk and Ray Mackie (Lucky Rabbit, Nova Scotia), Richard Mund (Ontario), Karin Pavey (Ontario), and Jim Smith (Nova Scotia). Each one of them is known for their unique style of decorating—some looking back at history while others address current issues.
Essence
24 pages, full colour
8 x 10 in, soft cover
ISBN 978-1-928022-45-9
$15 in the Gallery Shop or Shop Online
Telling a story, sharing an emotion, or sparking introspection can take many forms in the art and objects that surround us. Through abstraction, artists can distill an image to its most simple form; a traditional vessel becomes altered into a representation of something new or a sculpture is modified to reveal and inspire.
In these forms we find feelings and experiences, yet also space for individual interpretation and engagement. Shared thoughts of human experience, emotional responses, artistic practice, and our changing world are just some of the vast and diverse themes explored through conceptual and abstracted forms that not only reveal, but also spark new ideas and emotions within each viewer.
Essence brings together the work of five artists, Joël Brodovsky-Adams, Susan Collett, Kathy Kranias, Montserrat Duran Muntadas, and Brad Turner. Each with a unique practice in ceramics or glass, these artists are united in their abstraction of forms and images. Through their work, they distill their concepts to an essence that, when experienced, develops, grows, and changes within each of us. Altering our perceptions of what appear to be functional pieces, but which are in fact unusable, and presenting forms that require a closer look and engagement, these works engage with concepts of the environment, artistic practice, and human experience. They share the views and experiences of their respective artists and draw us in to become participants in the development of these images and ideas.
Voices
The Voices catalogue features essays by
Camille Biron, Juliette Bergeron, Virginia Eichhorn, Peter Flannery, Gina Granter, Franchesca Hebert-Spence, Brett Keating, Denis Longchamps, Cheyenne Mapplebeck, Abisola Ony, Matthew Ryan Smith, Akycha Surette, Susan Surette, and Amelia Wong-Mersereau
96 pages, full colour
8 x 10 in, soft cover
ISBN 978-1-928022-42-8
2022
In 2019, Voices started with a call for proposals for a national project on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We were to present the exhibition in the fall of 2021. Then, the pandemic stopped everything. More inequalities, climate challenges, racial profiling, and the lasting impacts of residential schools took centre stage and spurred calls for social and institutional change. Every Child Matters, Land Back, Black Lives Matter, and the School Strike for Climate movements took hold and garnered nationwide attention. We created a second call for the exhibition, and more artists applied, with the show planned for the fall of 2022. We also developed a special installation for this exhibition titled A Place at the Table. For this project, we invited many public figures to come to the gallery to decorate a plate illustrating their views on diversity, equity, and inclusion in Canada. Public programming during the exhibition will also invite visitors to take their place at the table.
We are grateful to our supporters, especially The Musagetes Fund held at Waterloo Region Community Foundation and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, without whom this important project would not have been possible.
The exhibition showcases the voices of thirty-three artists selected among the proposals received from across Canada, as well as five others with works from our Permanent Collection. In addition, fourteen writers have interpreted the selected pieces for the catalogue, sharing more profound insights and drawing connections across works, further amplifying these voices.
It is time for social justice to take the stage. From the World Vision website, “Social justice is grounded in the idea that every human being deserves the full spectrum of political, economic and social rights, and opportunities.” Nobody is asking for special rights, only the same human rights for all.
We invite you to take the time to listen to each one and reflect…
The Rose Window: Revisited and Reimagined
20 pages, full colour
8 x 10 in, soft cover
ISBN 978-1-928022-34-3
Rose windows have been adorning European cathedrals for centuries. The art of stained glass peaked during the Middle Ages in Europe. These colourful windows were used to educate and preach in churches and cathedrals by illustrating passages from the Bible. The rose window found its origin in the Roman oculus (as seen in the Pantheon, for example). Through the centuries, it was transformed, and coloured glass was used to materialize the light, often overpoweringly, to emphasize the dominion of the Church. Rose window designs have fascinated glass artists from the Medieval period to today and have followed architectural trends through history.
During the pandemic, a group of Ontario glass artists, under the banner of the Artistic Group of Glass (AGOG), sent us an exhibition proposal. The four artists, Teresa Seaton, John Highley, Siobhan Lynch and Joe Speck, have revisited and reimagined the rose window in contemporary terms and various glass approaches, including stained glass, fused glass, and glass mosaic. They have created a vibrant and intriguing display celebrating light, colour and form.
Confined
2022
In March 2020, COVID-19 brought all of us to a standstill. In an instant, our lives changed dramatically in ways that we never expected as we coped with the isolation and confinement of a pandemic that swept around the world. As a result, many artists were barred from their studios—communal spaces of shared experience and creation. This situation encouraged some makers to explore new techniques, ideas, and modes of connecting, while others struggled with restricted access and isolation. Revealing the social, economic, and mental health issues that many of us face in new and more striking ways, COVID-19 also provided an opportunity to reflect, conceptualize, and create.
CONFINED brings together pieces from 31 artists from across Canada working in ceramics, glass, and copper enamelling. Through their diverse and intriguing works, these artists share the difficulties, trauma, and inventive creativity they experienced during the COVID-19 restrictions. As the pandemic slowly fades from our daily lives, CONFINED shows us the varied experiences of artists while reminding us of the societal cracks that were revealed and deepened by the pandemic and the potential for creation and innovation in the face of adversity.
Catalogue features essays by Peter Flannery, Denis Longchamps, Abisola Oni, and Akycha Surette.
48 pages, full colour
8 x 10 in, soft cover
ISBN 978-1-928022-30-5
Nature Inspired
2021
A flower opening in the morning sun. A rainstorm darkening the sky. Dead trees covered with mushrooms and moss. The changing colours of the sea, and of the seasons. The natural world as long been a source of inspiration for artists who perceive and render it as a metaphor or symbol, poetically or realistically.
The exhibition Natured Inspired presents such works found in our permanent collection. Clay, glass and copper enamel artists shown here offer their interpretation of the natural world, its botanical specimens and its landscapes – in sculptures, two-dimensional pieces and functional wares.
Catalogue features essays from Denis Longchamps, Executive Director; Peter Flannery, Assistant Curator; and Jonathan Smith, Curator Emeritus, Art Gallery of Burlington.
23 pages, full colour
8.25 x 10.25 in, soft cover
ISBN 978-1-928022-24-4
In Concert
2020
The exhibition In Concert presents works by artists sharing a studio, permanently or occasionally. They might work independently or collaboratively, sharing their space and their passion for clay or glass. The seven teams we are showcasing are families, couples, partners, friends or employers and employees.
The Surettes, Richard and Susan and their daughter Akycha share a family ceramic studio but have independent work practices as do ceramic artists Maureen Marcotte, her spouse David MacKenzie and their daughter Annie. Life partners and ceramists Thomas Aitken and Kate Hyde, glass artists Caroline Ouellette and Patrick Primeau and, also working with glass, Karina Guévin and Cédric Ginart, share their respective studios, working sometimes collaboratively while pursuing independent projects. Glass artists and friends Laura Donefer and Jeff Mack shared a studio briefly during the completion of a few special collaborative projects. Soffi Studio is composed of husband and wife team, Kris Gene and Eva Milinkovic and their employees Robert O’Dell and Amy Raganit.
They all work In Concert to produce a symphony of works that delight and fascinate, intrigue, and invite to contemplation.
Public Art in Glass
Erratum: on page 4, the credit for Eric Wesslow’s Canada photo should be to Kathy Kranias.
2020
ISBN: 978-1-928022-15-2
Public Art in Glass explores the practice and creative process of four award winning Canadian glass artists who focus on public art projects. Including works by Warren Carther, Sarah Hall, Robert Jekyll, and Michèle Lapointe, this exhibition demonstrates the development of public glass art from its beginnings in stained glass to contemporary applications that include solar cells, colours, and a wide range of additional materials. Art has been used in the public sphere for centuries to embellish, to commemorate people and events of historical importance, to educate, to assert power. Today, public art often focuses on local community values where it transforms the surrounding landscape to highlight issues and questions of the moment.
The catalogue features essays by Executive Director and Chief Curator, Denis Longchamps, as well as Dr. Shirley Ann Brown and Kathy Kranias that explore the history of public glass art projects from their early Canadian beginnings in Cathedrals to contemporary projects that are part of this exhibition.
$12 – Available in the Gallery Shop or Online
On Collecting Clay and Glass
2020
ISBN: 978-1-928022-16-9
Most of the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery’s acquisitions are received as donations either from artists directly, or from corporate and private collections. On Collecting Clay and Glass presents four private collections to show a small sample of the diversity that these mediums offer. It includes works from the visual arts, craft, design and the decorative arts. Collecting can take many forms based on one’s personal taste and interest. For that reason, private collections are often more varied and will include, apart from clay and glass objects, paintings, textiles and furniture, prints, drawings and sculptures. For this exhibition, we selected a variety of pieces from two collections, and focused on a specific object for the other two, illustrating some of the possibilities of the intellectual and aesthetic pursuits of their owners.
On Collecting Clay and Glass includes an essay by Executive Director and Chief Curator Denis Longchamps, as well as a profile on each of the collectors featured in the exhibition written by Assistant Curator Peter Flannery.
$16 – Available in the Gallery Shop or Online
From the Collection: A Bestiary
2019
ISBN: 978-1-928022-12-1
The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery is presenting from its collection A Bestiary. From the beginning of time, the animal world has found its way into the art of humankind in various ways. Animals, fish and birds are, for some, the embodiment of deities; for others they act as metaphors for life experiences. In From the Collection: A Bestiary, we look at ceramic, glass and enamel artists that explored the animal world metaphorically, symbolically, with humour and technical mastery to highlight human concerns and emotions.
Whale Fall
2019
ISBN: 978-1-928022-12-1
Nicholas Crombach & Nurielle Stern
2019
This catalogue accompanies the first collaborative exhibition of artists Nicholas Crombach and Nurielle Stern, entitled “Whale Fall”, at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery from July 2 to September 8, 2019. It features an introduction by Denis Longchamps, an essay by Esmé Hogeveen, full colour reproductions of the works and the exhibition installation, as well as a poetic response to the work in the exhibition written by Nurielle Stern.
The Eye of the Beholder
Joon Hee Kim
2019
This catalogue accompanies the inaugural summer courtyard exhibition “The Eye of the Beholder”, featuring the ceramic work of artist Joon Hee Kim in the John A. Pollock Family Courtyard at the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery from June 1 to September 8, 2019. The catalogue features an introduction by Denis Longchamps and numerous full colour reproductions of Joon Hee Kim’s ceramic sculptures alongside studio and installation photography.
Ann Roberts Monograph
2018
ISBN: 978-1-928022-09-1
As part of celebrating its 25th Anniversary, the Gallery has produced a monograph chronicling the career of ceramic artist and Gallery founder Ann Roberts.
The monograph features numerous colour reproductions of Roberts’ ceramic work. It includes essays by Canadian scholars, Gloria Hickey and Leopold L. Foulem, a foreword by Gallery Curator Sheila McMath, and a biographical timeline of Roberts’ career.
Ann Roberts: With Both Fear and Intrepid Enthusiasm
2012
ISBN: 978-0-9784886-8-0
95 pages, colour, with photography by Karl Griffiths-Fulton and Pirak Studios. Foreword by exhibition curator Christian Bernard-Singer. Essays by Bernard-Singer, Leopold F. Foulem and Gloria Hickey.
$45 plus shipping + tax
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