COLLECTION NAME:
University Art Galleries (UMassD)
mediaCollectionId
UMASSDVRCVRC~43~43
University Art Galleries (UMassD)
Collection
true
exhibition_title:
Chris Gustin: Circling into Now: Large-Scale Vessels 2005-2010
exhibition_title
Chris Gustin: Circling into Now: Large-Scale Vessels 2005-2010
exhibition_title
false
exhibition_dates:
October - November 2010
exhibition_dates
October - November 2010
exhibition_dates
false
exhibition_year:
2010
exhibition_year
2010
exhibition_year
false
exhibition_location:
University Art Gallery (UMass Dartmouth Galleries)
exhibition_location
University Art Gallery (UMass Dartmouth Galleries)
exhibition_location
false
exhibition_curator:
Lasse B. Antonsen
exhibition_curator
Lasse B. Antonsen
exhibition_curator
false
exhibition_note:
"The University Art Gallery to present an exhibition of large-scale vessels by Chris Gustin, a former ceramics Professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The vessels were done over a five-year period, and the exhibition presents an unusual opportunity to view a large collection of his extraordinary vessels in one place. Chris Gustin chose to take early retirement in order to concentrate on his career. Already established as one of the preeminent craft artists in the country, he has devoted his time to an extensive exploration of the potential within his own work. He has also been instrumental in many national ceramics initiatives and events, and is much sought after as a lecturer and teacher of workshops. Chris Gustin's work is unusual in the way it uses the traditional form of the vessel for the exploration of sensations associated with the human body, in work that is almost human in scale. As he explains, "I am interested in pottery that make connections to the human figure. Though most of my work only alludes to function, I use the pot context because of its immense possibilities for abstraction. I want my work to provoke an image to the viewer, to suggest something that is just on the other side of consciousness. I don't want my pots to conjure up a singular recollection, but ones that change with each glance, with each change of light. I use surfaces that purposely encourage touch, by inviting not only the eye but also the hand, to explore the forms. I hope to provoke numerous memories and recollections that have the potential to change from moment to moment."
exhibition_note_
"The University Art Gallery to present an exhibition of large-scale vessels by Chris Gustin, a former ceramics Professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The vessels were done over a five-year period, and the exhibition presents an unusual opportunity to view a large collection of his extraordinary vessels in one place. Chris Gustin chose to take early retirement in order to concentrate on his career. Already established as one of the preeminent craft artists in the country, he has devoted his time to an extensive exploration of the potential within his own work. He has also been instrumental in many national ceramics initiatives and events, and is much sought after as a lecturer and teacher of workshops. Chris Gustin's work is unusual in the way it uses the traditional form of the vessel for the exploration of sensations associated with the human body, in work that is almost human in scale. As he explains, "I am interested in pottery that make connections to the human figure. Though most of my work only alludes to function, I use the pot context because of its immense possibilities for abstraction. I want my work to provoke an image to the viewer, to suggest something that is just on the other side of consciousness. I don't want my pots to conjure up a singular recollection, but ones that change with each glance, with each change of light. I use surfaces that purposely encourage touch, by inviting not only the eye but also the hand, to explore the forms. I hope to provoke numerous memories and recollections that have the potential to change from moment to moment."
exhibition_note
false
exhibition_genre:
ceramics
exhibition_genre
ceramics
exhibition_genre
false
exhibition URL:
exhibition_url
http://www1.umassd.edu/cvpa/universityartgallery/past/2010/chris_gustin.cfm
exhibition URL
false
resourceID:
12006_007a
resource_id
12006_007a
resourceID
false
resourceID:
12006_007b
resource_id
12006_007b
resourceID
false
resource_type:
ephemera - invitation
resource_type
ephemera - invitation
resource_type
false
copyright notice:
COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION: Under the direction of the Visual Resource Center digital collections are made available to the UMass Dartmouth campus community for the sole purpose of classroom instruction and study in accordance U.S. Copyright Laws . All other uses are prohibited and are subject to copyright infringements.
copyright_notice
COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION: Under the direction of the Visual Resource Center digital collections are made available to the UMass Dartmouth campus community for the sole purpose of classroom instruction and study in accordance U.S. Copyright Laws . All other uses are prohibited and are subject to copyright infringements.
copyright notice
false
credit line:
UMass Dartmouth Art Galleries
credit_line
UMass Dartmouth Art Galleries
credit line
false
artist name:
Gustin, Chris
artist_name
Gustin, Chris
artist name
false
artist_nationality:
American
artist_nationality
American
artist_nationality
false
artist_vital dates:
1952
artist_vital_dates
1952
artist_vital dates
false
artist_biographical note:
Born in 1952 in Chicago, Illinois, I grew up in Los Angeles, California, where I was surrounded by ceramics from an early age. My family were part owners of several commercial whiteware ceramic manufacturing companies. Spending my childhood around ceramic factories, it was an obvious choice for me to go into the family business. After taking a pottery class at a local clay studio in Venice Beach while in high school, I went to the University of California, Irvine in 1970, where I studied biology and sociology. Because of my interest in clay, I also took an introductory studio ceramic course with John Mason. After a semester of college, I took a summer job at one of my father's factories, located in Pasadena, California. I decided that I wanted to continue working in the family business, so in the fall of 1970, when I was 18 years old, I quit school and became the factory foreman and manager at Wildwood Ceramics, which I ran until 1972. Two years of running a small commercial ceramics factory was an apprenticeship that has since proved invaluable in my career. During my time at Wildwood, I was still making wheel thrown pottery. Having decided that the studio side of ceramics was of greater interest to me, I left the factory in 1972 to attend the Kansas City Art Institute, from which I received my BFA in ceramics in 1975. I then went on to graduate school at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, where I received my MFA in 1977. I established my first clay studio in 1977 in Guilford, Connecticut, with my sister-in-law Jane Gustin. We both shared the studio together for five years, where we each produced functional and sculptural pottery. During this time, I was invited to teach at Parson's School of Design in New York, where I was an instructor in the Crafts Department from 1978 to 1980. In 1980, I began teaching at the Program in Artisanry at Boston University, where I was Assistant Professor of Ceramics. In 1985, the Program in Artisanry moved to the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where I became Associate Professor of Ceramics and head of the ceramics program. Swain School subsequently merged in 1988 with Southeastern Massachusetts University, now the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. It was during my tenure at Boston University, in 1982, that I moved my studio from Connecticut to South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where I purchased and renovated an 8000 square foot building that was an old chicken farm. This building became both my studio and my living space. In 1986, I became involved with a small group of artists interested in saving and preserving an old brick factory in southeast Maine. With Peg Griggs' generous donation of the property, she, George Mason, Lynn Duryea and myself founded the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, in Newcastle, Maine. Watershed is now thriving, offering summer and winter residencies to artists from around the world. I became interested in the production of tile in 1994, when my wife and I began to design our new home. I made all of the tile for the new house, and out of that experience I started Gustin Ceramics Tile Production in 1996. The tile company offered me another way to work with ceramics, and has grown significantly in the last couple of years. The tile is represented nationally by architects, designers and tile showrooms. I was Associate Professor of Ceramics and the senior faculty of the ceramics program during my ten year tenure at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. After twenty years of teaching and working with hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, I retired from academia in the summer of 1999 to devote my full time and energies to my studio work and my tile production company.
artist_biographical_note
Born in 1952 in Chicago, Illinois, I grew up in Los Angeles, California, where I was surrounded by ceramics from an early age. My family were part owners of several commercial whiteware ceramic manufacturing companies. Spending my childhood around ceramic factories, it was an obvious choice for me to go into the family business. After taking a pottery class at a local clay studio in Venice Beach while in high school, I went to the University of California, Irvine in 1970, where I studied biology and sociology. Because of my interest in clay, I also took an introductory studio ceramic course with John Mason. After a semester of college, I took a summer job at one of my father's factories, located in Pasadena, California. I decided that I wanted to continue working in the family business, so in the fall of 1970, when I was 18 years old, I quit school and became the factory foreman and manager at Wildwood Ceramics, which I ran until 1972. Two years of running a small commercial ceramics factory was an apprenticeship that has since proved invaluable in my career. During my time at Wildwood, I was still making wheel thrown pottery. Having decided that the studio side of ceramics was of greater interest to me, I left the factory in 1972 to attend the Kansas City Art Institute, from which I received my BFA in ceramics in 1975. I then went on to graduate school at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, where I received my MFA in 1977. I established my first clay studio in 1977 in Guilford, Connecticut, with my sister-in-law Jane Gustin. We both shared the studio together for five years, where we each produced functional and sculptural pottery. During this time, I was invited to teach at Parson's School of Design in New York, where I was an instructor in the Crafts Department from 1978 to 1980. In 1980, I began teaching at the Program in Artisanry at Boston University, where I was Assistant Professor of Ceramics. In 1985, the Program in Artisanry moved to the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where I became Associate Professor of Ceramics and head of the ceramics program. Swain School subsequently merged in 1988 with Southeastern Massachusetts University, now the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. It was during my tenure at Boston University, in 1982, that I moved my studio from Connecticut to South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where I purchased and renovated an 8000 square foot building that was an old chicken farm. This building became both my studio and my living space. In 1986, I became involved with a small group of artists interested in saving and preserving an old brick factory in southeast Maine. With Peg Griggs' generous donation of the property, she, George Mason, Lynn Duryea and myself founded the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, in Newcastle, Maine. Watershed is now thriving, offering summer and winter residencies to artists from around the world. I became interested in the production of tile in 1994, when my wife and I began to design our new home. I made all of the tile for the new house, and out of that experience I started Gustin Ceramics Tile Production in 1996. The tile company offered me another way to work with ceramics, and has grown significantly in the last couple of years. The tile is represented nationally by architects, designers and tile showrooms. I was Associate Professor of Ceramics and the senior faculty of the ceramics program during my ten year tenure at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. After twenty years of teaching and working with hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, I retired from academia in the summer of 1999 to devote my full time and energies to my studio work and my tile production company.
artist_biographical note
false
artist_URL:
artist_url
http://www.gustinceramics.com/index.html
artist_URL
false
artist_reference:
artist_reference
http://www.gustinceramics.com/index.html
artist_reference
false
work_title:
[ Installation of Chris Gustin's Large Scale Ceramic Vessels and Drawings ]
work_title
[ Installation of Chris Gustin's Large Scale Ceramic Vessels and Drawings ]
work_title
false
work_technique:
ceramic
work_technique
ceramic
work_technique
false
work_date:
ca. 2005 2010
work_date
ca. 2005 2010
work_date
false
date_of_ record:
2013/02/02
date_of__record
2013/02/02
date_of_ record
false
name_cataloger:
ajc
name_cataloger
ajc
name_cataloger
false