Exhibition Visit: High Fire Culture _ 2) Gitian MeMittan This article was originally written as a series of posts on Gillian’ blog at http://www.gillianmcmillan.com/blog and is reprinted with permission. May 23 to July 6; High Fire Culture; Locating Leach/Hamada in West Coast Studio Pottery at Satellite Gallery, www.satellitegallery.ca Curated by potter and independent researcher Nora Vaillant and Shelly Rosenblum, curator of Academic Programmes, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, High Fire Culture assembled work by nine B.C. potters who have been influenced by the Leach/Hamada pottery tradition via the first generation of Leach apprentices from BC. Those four were featured in the Belkin Gallery's previous show Thrown: John Reeve, Glenn Lewis, Michael Henry and Ian Steele along with their contemporaries Charmian Johnson, Wayne Ngan and Tam Irving. I will take the liberty of taking Nora Vaillant’s first paragraph from the useful catalogue folder to outline the purpose of the show. “High Fire Culture examines an artistic community linked by the aesthetic sensibilities and philosophy developed by English potter, Bernard Leach (1887-1979) and his Japanese colleague Shoji Hamada (1894-1978). The West Coast potters Lari Robson, Sam Kwan, Andrew Wong, Ron Vallis, Cris Guiffrida, Heinz Laffin, Vincent Massey, Martin Peters and Hiro Urakami share this lineage. Inspired and influenced by the first generation of Canadian potters who apprenticed with Bernard Leach at his pottery in St. Ives, Cornwall, the artists in this exhibition delineate an historical period in which the imaginations of many young potters around the world were captured by the studio pottery movement.” Nora’s whole essay is a clear description of the careers of the potters chosen to illustrate this BC studio pottery tradition. Apart from Lari Robson, who died in 2012, and Cris Guiffrida, who lives in Italy, all the potters attended the opening. It was a marvellous evening to say hello to all my favourite people once again! Cris surprised us all by coming for the closing reception in July. Each potter had a shelf devoted to their work, and then down the middle of the gallery were two long planks where common colour, glazes, firing methods and forms by all of them were shown. ‘The other room had a quietly elegant display of a yunomi by each potter. Display cases showed photos, note books, posters and samples illustrating the shared experiences within the group. Three video screens were running constantly. Potters could sit mesmerized by film of Leach and Hamada at work. To complement the theme of studio pottery and its relationship Top, left: Yunomi by Ron Vallis, kaki and temmoku glaze. Top, right: Yunomi by Vincent Massey, stoneware. Right: Martin Peters sits at his Leach treadle wheel. Bottom of the page: A shelf of Andrew Wong pots. with Modernism there are paintings by B.C. artists who travelled to and were influenced by Japan; BC Binning, Roy Kiyooka and Takao Tanabe. ‘The North-West Ceramic Foundation sponsored talks to accompany the ceramic show at Satellite gallery. Potter and researcher Nora Vaillant walked around the exhibit, explaining the relationships between the featured potters and their mentors. All demonstrate clearly their passion for the Leach/Hamada philosophy. This is not to say that they never work outside this aesthetic but, like many of us, they are cheerfully influenced by the studio pottery movement's ideas and lifestyle. Nora’s colleague in this show, Shelly Rosenblum of the Belkin Gallery spoke to us afterwards, explaining the pieces and information in the display cases, and where studio pottery of the sixties and seventies fitted into Modernist ideals. At the end of Shelly Rosenblum’s talk in the second gallery, we watched as Martin Peters sat at his very- clean Leach kick wheel. There was discussion about how realistic it was to see it so spruced up. But Nora insisted that the wheel, made in Minnesota exactly to Leach standards was a work of art in itself. ‘The show really was a feast of fine form! RITISH COLUMBIA a Potters Guild of BC Newsletter « July/August 2043 11