John Reeve: Some Hidden Magic

John Reeve: Some Hidden Magic

Select pieces from artist John Reeve's work in stoneware, porcelain, and earthenware accomplished over the course of his fifty-year career.

The Opening Reception on Sunday, November 20 from 12-4 pm, features a special talk with curator Nora Vaillant at 1 pm. The opening reception runs simultaneous with Northern Clay Center's Holiday Open House.

About John Reeve - John Reeve (1929 – 2012) strove to capture what he called “the soul of the pot,” the charged air contained by a three-dimensional whirling orb. His pots reveal a masterful understanding of form and volume while possessing a fresh and often playful attitude. They resonate with an energy emanating from voluptuous interior spaces. Sometimes quirky, sometimes cutting edge, they reflect an unorthodox stance best described by Reeve when he said, “I'm not really interested in committing novelty upon the world, but only in making objects which have some hidden magic to them.”

Reeve's talent and charisma inspired makers from Big Creek, California, to Castle Clay in Denver, to the Kansas City Art Institute, the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and England's Farnham School of Art. In 1962, he began regular visits to Minnesota where he made pots at the home of his lifelong friend Warren MacKenzie; both men were students of Bernard Leach. While in Minnesota, Reeve taught periodically at the university, and sold his work. Many pots in this exhibition come from local collections and include pieces on loan from the Weisman Museum.

About Nora Vaillant - Trained as an anthropologist, Nora Vaillant is a teacher, writer, and potter who has worked in clay for over 20 years. She curated High Fire Culture for the University of British Columbia's Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery and has contributed to Studio Potter magazine and Thrown: British Columbia’s Apprentices of Bernard Leach and Their Contemporaries.

 


 


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