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THE ARTFUL TEAPOT:
20th-Century Expressions from the Kamm Collection
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The
Artful Teapot - North American Tour Schedule
May 16 - September 2, 2002 The exhibition examines the form of the teapot, which has been both a cultural icon and an inventive vehicle for artistic expression throughout the twentieth century. The exhibition's 250 objects include interpretations of teapots by painters Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney, sculptors Arman and Michael Lucero, and ceramic artists Betty Woodman and Adrian Saxe, as well as works by more than 100 other artists. The Artful Teapot will premiere at COPIA as a highlight of summer programming, then tour to museums in North America and Europe. Organized thematically, The Artful Teapot features a wide range of teapots grouped in four sections, "Aesthetic Variables," "Illusion & Allusion," "Rendezvous with Ritual" and "Tea for Art's Sake." This highly original exhibition presents teapots that are provocative, playful and profound, and often only marginally functional. Addressing aesthetic, social and political issues, The Artful Teapot examines teapots that are much more than just a device to serve tea. The exhibition provides a comprehensive view of the contemporary teapot to date, featuring works in a multitude of forms including human, animal, vegetable, and even architectural, in materials ranging from fine porcelain to used olive oil tins. Zoe Morrow's "Five on the Line" teapot features dozens of $5 US bills woven into the shape of a teapot; in David Gignac's "Celestial Teapot," a white, hand-blown glass orb sits atop forged steel branches simulating a gothic moonlit night; and David Gilhooly's "Oreo and Frog Teapot" is a basic black earthenware teapot that has life-like frogs crawling up through cookies to escape through the teapot's lid. Also included is "Resurrection of a Broken Teapot," a striking sculpture by Laszlo Fekete that depicts distressed stoneware hands holding up a pristine porcelain teapot. All of the works in the exhibition have been culled from the celebrated Kamm collection, husband and wife Gloria and Sonny Kamm's personal trove of more than 6,000 teapots. Working together to scour flea markets, bid on internet auction sites and commission artists to create their own interpretations of the object, the Kamms amassed the largest collection of teapots in the United States. From this impressive collection, curator Garth Clark, a preeminent scholar and author of more than 14 books on ceramic art, has chosen 250 teapots that illustrate the beauty and power of a series, and also stand independently as works of art. Clark is the founder and current director of the Ceramic Arts Foundation. The Artful Teapot is organized and circulated by Exhibitions International, New York, a not-for-profit traveling art exhibition service that specializes in architecture, design and decorative arts. The exhibition also includes drawings, photographs and a video that documents the history of the teapot and the arrival of tea in the West. While many of the teapots featured in the exhibition have been created within the last few decades, a selection of historical pieces representing the teapot's over 400-year history are also included, giving a contextual basis to the contemporary works. The Birth of Coffee, a documentary of the world's coffee cultures produced by photographer Daniel Lorenzetti and writer Linda Rice Lorenzetti, will be on display simultaneously with The Artful Teapot from May 23 through August 12, 2002. COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts opened to the public on November 18, 2001 as the world's leading cultural center dedicated to the discovery, understanding and celebration of wine and food with the arts. Among the center's impressive facilities are its 13,000 square feet of gallery space devoted to long term and temporary exhibitions, and a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces for performances, art installations and educational programs. The 80,000 square-foot building and three and one-half acres of gardens allow COPIA to pursue its mission to explore and reveal the interrelationships of wine and food with the arts through innovative programming, exhibitions and scholarships. COPIA is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit, privately funded organization. COPIA is located at 500 First Street in downtown Napa. ### PRESS CONTACTS: Tom Fuller November 2, 2002 - January 5, 2003 February 6 - May 25, 2003 June 20 - September 14, 2003 February 1 - June 1, 2004 |
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| Updated: May 07, 2004 © Ferrin Gallery |