A new YouTube short
J. Peterman Catalogue on Pottery
in pottery
The Aesthetics of Everyday Objects: The Plate opens February 1, 2025 in LA
in exhibitions
Sea Creature 5 Gallon Bucket Lid, stoneware, 11.5” in diameter, 2024.
The above piece will be included in The Aesthetics of Everyday Objects: The Plate at ATLA in Los Angeles.
The Plate exhibition opens February 1 and is on view through February 23, 2025.
The show includes work by Sandow Birk, Jenny Hata Blumenfield, Nicole Cherubini, Francesca DiMattio, Edward S. Eberle, Stanley Edmondson, Nicki Green, Matt Merkel Hess, Roxanne Jackson, Trevor King, Susanna Koetter, Joshua Miller, Bruno Nakano, Akihide Nakao, Elyse Pignolet, Yoshikazu Tanaka, Shoshi Watanabe, and Matt Wedel.
For more information on the show, click here.
The Sea Creature bucket lid piece was originally exhibited at my show Loot, at Morgan Lehman Gallery in New York City in April-May, 2024.
The old brick factory barn at Watershed.
Watershed 2019 Session V: The New Ancient
This past summer, I had the pleasure of co-organizing a session at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine focused on ceramic vessels new and old. Along with co-organizer Ginger Lukas, we were joined by a potters and sculptors from around the world. The discussions, food, and time in the barn studio were invigorating. It was great to spend so much time in a studio with friends old and new and to experience summer in Maine.
As part of the residency, Ginger and I cooked up this pottery mad libs generator. Check it out here.
Here’s a few pics of Watershed, including the buildings, sculptures on the grounds, shard pile, and neighboring sheep:
And here’s some of the work I made in the 12-day session.
Cheetos Crunchy bag, salt-fired stoneware, 2019
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, salt-fired stoneware, 2019
Decorated Plastic Crate, earthenware, 2019
Landscape crate, salt-fired stoneware, 2019
Landscape Crate, (detail), salt-fired stoneware, 2019
I made an earthenware license plate to contribute to the “collection” of sculptures that have been left in the barn throughout the years.
This stoneware crock didn’t completely dry and I blew out the bottom in the firing. I took a hammer to it and kept these pieces.
Beginning to decorate the big crock, in the Watershed barn.
If you are interested in learning more, definitely take a look at upcoming sessions at Watershed.
Cool Clay at Crocker Art Museum
The exhibition Cool Clay: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Ceramics is now on view at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, Calif. through July 19, 2020. Artists in the show include Rudy Autio, Sergei Isupov, Jun Kaneko, Tony Marsh, Peter Olson, Zemer Peled, Erika Sanada, Edwin Scheier, Nancy Selvin, and Dirk Staschke.
The exhibition includes a porcelain Eagle 5 Gallon Gas Can from 2013 and a porcelain Oster Blender from 2013.
For more information, click here. A few installation images and detail shots of the works are below.
Oster Blender, 2013, right. On view at the Crocker Art Museum.
From left: Eagle 5 Gallon Gas Can, porcelain, 2015 by Matthias Merkel Hess along with works by Zemer Peled and other artists.
Eagle 5 Gallon Gas Can, porcelain, 2015 by Matthias Merkel Hess.
Oster Blender, porcelain, 2013
Recent sketches
Recent sketches, colored pencil on paper
Hello!
Jomon Crate, stoneware, 2018 by Matt Merkel Hess
Welcome to a new site for my work. Many things are still being built and added. Thanks for looking.