Exhibition > Past Exhibition

Past Exhibition

Backstory: STOKED-!!

In 2011 Xiem Gallery invited well-known local ceramic artist and educator Stephen L. Horn to curate an exhibition for our participation in the Pasadena AxS 2011 festival. In response to the festival theme of ‘Fire and Water’, Steve came up with the evocative title Stoked! - referencing the parallel universe of what he termed the “tribe” of ceramic artists who surf. Full details of that show may be viewed here on the Xiem website.

8 years on, Xiem Gallery is delighted to present Stoked-!! – Steve’s wide-ranging follow-up to Stoked! Retaining the essential surf connection, Steve’s current selection extends well beyond ceramic shores, embracing diverse works by surfer artists from a wide range of creative media.

Curator Statement: STEPHEN L. HORN

‘Stoked’ is surfer vernacular for complete and intense enthusiasm, for getting all fired up. The exhibition Stoked II, refers to a Southern California tribe of surfers/artists and their commitment to a unique way of life. Many of the artists are educators, and all transmit their stoke to others. Vital people vitalize. NO SURF BUMS ALLOWED. The theme of Stoked II is the same as the first exhibition but expands the tribe to surfers/artists working in other mediums…Anything goes…the first exhibition was a celebration of the local ceramic scene, Stoked II celebrates artists from other tribes. The pieces in the exhibition do not necessarily reference surfing directly. They do express an approach and aesthetic that embodies the energy, the passion, and the fun of searching for and riding a really good wave.

EXHIBITION: perceptions: narratives and dispositions
CURATOR: Lourdes Jimenez Pulido

perceptions: narratives + dispositions

It is fascinating to observe the thousands of interactions that occur throughout the landscape of daily society. furthermore, i find it appealing to move around the city and rippling communities of the greater Los Angeles area and see how people interact all around me. i am interested in the dialogue and interactions that these experiences and encounters begin to weave together for each of us. it is from these small moments in life that we begin to see individual experiences develop and form the fabric of our lives.

with thiwith this in mind, i present to you perceptions: narratives + dispositions. the intention for this show was to invite an eclectic and extensive group of individuals from different backgrounds and experiences to create unique objects/environments that provoke thought and emotion. although all of us work using a variety of processes + materials and for the purpose of representing different ideas and concepts, we have created a collective space full of color, personal aesthetics and intention for the purpose of your experience and interaction.

i am interested in why and how individuals make their work, how it reflects who they are and what they feel is important for the public to learn or be aware of. the inspiration to all work presented comes from a variety of personal experiences giving authenticity and consciousness to personal struggles, mental health, political inclinations and stances, with ideas of breaking societal norms, or reinventing cultural traditions.

in our current political national state, we may get easily influenced by thoughts and habits that set us back instead of thrusting us forward. i do not mean to exclusively introduce politics into my practice or this dialogue but political aspects exist in all facets of a person and a society. an open mind to a diversity of experiences reflected in creative objects and installations can be vital to the enrichment of daily life.
we tend to forget who we are individually, where we live, what we have, and what our purpose is when we are bombarded with an overwhelming amount of societal norms and expectations from all media outlets. for me, the goal to life is finding an existence of substance and not fearing or feeling threatened by cultures, people or mentalities different than my own, understanding through communication.

we hope you are able to take some time and engage with each distinct piece.

thank you for your visit.

Lourdes Jimenez Pulido

Graduating from the University of Wales (BA Hons Fine Art) in 1993, Dan Owen has
explored a career of toy and product design.
This is his first show since picking up
clay again after a 20 year sojourn.
BOG is a celebration of a muddy subconscious; an exposition of gestural sketches
in clay trawled from the last 18 months. Themes range from ‘An Ossuary of
Imaginary Friends’, faux pastoral folk totems from rural England to a menagerie
of animal sculpts from land, sea and air.

Not your Grandma’s Teapots: PAT WOLFF

I majored in Art with Design and Crafts focus at Cal State LA, graduating in 1971 with minimal interest in clay. Several years later, I reconnected with Joe Soldate - my retired college ceramics professor. Taking a class with Joe at Creative Arts Group in Sierra Madre, I found my drive for ceramics. I realized that I didn't have to make a lot of pottery ware that most anybody could make better than I could. Wheel thrown ceramics tend to be very similar (yeah, round!). So using both hand building and wheel throwing I began to explore the teapot form. I appreciate utility -- because, what does one do with a non-functional sculpture? One lets it get dusty. So I make teapots that are useable sculpture! There are so many ideas that come to me, I don't have time to experiment with them all… I do like to tease, to pull on your assumptions. So sometimes I like you to think, "That's a teapot?!"

Xiem Gallery Summer Review features work by Artists who participated in our Spring Studio Sale

Xiem Gallery is delighted to present Many Hands Make Light Work - an exhibition of ceramic Table Lamps, produced in an amazing collaboration between Xiem Students, Instructors and Members.

Xiem Member, photographer and art director Adi Mizrahi devised and presented a Table Lamp class at Xiem at the end of 2017. Working with Intermediate level Hand Building students – most of whom had taken several classes with Titia Estes, he and partner Ron Hellmann facilitated the design, construction and wiring of a variety of unique hand made ceramic lamps. The students' lamps were so successful that we decided to show them in the Gallery - together with lamps produced by other Xiem members inspired by the project, plus a few made by Adi and Ron for their exciting new design company, Mizrahi-Hellman Ceramics. Enjoy!

Joe Soldate passed away in 2014, but Soldate 60 - the clay body he developed for his CalState LA students to use in the 1960’s continues to grow in popularity - an enduring tribute to the practical ingenuity of this extraordinary artist. Produced by both Laguna Clay and Aardvark Clay Supplies, Soldate 60 is still the go-to stoneware clay for beginners and established artists in SoCal schools and studios and beyond.

Following a lengthy and illustrious teaching career, Joe joined Xiem Clay Center in 2006. A benign and inspiring presence in the studio for several years, he was sorely missed when he became too ill to continue. While the clay body he developed remains a vital part of the conversation for so many ceramic artists, sharing the origins of Soldate 60 with the community has become increasingly difficult. For despite his stellar reputation, researching the usual internet channels to find out more about Joe Soldate proves frustrating.

Those who knew him well may speculate as to whether this was intentional: Joe was primarily a conceptual artist, who didn’t much care about promoting or even documenting his work. He delighted in impermanence and consequently many of his pieces were left unfired - built to disintegrate. Or perhaps he was simply modest.

Be that as it may, his work and his world-view were revolutionary. And this exhibition is an attempt to refocus the narrative. In collaboration with Christine Soldate and Joan Aebi, Xiem Gallery is gathering a small selection of Joe’s work and placing it and his clay in the context of work produced by some of his former students, his contemporaries and a new generation of clay artists who know little about Joe, though they know Soldate 60 really well.

By turning this spotlight onto Joe and his joie de vivre, we hope to illuminate his life and legacy for the Xiem community and a wider audience. Enjoy!

Ceramics unites the constraints of limitation with the freedom of experimentation. Ceramics Lab - presented for Art Center College of Design at Xiem Clay Center by Heather Rosenman, introduced students to the use of the medium for creative expression. Students were required to make a commitment to both practice and investigative experimentation. This show shares some of their results.

Xiem Gallery’s seasonal selections reflect the creative diversity of ceramic art produced by Xiem studio members, instructors and local artists.

Xiem Gallery selections reflect the diversity of ceramic art produced by Xiem studio members, instructors and local artists.

Our seasonal gallery selections reflect the diversity of ceramic art produced by Xiem Studio Members, Instructors and local artists.

Visit Xiem Gallery to view our winter collection.

Our seasonal selections showcase ceramic art produced by Xiem Studio members and local Artists.

Visit Xiem Gallery to view our cool new collection:

Xiem Gallery’s seasonal selections showcase ceramic art produced by Xiem Studio members and local Artists. Prominently featured in our Spring Collection is Byproducts – a herd of cows by Beverly Archer , and fresh new works reflecting the change of season from a number of Xiem Artists.

Xiem Gallery is proud to present our Winter Collection - a seasonal selection of unique Ceramic Art by Members of Xiem Studio and local Artists:

We are delighted to present our Fall Selection of work by exceptional local artists.
Many of the artists are associated with Xiem Studio - either as members or instructors.
We are especially pleased to be showing new pieces by Junzo Mori, our renowned studio technician.

---

To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we are delighted to present a selection of recent figurative sculpture and wall pieces by some of the exceptional artists who have had one-person shows in Xiem Gallery since we opened in 2003.

EXHIBITION:	Ten Great Years at Xiem!
ARTISTS:	Beverly Archer Steve Horn Sierra Pecheur Tomas Owen
DATES:	November 15th – December 31st, 2013
OPENING RECEPTION:	Friday, November 15th (6:00pm – 9:00pm)
WHERE:	Xiem Gallery GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday – Saturday (11:00am – 5:00pm) Click here for Direction and Hours

---

Stoked!

Stephen L. Horn / Bill Henke / Kevin Myers / Kent Rothman / Joe Soldate / Richard White

September 30th – November 19th

Curated by Stephen L.Horn and referencing Fire and Water, Pasadena Arts Council’s AxS 2011 festival, Xiem Gallery presents an exhibition exploring the theme of ceramic artists who surf.

EXHIBITION:	Stoked!
ARTISTS:	Stephen L. Horn Bill Henke Kevin Myers Kent Rothman Joe Soldate Richard White
DATES:	September 30th – November 19th
GALLERY RECEPTION:	Friday, September 30th (7:00pm – (9:00pm)
ARTISTS’ TALK:	Saturday, October 8th (2:30pm)
WHERE:	Xiem Gallery GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday – Saturday (11:00am – 5:00pm) Click here for Direction and Hours
In celebration of the richness of the local ceramic art scene, Xiem Gallery invited renowned Pasadena ceramic artist and educator Stephen Horn to curate our AxS 2011 festival show. In response to the festival theme “Fire and Water”, Steve came up with the evocative title Stoked! referencing the parallel universe of what he terms the “tribe” of ceramic artists who surf. Steve’s take on the festival theme is quirky yet exquisitely pertinent to a local festival - while kilns and the stoking thereof are areas of common experience for potters worldwide, the dual pursuit of forces of fire and water as defining elements of personal expression, appears to be unique to California clay. A life-long surfer and ceramic artist, curator Steve Horn will present his own work in the company of works by a group of eminent ceramic artists who surf. The exhibition promises to reveal fascinating correspondences in the passionate commitment to form, play, courage, balance and open-ended exploration germane to both disciplines.
ABOUT THE ARTIST/CURATOR: Stephen L. Horn received an M.A. in art from California State University, Fullerton, in 1975, and an M.F.A. from that same institution in 1996. Since the late 1960s, he has worked his own studio and taught ceramics at several colleges in Southern California, including Riverside Community College, where he is currently a full professor of art and chair of the art department. Steve also served as an arts commissioner for the City of Pasadena. Learn more about Steve »

---

[1]  [2]  [3]  [4]  [5]

• View Current Exhibition
• View Future Exhibition