S I L V E R F O X G A L L E R Y
C O N T E M P O R A R Y A M E R I C A N A R T, C R A F T & F U R N I T U R E
Allan Buitekant, 'Form and Function'
November 3 to December 30
November 3 to December 30
A reception for ceramic artist Allan Buitekant will be held at the
Silver Fox Gallery on Friday, November 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. as part of
the Downtown Hendersonville first Friday art stroll.
Buitekant, who moved to Rutherfordton, North Carolina from New
York nearly a decade ago, joins the Silver Fox Gallery as one of a
dozen resident artists whose work is always available through the
gallery and for whom exhibits are held every 18 to 24 months.
Buitekant's work is made from stoneware and white stoneware
that he throws on the wheel, alters or constructs from slabs.
Buitekant believes the beauty of this pottery is both aesthetic and
functional.
"The use of a piece completes its purpose," he says in language
as direct and minimal as his work. "Clay possesses a quality that
reveals spontaneity. I use this character as much as I can,
allowing the clay to express itself. I attempt to do as little as
possible to achieve my purpose similar, in a way, to the
minimalists in music."
Included in Buitekant's exhibit, titled "Form and Function," is a
much-used lidded pot crafted by Buitekant 30 years ago for his
beloved wife and life partner Jane; two new pots of similar style
are displayed with the heirloom piece.
In addition to half a dozen functional pieces, the exhibit includes
torsos that Buitekant sculpts in his quest for minimal expression
in claywork, and vases he creates more as sculpture than
functional pieces.
"Jane's Chicken Collection" is exhibited in the wooden case in
which Jane displayed the miniature 'chicken gods' that Buitekant
made and placed in the kiln each time he fired. (Once when he did
not make a 'chicken god' for the kiln, all shelves collapsed and the
entire body of work was destroyed.)
Buitekant began pottery as a whim in 1954. It was fun, and he did
it to please himself while he built a career as an art director in
advertising. As he worked in the most creative agency in the world
at the time -- Doyle, Dane, Bernbach - Buitekant learned how to
approach an artistic problem from a fresh direction. He adapted
this skill to his ceramics, and began a process of discovery in two
separate worlds.
Throughout his career, which led to executive creative positions,
Buitekant won many awards, including a Bronze Lion from the
Cannes Film Festival, and he continued with pottery. Evenings
and weekend were spent either in the studio or at a school. These
circumstances exposed him to Byron Temple at the 92nd Street
YMCA, Jolyn Hofstead at the Brooklyn Museum Art School,
Parsons School of Design and the famous Greenwich House with
Jim Crumrine.
Silver Fox Gallery on Friday, November 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. as part of
the Downtown Hendersonville first Friday art stroll.
Buitekant, who moved to Rutherfordton, North Carolina from New
York nearly a decade ago, joins the Silver Fox Gallery as one of a
dozen resident artists whose work is always available through the
gallery and for whom exhibits are held every 18 to 24 months.
Buitekant's work is made from stoneware and white stoneware
that he throws on the wheel, alters or constructs from slabs.
Buitekant believes the beauty of this pottery is both aesthetic and
functional.
"The use of a piece completes its purpose," he says in language
as direct and minimal as his work. "Clay possesses a quality that
reveals spontaneity. I use this character as much as I can,
allowing the clay to express itself. I attempt to do as little as
possible to achieve my purpose similar, in a way, to the
minimalists in music."
Included in Buitekant's exhibit, titled "Form and Function," is a
much-used lidded pot crafted by Buitekant 30 years ago for his
beloved wife and life partner Jane; two new pots of similar style
are displayed with the heirloom piece.
In addition to half a dozen functional pieces, the exhibit includes
torsos that Buitekant sculpts in his quest for minimal expression
in claywork, and vases he creates more as sculpture than
functional pieces.
"Jane's Chicken Collection" is exhibited in the wooden case in
which Jane displayed the miniature 'chicken gods' that Buitekant
made and placed in the kiln each time he fired. (Once when he did
not make a 'chicken god' for the kiln, all shelves collapsed and the
entire body of work was destroyed.)
Buitekant began pottery as a whim in 1954. It was fun, and he did
it to please himself while he built a career as an art director in
advertising. As he worked in the most creative agency in the world
at the time -- Doyle, Dane, Bernbach - Buitekant learned how to
approach an artistic problem from a fresh direction. He adapted
this skill to his ceramics, and began a process of discovery in two
separate worlds.
Throughout his career, which led to executive creative positions,
Buitekant won many awards, including a Bronze Lion from the
Cannes Film Festival, and he continued with pottery. Evenings
and weekend were spent either in the studio or at a school. These
circumstances exposed him to Byron Temple at the 92nd Street
YMCA, Jolyn Hofstead at the Brooklyn Museum Art School,
Parsons School of Design and the famous Greenwich House with
Jim Crumrine.
____________________________________
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |