See photo album on following page for more images.
40TH YEAR, LOOKING AHEAD
Atlantic Gallery, September 30th to October 18th
Ragnar Naess presents sculpted clay forms and compositions which challenge and excite him as he looks ahead in his fortieth year making clay objects.Naess’s Atlantic Gallery exhibition runs September 30th toOctober 18th open Tuesday- Saturday noon to 6:PM.Two receptions are from 5: to 8: pmTuesday Sept. 30th and Saturday October 4th .Atlantic Gallery is between 6th and 7th Avenues in Chelsea at 135 West 29th Street, Suite 601.
Several narrative pieces from a series called “Bubble and the Box” explore ‘thinking outside the box’ or ‘not thinking outside the box’ and consequences.Other explorations in Naess sculpture are of the human condition in broader terms.Abstract small scale sculptures fit in the hand and rest on many sides, whether curvilinear or planar, play objects.Some sculptures function in practical ways.Naess says: “Unlike practical pots, sculptures think themselves into existence at the workbench.”
Naess is represented in collections of The Smithsonian, The Newark Museum and the Fine Arts Museum of Taipei, among others.Recent publication include Naess’s writing and work:From Mud to Music by Barry Hall ( A chapter about collaborating with Tan Dun building a clay orchestra); Marguerite Wildenhain and the Bauhaus, ed. by Geraldine and Dean Schwarz (Notes from study with MW).Naess works and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
CONTACT:
Atlantic Gallery135 West 29th St. Suite 601 NY NY 10001 (212)219-3183
Studio is open by appointment for browsng and finding pottery to meet your needs.
(718)-636-8608
Recent Group show at ATLANTIC GALLERY:
CA-TAS-TRO-PHE July 2008
A stunning show with a panel discssion we all thought better than we had hoped!
IMAGE: Bubble is an autobiographical alter ego figure.Bubble’s adventures have ranged far and wide including eight sculptures observing my very persistent struggle to think outside the box, a series named “Bubble and The Box.”
“Bubble Drives His Burning Box” was created for the AG Ca-tas-tro-phe show.Bubble drives desperately,facing at right angles to the direction of his box’s wheels.He wears thick glasses prevent his awareness that his box is burning.He dumped his wings (symbolic of imagination, hope, flight and the possibility of change) insidenear his feet.Even when he’s not wearing them they glow with a golden light;all hope is not lost, but he ignores them.Everywhere in the world as well as in our own lives we see ways in which tunnel vision and desperate worship of ideology and familiar ideas and pathways brings human suffering and loss.
Desperation (fiddling while Rome burns) whitens our knuckles as we yank on the controls of our habitual, unconscious living patterns.We are oblivious (perhaps fortunately) of how winds and waters have changed their course, how paths turn and twist when we want to charge straight ahead.Within each of us a universe exists with the possibility of new vision and change.Will we “get it” or burn up?
BROOKLYN POTTERS GROUP
EMPTY BOWLS CAMPAIGN
Available 7:AM-10:PM daily in our display case at Ozzie's III, 249 Fifth Ave. (718)768-6868
You make a gift of cash to C.H.I.P.S. and take home a meal sized bowl made by Brooklyn Potters.
