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Richard Hirsch Ceramic Mortar and Pestle Sculpture, 2010

About the Item

Contemporary American ceramic artist Richard Hirsch's Mortar and Pestle Sculpture was assembled in 2010. It's wheel thrown and hand built clay, lowfired slips, black glaze, raku patinas, iron chloride spray and a sawdust smoke-fired pestle. In the book "With Fire: Richard Hirsch, A Life Between Chance and Design" Bai Ming said; " The mortar and pestle are prototypes found in every society, every culture; they are universal, timeless, and extremely powerful representations of human activity. Man is no longer just subject to nature, he is an actor upon nature. He can change matter. The alchemical turning of grain into food, of herbs and bark and bone into healing medicine, of base metal into gold---all and much more are immediately associated with the mortar and pestle. Perhaps for the first time in his long career, Hirsch moves away from a near-total focus on the primitive and primordial to introduce—or to hint at—notions of measurement, science, philosophy, and even technology. Yet he does not fail to remind us, via the eroded, patinaed surface of the mortars, that even these modernist institutions grow out of and are dependent upon the world of nature. More than any others of Hirsch’s work, the mortar and pestle forms stand “at the meeting point of nature and artifice.” They are simultaneously “an object of nature and a subject of culture; an individual and a group; reality and dream.” This five piece sculpture is signed and dated by the artist. It will ship directly from the artist’s studio in Rochester, NY. (Literature: "With Fire: Richard Hirsch, A Life Between Chance and Design", Scott Meyer (Author), RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press 2012 - "Mortars and Pestles" pgs. 57 - 60) Richard Hirsch Brief Bio: In the field of contemporary ceramic, Rick Hirsch has earned an international reputation. He has achieved this recognition by engaging in numerous diversified professional activities. Through efforts in university teaching, exhibits, writing, lecturing and researching he has risen to worldwide prominence. In 1975, Hirsch co-authored a book entitled Raku, published by Watson-Guptill. This was the first comprehensive text to address the new innovations developing in the west that were transforming traditional Japanese Raku. Also, in the same year, Hirsch became a founding faculty member of The Program in Artistry at Boston University. Currently, Hirsch is a Professor Emeritus at The School for American Crafts which is a part of Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. His university teaching career now spans well over four decades. Repeatedly, Hirsch has participated in several milestone exhibitions and publications. Significant shows include; The Evolution of American Art in Craft Media Since 1945; Echoes: Historical References in Contemporary Ceramics; American Ceramics Now; Raku: Origins, Impact and Contemporary Expression; and Convergences: The Presence of the Past in Contemporary American Ceramics. Frequently his work appears in book and magazine publications, such as; Overseas Contemporary Ceramic Art Classics by Baiming, China; Raku Investigations into Fire by David Jones, England; The History of American Ceramics from 1607 to the Present by Elaine Levin, New York; World Contemporary Ceramics by Baiming, China; and Firing, Philosophies within Contemporary Ceramic Practice by David Jones, England. Several museums have included his work for their permanent collections. These include; The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; The Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC; The High Museum of Art, Atlanta; The Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; The Taipei County Yinko Ceramics Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; and the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, Canada. In 1984, Hirsch was elected as a permanent member of The International Ceramics Academy, a worldwide organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. A recipient of a William J. Fulbright Research Scholar Award in 2002, Hirsch has also received several Individual Artists Grants. Most recently he was honored by The Rochester Institute of Technology, with the Board of Trustees' Outstanding Scholarship Award. Recently Hirsch collaborated with Dr. Scott Meyer on his biography, the book is entitled With Fire: Richard Hirsch and is published by The Cary Graphic Arts Press at RIT, ISBN-13: 978-1-933360-97-3. Amid the ever-shifting sands of change and new trends that is prevalent in contemporary ceramics, Richard Hirsch has maintained his steadfast personal aesthetic and continues to make a significant contribution to his field.
  • Creator:
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 14 in (35.56 cm)Depth: 8 in (20.32 cm)
  • Sold As:
    Set of 5
  • Style:
    Modern (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
    Ceramic,Glazed
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    2010
  • Production Type:
    New & Custom(One of a Kind)
  • Estimated Production Time:
    Available Now
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: RH 0631stDibs: LU863323647832

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Contemporary American ceramic artist Richard Hirsch's Mortar and Glass Pestle Sculpture #1 was assembled in 2007. It's wheel thrown and hand built clay with green and black watermelon glaze, raku rust patina and hot blown glass. Two separate pieces of wood fired stoneware are assembled with a third piece -- a hot blown glass pestle. "The glass "masher" is lightly sand-blasted, suggesting opacity but yielding subtle light penetration, the perfect foil for Hirsch’s heavy clay concavities. Conceptually, Hirsch enjoys the compatibility of the two heat-driven materials, and the alchemical issues with shared chemistry seems right for themes involving vessels and raw geologic age." This three piece sculpture...
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Richard Hirsch Ceramic Mortar and Pestle Sculpture #30, 2009
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Located in New York, NY
Contemporary American ceramic artist Richard Hirsch's Mortar and Pestle Sculpture #30 was assembled in 2009. It's wheel thrown and hand built clay, slips and glazes with raku patinas. The following is an excerpt from the book "With Fire: Richard Hirsch, A Life Between Chance and Design" written by Scott Meyer; "The glass "masher" is lightly sand-blasted, suggesting opacity but yielding subtle light penetration, the perfect foil for Hirsch’s heavy clay concavities. Conceptually, Hirsch enjoys the compatibility of the two heat-driven materials, and the alchemical issues with shared chemistry seems right for themes involving vessels and raw geologic age." This four piece sculpture is signed and dated by the artist. It will ship directly from the artist’s studio in Rochester, NY. (Literature: "With Fire: Richard Hirsch, A Life Between Chance and Design", Scott Meyer (Author), RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press 2012 - "Mortars and Pestles" pgs. 57 - 60. The Ceramic Mortar and Pestle...
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Richard Hirsch Ceramic Mortar and Glass Pestle Sculpture #1, 2020
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Contemporary American ceramic artist Richard Hirsch's Mortar and Glass Pestle Sculpture #1 was assembled in 2020. It's wheel thrown and hand built clay, gold enamel paint, black and ...
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