When we come to admire an artist’s work, what we see is the
expert representation of form and gesture, the elegant depiction of balance,
and the rich tones carefully chosen to lead our emotions here and there. What
is hidden from us are the long, laborious hours and obsessive repetition
required for achieving the necessary muscle-memory, and the blood, sweat,
crushing doubt, and stubborn dissatisfaction that accompany a person’s resolve
to master one medium, or many. But, as evidenced in Memorial Art Gallery’s
current show, those who fully dedicate themselves to their craft can achieve
greatness. The dual exhibition brings together masterful works from the print
portfolio of French artist Henri Matisse and the stunning ceramic works of his
American great-grandson, Alexander Matisse.
It’s easy to detect what makes
Alexander Matisse a different kind of artist from his great-grandfather. As
painter, sculptor, and printmaker, Henri was prolific in several media and
known for his figurative work, while Alexander’s star is on the rise for his
beautifully constructed and functional ceramic work, which carries the torch of
the centuries-old Carolina pottery tradition. But by bringing together examples
of their work, the MAG offers a unique opportunity to explore
how each has manipulated his medium to showcase the pleasing curves of earthly
forms, the grace of proportional balance, and the power of subtly- or
richly-adorned bareness.
The
“Matisse as Printmaker” exhibit is drawn from the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, and highlights the quantity and
diversity of Matisse’s printmaking oeuvre from throughout his career. Included
here are examples of his work within the aquatint, drypoint,
etching, linoleum cut, lithograph, monotype, and wood cut techniques.
“Seated
Nude, Viewed from Behind” is a striking 1913 crayon transfer lithograph.
The fewest possible lines form hair parted in two cloudy mounds resting on
hunched shoulders, and the undulating curves of her back, hips, and hand. Matisse’s
range of style even within the same medium is underscored with examples from
his more fleshed-out tonal mode, such as “Large Odalisque with Bayadère Culottes,” dated 1925.
Decades are
represented in wood cut nudes amid a buzz of kinetic patterning, a series of
expressive faces captured in thick strokes of lift-ground aquatints, and
repetitions of themes with studied, just-so variations in each. It’s clearly
seen in a 1929 series of small, linear etchings of a woman dreamily staring
into, away from, and eventually, dreaming next to a fishbowl.
Though Alexander is the
great-grandson of Henri Matisse, the fact is not something you’ll find boasted
on his East Fork Pottery website. The ceramicist simply states that he comes
from a family of artists, which is true, as Alexander was raised by two artists
whose work ethic and creativity are evident influences on him. Though he has
quite a few gallery exhibitions on his resume, this is the first museum show
for the young artist, who was born in 1984.
One
megalithic lineage might be daunting enough for most people to tackle, but
Alexander’s trajectory led him to adopt a second artistic heritage: that of the
Carolina pottery tradition. Born and raised in New England, Matisse briefly
attended Guilford College in North Carolina before committing himself to a
three-year apprenticeship in the workshops of North Carolina potters Matt Jones
and Mark Hewitt. In 2010, he founded and constructed East Fork Pottery outside
of Asheville, N.C., where he and a growing collective of craftspeople within
this tradition offer works from three-to-four massive annual wood kiln firings.
In 2012, after
MAG staff added the “Matisse as Printmaker” exhibit to the future
lineup, two different colleagues approached MAG Director of Exhibitions, Marie
Via, about the French artist’s great-grandson, who was making a comparatively
quiet but impressive impact from his small studio in North Carolina. Contact was
made, and Alexander agreed to gather some of his work to accompany the exhibit
of his great-grandfather’s prints.
This exhibit showcases Alexander’s work
from the past five years. Matisse’s expertly formed range of vases, chargers,
and pitchers are each objects of utility and beauty. His “Urchin”
forms are squat vessels with small mouths, and range in size from able to fit within
two cupped hands, to another too large to enclose with two arms. Offered in a
similar range of sizes is the “Ometto,” a
sculptural, closed vessel which Matisse says he pulled from the tradition of
poor families unable to afford head stones, who would hire potters to
make these forms to serve as inexpensive grave-makers.
Matisse’s
work nods to the Carolina tradition not only in form, but also in the
“undefined, ruddy, and serendipitous” surface treatments, he said at
his Sunday, April 6, artist talk held at MAG. These ash and salt glazing
techniques not only make the wood-fired works functional by sealing the porous surfaces,
they also contribute a gorgeous — and unpredictable — richness in texture and
tone. The drippy ash glaze creates a subtly dazzling, crystalline appearance,
showcased beautifully here under the care of MAG’s lighting designer, NicMinetor. A more structured
layer to the surface design is added to many pieces: elegant organic or
geometric patterning is achieved through Matisse’s steady hand at slip
trailing, a traditional technique of adding low-relief patterning by painting
with watery clay.
Though he
draws from the Carolina tradition’s vernacular, Matisse is always honing and
evolving his craft, which makes for frustrating days, even at his level.
“One’s
eye always learns faster than the hand,” he says of trying moments at the
wheel. The lovely work may speak of nostalgia for a slower, mostly bygone era,
but it is anything but stale. Amid art movements which strive ever to capture
the next newest thing, Matisse is comfortable making his statement as a bridge,
pulling the past into the present.
“To be
a potter in the 21st century is a form of quiet protest in itself,” he
says.
This article was updated on April 8 to clarify a pottery technique used by Alexander Matisse.
This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2014.
