FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“On the wall / On the floor” a two-person exhibition, featuring two contemporary ceramic, stoneware, steel sculptors:
Jack N. Mohr and David T. Collins.
Dates: July 1st – 31st, 2004
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 3rd, 6 – 9 p.m.
Wine, soft drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and finger food will be served.

Absolute Art Gallery
2326 Huntington Drive, San Marino, CA 91108
Tel: 626.285.8585, E-mail: <info@absoluteartgallery.net>
Web site: <www.absoluteartgallery.net>
Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. and by appointment
Contact: Gallery Director

Absolute Art Gallery is very pleased to announce a two-person exhibition, featuring two contemporary ceramic, stoneware, steel sculptors: Jack N. Mohr and David T. Collins. The exhibition opens July 1st and runs through July 31st, 2004. The opening reception will be held from 6–9 p.m. on Saturday, July 3rd, 2004, and is open to the public.

Jack N. Mohr’s work deals with contradictions and uncommon combinations. Structures and surface effects are used to surpass two-dimensionality and provoke new impressions with any change of light or angle of view. He uses a variety of mediums to create his often-conceptual series. He prefers mixed media and ceramics, but also paints with acrylics and makes collages or occasional prints to explore his themes. An art critic describes him as a “restless soul,” referring to the way Mohr works: focused, but in different disciplines at the sane time – painting, collage, sculpture, and ceramics.

In this particular “On the Wall” ceramic series, sculpture is all white, all the same size, purified, enriched, and fulfilled. With the format of an 11-inch square mounted on a white 22-inch square hollow box frame, each composition is made of white high-fired stoneware, porcelain, or a mix of both, with a high-gloss glaze. Using clay sheets, strips, hand-rolled balls and free-form pieces, Mohr creates studies in light and form. Some of the work has a conceptual edge. Mohr tries out different possibilities for breaking up the sheer flat whiteness: incorporating white folds somewhat evocative of textiles; children’s marbles evocative of round shapes; and even real nails embedded in the structure.

Born in Berlin, Germany, Jack N. Mohr studied Art and Visual Communication at the State University for Creative Arts in Berlin and graduated with a masters’ degree in graphic design. Jack N. Mohr came to California in 1997 and lives in Santa Barbara. His art has been shown in numerous galleries and institutions in Germany as well as in the United States, east and west coast, and has been collected worldwide.

David T. Collins, Pennsylvania-based sculptor, was easily characterized during childhood as “the kid who broke everything in sight.” Fascination with material relationships and the logic of how things work is still a driving force within him as an artist today. In many ways, he merges traditional ceramic practice with materials such as wood, various metals, fabric, and a medley of found objects in what could be considered a “pluralistic” approach to vessel making. The mixture of materials and processes facilitates an eclectic inclusive dialogue within each piece that challenges one of the fundamental notions of contemporary ceramics, media specificity. Collins uses this dialogue to formulate numerous references that enable him to celebrate clay, the vessel, and pottery making through a variety of external perspectives.

In the “Functility” series, the artist / potter-imposed function of the pieces is that of a vehicle. Each vessel vehicle self-referentially ponders its own utilitarian role by manifesting itself and therefore examining itself through the eyes of “other than ceramic” structures and systems. This “vessel role playing” imposes what Collins sees as the inherent properties of the vessel, which are space, function, and utility.

Another series of Collins’ work looks at the way the ceramic vessel can function socially by serving as an object of desire that can participate in the formation of personal identity and self-worth. By acknowledging the historically elevated status of the majolica decorated vessel as “collectable” and combining it with the act of asserting one’s self through the choice of clothing one wears, this series looks at the relationship between the notions of “to have” and “to use.” Consequently, this series underscores the object-ness of the ceramic vessel while questioning the significance of its utilitarian premise.

Absolute Art Gallery invites architects, designers, and art fans that treasure the look and feel of ceramic sculptures to join our wonderful reception and visit or contact us.

Absolute Art Gallery is located at 2326 Huntington Drive, between San Marino Avenue and Del Mar Avenue, 100 feet east of San Marino City Hall, south of Huntington Library in San Marino. Map & Directions:

For more information about Absolute Art Gallery and exhibitions, including images, please contact: Gallery Director at 626.285.8585 or info@absoluteartgallery.net