Crocker Art Museum presents Rob Barnard: Pottery as Pure Art an exhibition on view July 21 through October 20, 2013.
Rob Barnard, Bottle Vase, 1989. Stoneware, wood‐fired, 10 3/4 x 6 inches. Collection of Josseline and Rob Wood.This exhibition introduces to a wider audience the ceramic art of Rob Barnard, exclusively featuring works collected by Rob and Josseline Wood, who gifted their collection to the Crocker in 2010. In all, thirty-nine objects span 20 years of the artist’s career in this, the artist’s first exhibition devoted to his production. Barnard embraces the irregular and displeasing, often developing tensions in form that are meant for the viewer to resolve. He prefers the Japanese-style anagama kiln for his wood-firings. Final results encompass subtle lusters, drips of glaze, and flashes of color that draw the eye to the vessel’s surface. While such forms may be reductive, they are also nuanced in shape, line, and curve. These are the details that matter to Barnard, who believes pottery is capable of ennobling daily rituals and feeding the senses. www.crockerartmuseum.org
