John Mason (artist)

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Geometric Series, Dark (1966). Ceramic, 59 x 43 x 25 inches. Photograph by Anthony Cuñha.
Geometric Series, Dark (1966). Ceramic, 59 x 43 x 25 inches. Photograph by Anthony Cuñha.

John Mason (born in 1927 in Madrid, Nebraska) is a contemporary American artist. From very early on, Mason’s work focused on exploring the physical properties of clay and its “extreme plasticity.” [1] Mason is recognized for his focus and steady investigation of mathematical concepts relating to rotation, symmetry, and modules as well as his formal innovation with the ceramic medium.

While his early childhood was spent in the midwest, Mason's family moved to Fallon, Nevada in 1937, where he finished elementary and high school. [2] Mason settled in Los Angeles in 1949 at the age of 22. [3] Mason attended Otis Art Institute, and in 1954 enrolled at Chouinard Art Institute, where he became a student and close friend of ceramicist Peter Voulkos. The two rented a studio space together in 1957, which they shared until Voulkos’ move to Berkeley, CA in the fall of 1958. [4]

Mason’s early Vertical Sculptures from the early 1960s were associated with contemporary trends in Abstract Expressionism and also with the aesthetics of primitivism. In their “rawness, spontaneity and expressiveness,” as writer Richard Marshall has described it, the pieces “give the impression of having been formed by natural forces. The formal and technical aspects of balance, proportion, and stability – although purposefully planned and controlled – are subsumed by the very presence of the material itself.” [5]

Mason later equipped his studio to prepare, manipulate, and fire monumental sculptures in clay, many of which had to be fired in pieces weighing over a ton in kilns that had already been adapted to serve his large-scale purposes. [6] As writer and curator Barbara Haskell wrote in the introduction to the catalog for Mason’s 1974 retrospective at the Pasadena Museum of Art,

These pieces have a monumentality and physical size that had no precedent in contemporary ceramics. In this case, as was to be true for each new series Mason embarked on, a while new technology had to be evolved or invented to execute the new pieces. Due to the size limitations of the kiln, the forms had to be fired in sections and the pieces later assembled on the wall. Originally constructed on the floor, they recall the harsh, rocky terrain of the desert. [7]

A subsequent series represents a more conceptual approach to Mason’s interest in mathematics, one that is concerned less with the physical properties of clay as a medium and more with what those properties allow one to represent. As Richard Marshall puts it:

The Firebrick Sculptures, begun in the early 1970s, reveal a shift in Mason’s work away from an involvement with materials and technique toward an involvement with the conceptualization and systematization of a piece that is removed from its actual realization. While maintaining an association with the ceramic tradition – firebricks are made of ceramic material and are used for the construction of kilns – their neutral color and standardized form make it possible to conceive of and execute large-scale geometric configurations of stacked bricks, such as Hudson River Series VIII (1978), in a variety of mathematically plotted arrangements. These works cannot be perceived as single objects, and move into areas of spatial experience, visual perception and illusion, and architectural site-oriented installations. It is such systematized manipulation and exploration – in both ceramic and non-ceramic materials – that continue to direct Mason’s work. [8]

Contents

[edit] Museum Collections

Mason's ceramic works are represented at the following museum collections:

  • Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Nagoya, Japan
  • American Craft Museum, New York
  • Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
  • Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
  • Chicago Art Institute, Chicago
  • City of Boise, Boise, Idaho
  • Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, Missouri
  • Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
  • Gifu Prefectural Museum, Japan
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art
  • Museum of Arts and Design, New York
  • The Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shigaraki Prefecture, Japan
  • National Museum of History, Republic of China, Taipei, Taiwan
  • The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
  • Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Missouri
  • Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University at Logan
  • Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena, California
  • Oakland Museum, Oakland, California
  • Pomona College, Claremont, California
  • Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institute
  • San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
  • Scripps College, Claremont, California
  • State of California, Sacramento
  • Wichita Art Institute, Wichita, Kansas
  • World Ceramic Center, Ichon, Korea
  • Wustum Museum, Racine, Wisconsin

[edit] Exhibitions

[edit] Selected Solo Exhibitions

  • 2007
    • Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
  • 2006
    • Holter Museum, Helena, Montana
  • 2005
    • Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
  • 2004
    • Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York
    • Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno
  • 2002
    • Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
  • 2000
    • Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
    • Perimeter Gallery, Chicago
  • 1999
    • Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
  • 1998
    • Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
    • Perimeter Gallery, Chicago
  • 1997
    • Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
  • 1995
    • Habatat/Shaw Gallery, Pontiac, Michigan
    • Perimeter Gallery, Chicago
  • 1994
    • Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
  • 1993
    • Garth Clark Gallery, New York
  • 1992
    • Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
  • 1991
    • Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
  • 1990
    • Garth Clark Gallery, New York
  • 1987
    • Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco
  • 1986
    • L.A. Louver Gallery, Venice, California
  • 1981
    • Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York
  • 1979
    • University of Nevada, Reno
    • Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio
    • Minneapolis College of Art & Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota
    • California State University at Long Beach
    • University of Kentucky, Lexington
  • 1978
    • University Art Museum, University of Texas, Austin
    • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
    • Minneapolis Institute of Art
    • Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
    • Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa
    • Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York
  • 1976
    • Hansen Fuller Gallery, San Francisco
  • 1974
    • Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, Pasadena, California
  • 1966
    • Los Angeles County Museum of Art
  • 1963
  • 1961
    • Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles
  • 1960
    • Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California
  • 1959

[edit] Selected Group Exhibitions

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  • 2006
    • Sculpture from the Sixties, Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
  • 2005
    • On the Wall: John Mason, Peter Voulkos, Peter Shire, Ralph Bacerra, Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
  • 2003
    • Great Pots: Contemporary Ceramics from Function to Fantasy, The Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, Curated by Ulysses Grant Dietz (Catalogue)
  • 2002
    • Contemporary American Ceramics 1950 – 1990 - A Survey of American Objects and Vessels, Organized by Aichi Prefectural Ceramics Museum, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto and Nihon: Keizai Shimbon Inc., Japan (Catalogue)
    • Overview: Gallery Artists, Sherry Leedy Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri
  • 2001
    • High Fire: Significant Ceramic Sculpture, Sherry Leedy Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri
    • USA Clay, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.
    • World Contemporary Ceramic Exhibition, World Contemporary Ceramic Center, Ichon, Korea
    • Poetics of Clay: An International Perspective, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 2000
    • Color and Fire: Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950- 2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Catalogue)
    • John Mason and Peter Voulkos, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York
    • Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
  • 1999
    • Anne and Sam Davis Collection, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe
    • Radical Past: Contemporary Art & Music in Pasadena, 1960-1974, Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena, California
    • Ceramics Invitational, Cerritos College Fine Arts Gallery, Norwalk, California
  • 1998
    • Clay into Art: Selections from the Contemporary Ceramic Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
    • A Survey of Southern California Ceramics, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, California
    • John Mason, Ken Price, Peter Voulkos, Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
  • 1996
    • Six from California, Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
    • Masterworks, Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica
    • Generation – The Lineage of Influence in Bay Area Art, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California
  • 1994
    • Current Trends in Ceramics, Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum, Nagoya, Japan
    • Revolution in Clay – The Marer Collection of Contemporary Ceramics, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, California
    • Otis Then and Now, Garth Clark Gallery, Los Angeles
    • KMPG Peat Marwick Collection of American Craft, Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
  • 1993
    • The Anne Davis Collection: Contemporary British and American Clay, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas
  • 1992
    • The 1992 International Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramic Art, National Museum of History, Republic of China, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Five by Seven, Fosdick-Nelson Gallery of the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, New York
  • 1991
    • Keepers of the Kiln: Seven Contemporary Ceramic Artists, Smith Kramer, Kansas City, Missouri
    • 48th Scripps Ceramic Annual, Scripps College, Claremont, California
  • 1989
    • Craft Today USA, American Craft Museum, New York
  • 1988
    • East-West Contemporary Ceramics, Art Center of Korean Culture & Arts,
    • Seoul Olympic Arts Festival, Seoul, Korea
  • 1987
    • American Ceramics Now: The 27th Ceramic National Exhibition, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
    • The Eloquent Object, Philbrook Art Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • 1986
    • Craft Today- Poetry of the Physical, American Craft Museum, New York
  • 1985
    • Pacific Connections, L.A.I.C.A., Los Angeles
  • 1984
    • The 20th Century, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
  • 1984
    • The First Show: Painting and Sculpture from Eight Collections, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
    • Art in Clay, 1950’s – 1980’s in Southern California, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles
  • 1982
    • 100 Years of California Sculpture, The Oakland Museum, Oakland
  • 1981
    • Ceramic Sculpture, Six Artists, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
  • 1976
    • California Painting and Sculpture: The Modern Era, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
    • 200 Years of American Sculpture, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
  • 1972
    • Sculpture Off The Pedestal, Grand Rapids Museum of Art, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • 1971
    • Contemporary Ceramic Art: U.S.A., Canada, Mexico, & Japan, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
  • 1969
    • Kompas 4, Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, Eindhoven, Netherlands
  • 1967
    • American Sculpture of the Sixties, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
  • 1964
    • 1964 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
  • 1962
    • Fifty California Artists, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

[edit] References

  1. ^ Haskell, Barbara. "John Mason, A Chronology", John Mason Ceramic Sculpture. Pasadena: Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1974, p.5
  2. ^ "John Mason: The Peavine Installation 1979." Reno: University of Nevada, 1979.
  3. ^ Coplans, John. "The Sculpture of John Mason", John Mason: Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1966-67 (introduction)
  4. ^ Haskell, Barbara. "John Mason, A Chronology", John Mason Ceramic Sculpture. Pasadena: Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1974, p.5
  5. ^ Marshall, Richard. Ceramic Sculpture: Six Artists. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1981, p.56
  6. ^ Haskell, Barbara. "John Mason, A Chronology", John Mason Ceramic Sculpture. Pasadena: Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1974, p.5
  7. ^ Haskell, Barbara. "John Mason, A Chronology", John Mason Ceramic Sculpture. Pasadena: Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1974, p.6
  8. ^ Marshall, Richard. Ceramic Sculpture: Six Artists. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1981, p.56

[edit] Sources and Further Reading

  • 2000
    • Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Color and Fire: Designing Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950-2000. Text by: Jo Lauria, Gretchen Adkins, Garth Clark, Rebecca Niederlander, Susan Peterson, Peter Selz. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2000.
    • Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity, 1900-2000. Essays by Stephanie Barron, Sheri Bernstein, Michael Dear, Howard N. Fox, Richard Rodriguez. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
    • Pagel, David. “A Lively Trip Through Ceramic History”, Los Angeles Times, “Calendar” section, June 18, 2000, pp. 52-53, illustrated.
    • Knight, Christopher. “A Visible Crack in Fragile Art,” Los Angeles Times, “Calendar” section, July 23, 2000.
    • Johnson, Ken. “John Mason and Peter Voulkos,” New York Times Art Review, November 3, 2000, p. B-36.
    • Muchnic, Suzanne. “John Mason,” American Craft, vol. 61, no. 2., April – May 2000, illustrated.
    • Peterson, Susan. Contemporary Ceramics. Laurence King Publisher, 2000.
  • 1999
    • Belloli, Jay et al. Radical Past: Contemporary Art and Music in Pasadena, California. Essays by: Jay Belloli, Suzanne Muchnic, Peter Plagens, Jeff Vander Schnidt. Pasadena: Norton Simon Museum of Art, 1999.
    • Arizona State University. The Anne and Sam Davis Museum (catalog). Tempe: Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ, 1999.
  • 1998
    • Metropolitan Museum of Art. Clay Into Art: Selections from the Contemporary Ceramics Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.
  • 1997
    • Muchnic, Suzanne. “John Mason,” ARTnews, vol. 96, no.4, April 1997, pp. 137-138.
    • Frank, Peter. “Art Picks of the Week,” LA Weekly, March 7-13, 1997. p.132 (illustrated).
  • 1990
    • Lynn, Martha Drexler. Clay Today. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
    • Marks, Ben. “John Mason’s Conceptual Journey”, American Craft, vol. 50, no. 6, December 1990/ January 1991, pp. 36-41.
  • 1987
    • White, Cheryl. “Exhibitions: A Contained Geometry,” ArtWeek, May 2, 1987, illustrated.
    • Perry, Barbara and Ron Kuchta. American Ceramics Now. Syracuse: Everson Museum of Art, 1987.
  • 1986
    • Benezra, Neal. “But Is It Art? The Always Tenuous Relationship of Craft to Art”, New York Times, Arts and Leisure section, October 19, 1986, pp. 1, 34 (illustrated)
    • Kelley, Jeff. “John Mason,” ArtForum, vol. 24, no. 10, Summer 1986, pp. 132, 133 (illustrated).
  • 1982
    • Perreault, John. “Fear of Clay”, ArtForum, vol. 20, April 1982. pp. 22-25
    • Davis, Doug. “Brave Feats of Clay”, Newsweek, vol. 99, January 11, 1982.
  • 1981
    • Schjeldahl, Peter. “California Goes to Pot,” The Village Voice, December 23-29, 1981.
    • Kramer, Hilton. “Ceramic Sculpture and the Taste of California,” New York Times, December 20, 1981.
    • Marshall, Richard and Suzanne Foley. Ceramic Sculpture: Six Artists. New York: Whitney Museum of Art, 1981.
  • 1979
    • Clark, Garth. A Century of Ceramics in the United States, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1979 (illustrated)
  • 1978
    • Minneapolis College of Art and Design. 4 Artists, 16 Projects. Minneapolis: Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 1978.
    • Krauss, Rosalind. “John Mason and Post-Modernist Sculpture: New Experiences, New Worlds”, Art in America, vol. 67, no. 3, May-June, 1978, pp. 120-127 (illustrated)
    • McDonald, Robert. “John Mason: Structure and Space,” Art Week, vol. 9, no. 29, September 9, 1978, pp.1,20 (illustrated)
    • Conn, Catherine and Rosalind Krauss. John Mason: Installations from the Hudson River Series. Yonkers: Hudson River Museum, 1978.
  • 1977
    • Levin, Elaine. “Foundations of Clay,” ArtWeek, vol. 8, no. 21, May 21, 1977, p. 3 (illustrated)
  • 1976
    • Belloli, Jay and Barbara Haskell. American Artists: A New Decade. Fort Worth: The Fort Worth Art Museum, 1976.
    • Hopkins, Henry. Painting and Sculpture in California: The Modern Era. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1976.
    • Turnbull, Betty. The Last Time I Saw Ferus, 1957-1966. Newport Beach: Newport Harbor Art Museum, 1976.
    • Whitney Museum of American Art, 200 Years of American Sculpture, New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1976.
  • 1974
    • Neuberg, George. Public Sculpture/ Urban Environment. Oakland: The Oakland Museum, 1974.
    • Canavier, Elena Karina. “John Mason Retrospective”, ArtWeek, June 1, 1974.
    • Wilson, William. “Mason Monoliths Leave Their Mark,” 'Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1974.
    • O’Doherty, Brian. “The Grand Rapids Challenge,” Art in America, vol. 62, no. 1, January-February 1974, pp. 78-79.
    • Plagens, Peter. Sunshine Muse. Praeger Publishers, 1974.
    • Haskell, Barbara et alia. John Mason Ceramic Sculpture. Pasadena: Pasadena Museum of Art, 1974.
  • 1969
    • Ashton, Dore. Modern American Sculpture. Harry Abrams, 1969.
    • Coplans, John. West Coast 1945-1969. Pasadena: Pasadena Museum of Art, 1969.
  • 1967
    • Tuchman, Maurice. American Sculptors of the Sixties. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1967.
    • Wechsler, Judith. “Los Angeles – John Mason,” Artforum, vol. V, no. 6, February 1967, pp. 64-65 (illustrated)
    • Langsner, Jules. “Los Angeles,” Art News, vol. 65, no. 9, January 1967, p.26
    • Coplans, John. John Mason Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1967.
    • Coplans, John. “Abstract Expressionist Ceramics”, Artforum, vol. V, no. 3, November 1966.
  • 1964
    • Art Institute of Chicago, 67th American Exhibition. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1964.
  • 1963
    • Langsner, Jules. “America’s Second Art City,” Art in America, vol. 51, no. 2, April 1963.
    • Coplans, John. “Sculpture in California,” Artforum, vol. 2, no. 2, August 1963, pp. 4,33 (illustrated).
    • Coplans, John and Philip Leider. “West Coast Art: Three Images,” Artforum, vol. 1, no. 12, June 1963, pp. 23, 25
  • 1962
    • Culler, George and Lloyd Goodrich. Fifty California Artists. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1962.
  • 1961
    • Slivka, Rose. “The New Ceramic Presence,” Craft Horizons, vol. 21 no. 4, July/August 1961. pp. 30-37 (illustrated)

[edit] External links

  • Frank Lloyd Gallery: website of gallery representing John Mason, with images of work, resumé, etc.