“The work that he is making with us in the studio is awesome, unlike anything I have ever seen. Super weird. Ugly and beautiful little creatures,” notes Adam, who conceived of and curated the show. “Brendan and I have known each other for about a decade. We have collaborated, and I’m a big fan and collector of his work. When we were talking last year about who we would like to collaborate with in the Heath LA studio for this year, Brendan was the first person who came to mind. His work lives in a weird parallel universe to that of ceramics, but I could easily imagine the two worlds colliding and resulting in something very strange and exciting. When we invited Brendan to collaborate he responded enthusiastically.”

 

 

"It's a perfect intersection of art and craft." as the multi-talented Heath Communications Director Regina Connell says, it's been a really amazing collaborative experience between the studio and Brendan who has "come down to the studio and worked with our studio manager Alex Reed to mold and sculpt and glaze, all inspired by Brendan's art and sculpture. It was super great to have that opportunity for both sides to stretch."

Brendan sculpted forms out of wood, which were born of his paintings and drawings of alternate landscapes that feel both real and surreal. Then, working with LA Clay Studio manager Alex Reed, the forms became molds, which met clay, which then met glaze.

About the process, Alex comments, “It’s exciting to work with an artist like Brendan because he has no preconceived ideas about how clay should or should not be used. Scale, texture, surface, and form are all blank pages. The pieces were larger and more complex than most of the things Heath makes, and learning always happens when the scale shifts. I guided Brendan in how to test glaze combinations, and once we had 5 or 6 combos we liked, we glazed each piece together. I learned about using the Heath glazes in alternative ways, and the studio ended up with 40 or 50 exciting test tiles.”

Brendan also discovered a new medium for his voice as he worked through the collaboration. “Clay has a lack of structure that makes working with it directly feel like my drawing process; continually working and touching the material until completion. Directly forming the clay, like drawing, is intuitive and responsive to my hand in a way that working with wood is not.”

 

 Brendan Monroe was born in Santa Barbara, California, and studied at Art Center in Pasadena. A sculptor and painter, his work consists of explorations of his ideas and dreams, which translate into images of a familiar but unseen world. It's this dual quality and the tension between the reality and surreality that gives them their power and allure. Brendan's work is represented by Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica and at Galerie L.J. in Paris and his work has been exhibited in Asia, Europe and North America. In addition, his fine art work has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker and New American Paintings. Brendan lives and works in Oakland, CA with his wife Evah Fan and Jalapeno, the cat.

Adam Silverman is Heath’s LA Studio Director. In addition to working with LA Studio Manager Alex Reed to direct development of original pieces, he also contributes to the design direction of Heath as a whole, develops events and shows in LA, and engages with the local creative community. Adam also continues to work as a ceramic artist, pushing the limits of scale and creativity through his independent studio in Glendale, Los Angeles.

Inspired by iconic mid-century design houses and by Heath's designer-maker legacy, Heath Los Angeles includes a studio where original pieces are designed and created for their three showrooms, as well as for the local Los Angeles design, restaurant and hospitality community. An integral part of the LA location is the gallery space where they host shows with artists, makers and thinkers that inspire the community.

See entire collection on view at the gallery  here.

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Blobography: Brendan Monroe × Heath

Heath Ceramics, Los Angeles  |  7525 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036

Reception with the artist : Saturday, November 1, 2014,  6 – 8:30 pm

Show on view November 1 - November 30, 2014

RSVP here