Through September 29, 2006
Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center

In a statement accompanying his retrospective exhibition ranging from 1964 to the present, potter John Glick states his twin dreams upon graduating from Cranbrook Art Academy back in 1962: “to connect with families in my community by making functional pottery – the best I was capable of – which could nurture them for generations” and “to create a clay studio of my own, so that each day I could playfully explore as fresh ideas came to me.” The body of work on display in the BBAC’s Robinson Fine Arts Gallery is a testament to just how well Glick has realized both dreams.

This life’s work is a rich playground of form, surface, and functionality. On display are representative pieces of his major bodies of work – dinner ware, platters, jars, teapots, pitchers, as well a number of decorative pieces. This includes major pieces such as the dinnerware set he made for the Mondale family to use at the Whitehouse in the late 1970s.

This is as much a collection of beautiful objects as it is a physical manifestation of his life philosophy. Through the creation of these utilitarian objects Glick stresses the importance of craftsmanship, and that connection between the maker of the object and the people who use it in their lives every day. Hence, this may not be the cutting edge of ceramics today, for Glick never loses sight of the idea that functionality and livability must come first. It is, to be sure, the work of one who’s mastered this difficult medium, who shows his love for it through play and continual exploration of what he can create within the limitations of the medium and issues of functionality.

The work is presented through series and not necessarily chronological. This makes it a little tricky to gauge how a development in one place led to a new way of working later on, but such an arrangement allows the viewer to gain strong insight into Glick’s exploration of the dual aspects of ceramics: form and surface. Ceramics’ strength and difficulty lie in the simultaneous attention the potter must pay to the three-dimensional aspects of the piece as well as the two-dimensional, both in which Glick clearly takes great delight.

In terms of form, Glick deals with the more volumetric properties in the work, the realm of the sculptor – addressing how a work sits, how it occupies in space. Further play tackles things like spouts, lips, and handles, to which he must devote great attention to the manner in which the user interacts with it. These must not only be pleasing forms, but they must fit our hands in a satisfying, pleasing manner.

Glick also exhibits a great deal of painterliness using the surface as a canvas. As much as he plays with the overall form, he pays equal attention to an almost dance of energy across the surface, yet one that never distracts from the form. This increasingly rich use of color and pattern grow stronger as the work progresses over time, as various influences make their way into the pottery. Glick does delve into the more abstract and less functional, making objects that reference other physical nonfunctional objects and even creating flat planes that are more directly referential of canvas. These side trips stand strong on their own as sculptures and paintings respectively, but perhaps more importantly such visits have offered Glick an outlet to explore more about form and surface and bring these ideas back into his main body of work. Glick has done this to great effect, which helps him to continually reinvigorate the work and no doubt his process as well. Always though, he comes back to the idea that the possessor of these objects must get use of them, must feel good about them, and be able to truly live with them.

A further aspect of Glick’s life work is the steady enlistment of assistants at his Plum Street Studios over the years who helped him turn out the great volume of work but also who learned from and with him. One of the six or so former assistants in his employ over the years is BBAC head of ceramics Paul Young who served as curator for the exhibition. The measure of a teacher lies in the strengths of his students, and each of Glick’s assistants have gone out on their own to carry on his work in their own individual ways. This represents a further extension of his dream to “connect with families,” manifested quite directly in his relationship with his assistants.

Young credits Glick as, “a constant innovator, always excited about his work, who remains so to this day.” This shows in this energetic retrospective, quite a statement of craft, which never loses sight that these are to enjoy, to feel good about, and most importantly, to use. It’s an all too short for an exhibition of this quality and an artist of this importance in our community, so make sure and get there while you can take in these works all in one place. – Nick Sousanis
ws@thedetroiter.com