Ceramic - Artwork - Ceramics, Kurt Webb, [Whimsical Vessel] by Kurt Webb, 1988

Historical information

Kurt WEBB
United States of America
Lives Chicago

Webb draws his driving force in life and artistic vision from consequential discoveries he makes, while deliberately preferring less ordinary paths to his destinations. Inspirational methodologies in art history including the Dance of Death, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Ship of Fools and Woodcut Novels are cornerstones of his artwork.

In 1988, during a visit to Australia, while viewing a small porcelain woodfired bowl and teapot by Australian artist Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Kurt Webb decided to abandon his desire to make functional pottery. He realized that Piggott’s clay work was beyond comparison or emulation and was impossibly inimitable. In 2015, inspired by using impeccably made, functional commercial tea ware, Webb decided to give pottery making a second chance. As a result, Webb’s new functional work acknowledges traditional influences while he pursues individuality through eclectic subject matter, meticulous construction, and decoratively glazed
surfaces–all produced within a contemporary context.

Physical description

A tall vessel with a house and figures at the top.

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