Photos and text by Robert Kokenyesi, Ceramic Artist, Beachfront Pottery, Godfrey, IL 62035, USA.

The Foundry Art Centre hosted the “Form and Function” multimedia exhibit from May 6 to June 17, 2016.  The Foundry Art Centre is a refurbished building that once was a foundry.  Now it is hosting community art events, has studio space for about two dozen artists, and has gallery space for simultaneous exhibits.

The location

 

This is the Foundry Art Centre from the parking lot. Just a few hundred yards to the right runs the Missouri River, and a few hundred yards behind me and the parking lot starts Main Street, one of the best string of old houses in St Charles, Missouri. St. Charles is about 30 miles West from downtown St Louis.  The town is the starting point of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and a center of business and educational institutions.

 

 

This is the main gallery where the exhibit was set up.

 

 

 

 

 

The ceramic pieces

 

Laura Hohn is one of the artists working out of the Foundry Art Centre.  She is making pieces of various forms, as you’ll see below.  What was interesting to me on this piece is that the bottom of the urn is round, so she attached a very discreet footing, so the urn can stand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here Laura shows another set of her slender constructions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is something a little different from Laura Hohn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Heywood is influenced by things industrial, mechanical, and man made.  He sees old buildings and factories as “vessels of function”.  His work is inspired by the surface color and structure of flaking paint and rusting steel.

This teapot sure looked to me like it was made out of metal; the lid, the bolt-shaped handle and spout just reinforced that impression.

 

 

 

 

 

Very similar feel, although somewhat lighter colored surface compared to the teapot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Jamison had three pieces in this exhibit, and all three displays various aspects of his artistic approach.  His artist statement calls for the resolution of dichotomies.  Resolution of spontaneous gesture with deliberate processing; ceramic tradition and modern design.

Here the porcelain cups are siting in stoneware holders, and they are affixed to the wall by wooden rectangles.

 

 

 

Here Bill used laser-cut wood to support the upside-down porcelain cups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here Bill used concrete to form the cup holders.  The structure is supported and affixed tot he wall using CNC-milled aluminum sheet (colored yellow).  CNC stands for computer numerical control; Bill needed to scan the holders to create a perfectly fitting aluminum support.

To my eye the attraction was the blue-colored inside of the cup contrasting with the white rim and outer surface.