When The New York Ceramics & Glass Fair opens to the public on January 21 to 24, visitors will not only take in an eye-alluring array of treasures spanning a wide sweep of history and design styles, but they will have the opportunity to acquire valuable knowledge about ceramics and glass from world- renowned authorities.

Here’s a rundown of the lectures, all of which are free with the price of admission and take place at the historic Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street:

January 21st

12 Noon   Tiffany Glass:  Painting with Color and Light

Lindsy Parrott, Director/Curator of the Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass

Louis C. Tiffany used colored glass as a painter uses pigments.  This was a radical concept at the turn of the century.  It broke with the centuries-old tradition of stained glass, where images were painted onto the surface of the glass.   In this illustrated lecture, Ms. Parrott explores the history of Tiffany’s glass and highlights some of the special types of glass found in his celebrated windows and lamps.  

2pm   Art Pottery at The Metropolitan Museum of Art:  The Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection

Adrienne Spinozzi, Research Associate, American Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Elizabeth Sullivan, Associate Research Curator, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This lecture is sponsored by the American Ceramic Circle.

4pm   Past Imperfect:  The Art of Inventive Repair

Andrew Baseman, founder, Andrew Baseman Design Inc., New York City based interior designer, set decorator, author and blogger.   Andrew will chronicle his world- renowned collection of antiques with inventive repairs, also known as “make do’s”.  

January 22nd

12 Noon    Unconventional Clay: Engaged in Change 

Catherine L. Futter is the Louis C. and Adelaide Ward Senior Curator of European Arts at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, overseeing the departments of Arts of the Ancient World, European Paintings and Sculpture, and Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts. Broadcast via Livestream from the New York Ceramics & Glass Fair, Ms. Futter’s informative presentation will explore the diversity of processes and approaches that contemporary artists employ to engage with clay.

The 92Y Ceramics Center and the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) are pleased to co-present Virtual Clay: online conversations meant to challenge preconceptions and explore new territory, inspiring you to think about the world in fresh and different ways.

2pm   Fragile Beauty:  Re-animate, Repair, Meld and Mend

During the Gilded Age, Doris Duke did restoration work at Rough Point in Newport to repair the downstairs porcelain mishaps in her “cottage by the sea”.  Now contemporary artists Paul Scott and Bouke deVries are using these same processes in their artistic practice to intentionally compose shards (fractured ceramics) into contemporary sculpture.  Reuse or re-purpose, the trend of using available material to create contemporary art is worldwide.  Seen as commentary on the beauty of decay, history or social issues, the repair and restoration in ceramics brings up the question of intent, value and permanence.   Leslie Ferrin will introduce the artists and provide an overview that shows examples including images of works by Ai Weiwei and others who question our assumptions and convey message through the re-animation, repairing and mended ceramics.  

4pm  Demolition Man: Peter Voulkos, 1950-1970 

Glenn Adamson, Nanette L. Laitman Director, Museum of Arts & Design will discuss new research on the work of California artist Peter Voulkos.   Widely recognized as the most transformative figure in 20th century ceramics, Voulkos brought tremendous energy to the project of destroying established expectations about his medium, and realizing new technical and aesthetic possibilities in their place.  Adamson will particularly address an important and little-known body of blackware works from 1968, which mark the culmination of his early explorations.  The lecture will also include discussion of Voulkos’s contemporary legacy and relevance for artists working today, such as Arlene Shechet and Sterling Ruby.

January 23rd

12 Noon    Agrestic Modern

Garth Johnson, Curator of Ceramics, ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center

There is a new generation of potters that make engaging, rustic work that is tailored to the modern home and kitchen. The artists discussed in this lecture, including Rebecca Chappell, Mike Helke and Jordan MacDonald give a contemporary twist to work that draws from a broad range of historical influences.  

2pm    Ming Goes Bling & the Slightly Satirical Aroma of Eucalyptus

Stephen Bowers is a South Australian based visual artist with an extensive practice in ceramics whose multi-layered, visually rich and complex work can be found in many international public institutions. A kaleidoscope of museum images, studio shots and time-lapse film accompany this presentation, a personal guided tour through some of the history, ideas and images that inspire one of Australia’s leading ceramic artists.   Designs and techniques from a thousand years of pottery are explored, their interconnections traced and their impact on a contemporary ceramics practice illustrated. 

4pm   Cockles and Mussels: Shells and English Ceramic Design History Rob Hunter, Editor, Ceramics in America, Author and Archaeologist 

For thousands of years, humans have used marine shells for tools, ornamentation, and design inspiration. Nowhere is the influence of the shell more pronounced than in the production of 18th-century English ceramics, from humble earthenware to princely porcelain. This lecture will review the world history of shell-inspired ceramics with particular focus on the late-18th-century blue and green shell-edged wares first marketed by Josiah Wedgwood. The significance of these earthenwares is underscored with a provocative discussion of their important aesthetic and symbolic effect on the British and American consumer psyche. 

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With over 30 international specialists, the 17th annual New York Ceramics & Glass Fair opens at the Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street (between First and Second Avenues), with a Private Preview on Wednesday, January 20, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and to the public on Thursday, January 21 through Sunday, January 24. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person and can be used throughout the duration of the fair.

The New York Ceramics & Glass Fair is co-produced by Meg Wendy of MCG Events LLC and Liz Lees of Caskey Lees Inc.

In addition to the New York Ceramics & Glass Fair, Caskey-Lees currently produces the San Francisco Tribal & Textile Arts Show in San Francisco.

For more information, visit www.newyorkceramicsand glassfair.com.