Jeff Oestreich

HOUSTON, TX. – January 10, 2010 – This February, 18 Hands Gallery is pleased to host nationally known Minnesota studio potter Jeff Oestreich, who will give an artist’s talk and slideshow Friday evening, February 5th, 6-8 PM, as well as headlining the Opening Reception of his new exhibition Saturday evening, February 6th from 6-9 PM at 249-B West 19th Street in the Heights.

Jeff is also sharing his expertise in a two-day workshop, Bridging the Gap: Combining Thrown and Hand-built Elements, all day February 6th and 7th. For workshop details, please call the Gallery during regular business hours.

Jeff Oestreich is one of a select number of American potters who continue the tradition of studio pottery in direct descent through teachers Warren MacKenzie and Bernard Leach, both of whom were central to shaping American ceramics through the second half of the twentieth century. Beginning his studies at Bemidji State University in northern Minnesota, Jeff later moved to the University of Minnesota where he worked under MacKenzie. After graduating, he was fortunate to be able to then apprentice with MacKenzie’s teacher, Bernard Leach, at the Leach Pottery in St. Ives, Cornwall. Since returning to the States and setting up his own pottery in rural Minnesota, Oestreich has also remained active as teacher, lecturer and exhibitor. He was the recipient of a McKnight Foundation grant as well as a Jerome Foundation grant allowing him to travel and teach in England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand and Australia.

His work is found in galleries and museums across the globe including the Everson Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Kansas City Museum, Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, among many others, as well in as numerous private collections around the world

Jeff first brought his strong functional work to Houston in September 2008. He participated in the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s retrospective celebration of the life and work of Jeff’s teacher, Warren MacKenzie and also appeared at a sister show at 18 Hands Gallery, A Letter from Warren, featuring the work of fourteen clay artists inspired and influenced by MacKenzie.

Now 18 Hands Gallery is pleased to highlight Jeff’s thrown and altered plates, vessels, and pots in a solo show. "A majority of my work is intended for daily use, although there are some pieces which challenge this notion and find their place in a more formal setting. With this in mind, thought is given to weight, balance and access. My passion is in the geometric, playful forms and patterns of Art Deco architecture, softened by the action of the flame and vapor of the soda firing process."

In February, the Gallery also features Houston ceramic artist and educator, Daryl McCracken. McCracken acknowledges that he too was influenced and inspired by the work of Jeff Oestreich and the tradition he represents. Daryl’s new work, however, explores as well his fascination with the human figure. "The gestural nature of my pots reflects an early background in figurative drawing where the form necessarily is pared down to its most basic elements with rapid, physical application of mark to paper," he states. "While these two directions, pots and drawing, were initially seen as distinct creative processes, over time I have begun to explore the vessels surface as a canvas for these figures to interact.† Inspiration for this work has been drawn from Matisse's cut out stencils, German Expressionist painting, Greek Attic pottery, contemporary photography and Renaissance allegorical painting."