Vince Pitelka: Pattern in Clay

Vince Pitelka highlights opening March 6^th

Nationally known potter speaks March 5^th

FotoFest comes to 18 Hands, Jay Tyrrell featured 

Vince Pitelka: Pattern in Clay

March 6^th – 27^th at 18 HANDS GALLERY

HOUSTON, TX. – February 10, 2010 – This March, 18 Hands Gallery is pleased to host nationally known clay artist and educator, Vince Pitelka, who will give an artist’s talk and slideshow Friday evening, March 5^th, 6-8 PM, as well as sharing his expertise in a five-day, hands-on workshop, all day March 8^th-12^th.  For details or to register for the workshop, please call Potters Place (281-261-7687) during regular business hours. 

Vince Pitelka 

Vince Pitelka has been professionally involved in ceramics for over thirty years. After a ten-year career as a studio potter making functional tableware and ovenware, Vince returned to school in 1985 for his MFA in ceramics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. At U-Mass he developed his colored clay marquetry techniques for creating highly detailed pattern and imagery with inlaid colored clays. His fascination with pattern and surface led to an extensive exploration of masonry patterns in colored clays. Industrial Revolution mill towns like Holyoke, Massachusetts provided inspiration for a series of vessels and sculpture that often reinterpret the precarious structure and complex surface patterns of industrial ruins.

“I am interested in the way pattern and surface influence our perceptions of exterior form and interior space,” explains Vince.  “Every container represents an aesthetic and utilitarian statement defining a relationship between outside surface and inside space… I find beauty in commonplace industrial vessels such as gas cans, oil dispensers, water cans, and waste receptacles.” 

18 Hands Gallery is privileged to present Vince’s work in a solo exhibition, “Vince Pitelka: Pattern in Clay,” running through March 27, 2010. Please join us for a festive Opening Reception, Saturday, March 6^th from 6-9PM. The artist will also present his work in a slide show presentation and talk Friday evening, March 5^th, 6-8 PM. 

Also appearing beginning mid-March is the work of Jay Tyrrell, a San Francisco-area photographer whose large-scale black and white landscape photography will grace the walls of the gallery for the first time.  This is our inaugural participation in FotoFest, an internationally recognized photography Biennial. Jay’s exhibition, entitled Wind Armies, will open Friday, March 12^th and be on display through April 25^th, 2010. Though taken from 21^st reality, this work was inspired in part by H.G. Wells’ tale, The War of the Worlds.  To experience the full effect of that connection, be sure to join us for the dramatic Opening Reception, Friday, March 12^th, 6-9PM.

About 18 Hands Gallery: As Houston’s premier ceramic arts gallery, 18 Hands Gallery is dedicated to presenting works by leading Texas-based and national artists through monthly exhibits and holds a unique place in the city’s cultural landscape. 18 Hands' mission encompasses showing a broad range of decorative, sculptural, figurative and functional work. Inviting and accessible, their friendly Houston Heights-based shop also includes a rotating selection of works for sale. Owned by four passionate clay artists, 18 Hands also seeks to create a bridge between potters, the larger fine crafts community, and with nonprofit initiatives such as ClayHouston and Empty Bowls Houston.

www.18handsgallery.com. 713-869-3099. 

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PHOTOS, courtesy 18 Hands Gallery and the featured artists

FACT SHEET

What: 

Vince Pitelka: Patterns in Clay - new work by nationally recognized clay artist,

Opening Reception, March 6th, 6-9PM

Jay Tyrrell:  Wind Armies (a FotoFest 2010 Biennial exhibition)

Opening Reception, March 12^th, 6-9PM

Where: 18 Hands Gallery, 249-B West 19^th Street, Houston, TX 77008

When:  March 6 – 27^th, opening on Saturday, March 6^th from 6PM-9PM

             March 12^th – April 25^th, 2010

Gallery Hours: Wednesday -Saturday, 10 PM -6 PM; Sunday, noon -5 PM

Closed on Monday & Tuesday

Media Contacts: Katy McKinin, Nancy Susaneck

Gallery Contact: 713-869-3099

Web site: www.18handsgallery.com

Images: High Resolution jpegs are available upon request.