malcolm wright

Malcolm Wright received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Marlboro College in Vermont.  He then taught at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. for four years while attaining his Master of Fine Arts degree from George Washington University.  Wright then moved to Japan for several years to apprentice under Living National Treasure, 12th generation Japanese potter, Taroumon Nakazato in Karatsu.  He then came full circle and returned to teach at Marlboro College and pursue his artistic career.  His work is included in the collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Denver Art Museum, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston among others.

Wright works with stoneware, porcelain, and brick clay and sometimes combines them to achieve a variety of color and surfaces.  Pieces are formed utilizing both a wheel and an extruder.  The Kiln Wright uses was built in 1972 and has been fired 135 times in 35 years.  It is based on an ancient Korean design, called “split bamboo,” which is a twenty one foot long by six foot wide half tube with four chambers.  Wright fires only two to four times a year with the process including 30 hours of firing (reaching a temperature of 2100 degrees for sculpture and 2500 degrees for stoneware) followed by 5 days of cooling. The atmosphere inside the kiln and thus its effects are controlled by Wright, but only to a point.  The quantity and distribution of the wood as well as the volume of air introduced, each impart different results.

Wright is interested in the source of an idea and how it can be developed in two directions at once.  This concept parallels the feeling of many of his pieces which seem to play a game of inside-out.  His work at once exudes a sense of both volume and space – an absolutely remarkable achievement considering the simplicity and quiet grace of his work.

additional views available upon request / clay sculptures are one of a kind

commissioned & site specific works are available from each artist; please call the gallery for details.

education

Apprentice to Taroueman Nakazato XII, Living National Treasure, Karatsu, Japan
George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Marlboro College, Marlboro, Vermont

exhibitions

2010    Give & Take, eo art lab, Chester, Connecticut
2008    Group Therapy, eo art lab, Chester, Connecticut
2008    Red Dot New York, with eo art lab, New York, New York
2008    Group Experiment, eo art lab, Chester, Connecticut
2007    Spheris Gallery, Hanover, New Hampshire
2007    Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts
2006    Coast to Coast, Anton Gallery, Monterey, California
2006    Decade: Potters of Hikarigama 1995-2005, Portland, Oregon
2006    NCECA Wood Fired Ceramics, Lawrence Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2006    Fire Up!, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vermont
2006    Architectural Echoes in Clay, Hendersonville, North Carolina
2006    International Wood Fire Conference, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona
2005-    Genovese/Sullivan Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
1990
2005    Connecting Through Clay, Karatsu Pottery, Felissimo Design House, New York, New York
2005    Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Massachusetts
2005    Chalk and Clay, Reeves Contemporary, New York, New York
2005    Chalk and Clay, Spheris Gallery, Bellows Falls, Vermont
2005-    Plum Gallery, Williamstown, Massachusetts
2003
2004    Creations in Clay: Contemporary New England Ceramics, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire
2004    The Language of Wood: Woodfired Clay, W.D.O. A Contemporary Craft Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina
2004    The Naked Truth, International Wood Fire Conference, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2003    White Lotus Gallery, Eugene, Oregon
2003    Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont
2003    Gallery Daichi Arts, Ltd., New York, New York
2002    The New Way of Tea, Asia Society, New York, New York
2002    Twenty Two Ways of Clay, University of Texas, Tyler, Texas
2000    Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia
2000    Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, Iowa
2000    Gallery Daichi Arts, Ltd., New York, New York
1998-    Azuma Gallery, New York, New York
1978
1997    Gallery Daichi Arts, Ltd., New York, New York
1997    Gallery Manyodo, Tokyo, Japan
1994    Bridge of Fire: Two Potters East and West, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington
1994    Bridge of Fire: Two Potters East and West, Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
1993    Bridge of Fire: Two Potters East and West, Noyes Museum, Oceanville, New Jersey
1992    Bridge of Fire: Two Potters East and West, Japanese Information and Cultural Center, Washington, D.C.
1992    Bridge of Fire: Two Potters East and West, Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Massachusetts
1992    Bridge of Fire: Two Potters East and West, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts
1991    Gallery Manyodo, Tokyo, Japan
1987    Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont
1985    Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Massachusetts
1983    Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont
1970    Takashimaya Gallery, Osaka, Japan

collections

Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Massachusetts
Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont
Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, Iowa
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire
Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia
Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts
Urasenke Society of New York, New York, New York

lectures, seminars and workshops

2003    Bard Graduate Center, New York, New York
2000    Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia
1995    Worcester Craft Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
1994    92nd Street YMCA, New York, New York
1991    League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, Hanover, New Hampshire
1988    NCECA, Portland, Oregon
1988    League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, Hanover, New Hampshire
1986    Asia Society, New York, New York
1983    92nd Street YMCA, New York, New York
1983    Woodfired Aesthetics, Japan Society, New York, New York

awards

2003    Walter Cerf Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts, Vermont Arts Council

publications

Ernest Beck, Dining in the Rough, ID Magazine, 2005
Malcolm Wright, Pottery and Sculpture, The Studio Potter, 2005
Malcolm Wright, About Blowholes, The Log Book, 2004
Margaret Skove, Ceramics: Art & Perception, 2000
Margaret Skove, Functional Ceramics & Sculpture:  Malcolm Wright, 2000
Gerry Williams, American Craft, 1998
Malcolm Wright, Four Friends: Variety in Juxtaposition, 1997
Samuel Morse, Bridge of Fire: Two Potters East and West, 1992
The Studio Potter Twentieth Anniversary Collection, 1992
Malcolm Wright, Collaborating with Takashi Nakazato, The Studio Potter, 1992
Samuel Morse, Two Man Exhibition: T. Nakazato, M. Wright, Gallery Manyodo, Tokyo, 1991
Malcolm Wright, In Praise of Feet, The Studio Potter, 1990
Ann Pringle Harris, New York Times, 1989
Gerry Williams, Vermont Potters, The Studio Potter, 1989
Malcolm Wright, NCECA Journal, 1988
Ann & Samuel Morse, Japanese Crafts/New England, 1987
Michael Boylen, American Craft, 1985
William Thrasher, American Art for the Tea Ceremony, 1985
Malcolm Wright, Ceramic Pillows, The Studio Potter, 1982
Malcolm Wright, Studio Potter Survey of Woodburning Kilns, The Studio Potter, 1982