Blending into the rural landscape, an unassuming two story structure appears as we pull into the driveway. With the main house just off to the left, this building looks similar to others we had seen while driving down the road, which typically store tractors and other outdoor equipment. Waving to us as we park our car, we ascend the snow covered steps to have Bill greet us at the door.  As I take off my coat, my eyes glance at one of the shelves lining the studio walls…there is a cluster of small green plastic army men, a ceramic head that looks like a grotesque clown from a Stephen King movie, assorted memorabilia and plastic containers filled with mysterious materials. Welcome to the world of Bill Stewart.

Stewart is among a small group of internationally acclaimed Ceramic Artists whose work is an integral part of the clay revolution that diminished the boundaries between craft and fine art.  The trajectory of Bill’s career follows a parallel path in the evolution of the contemporary craft-art movement.

It was in graduate school, studying Sculpture at Ohio University, that Stewart had an opportunity to meet visiting artist Rudy Autio, who was a pioneer in the Contemporary Ceramics Movement.  In 1951, Autio along with Peter Voulkos, working at the newly founded Archie Bray Institute; are the artists credited as being responsible in this pinnacle moment in time and place for the radical transformation of American Ceramics.

In 1966, Bill Stewart accepted a position in the Art Department at SUNY Brockport to fill in for Jack Wolsky who would be on sabbatical.  As with most young art students fresh out of college, Bill could not afford to buy traditional sculpting materials so he began sculpting in clay.  Bill informs us (with a laugh and twinkle in his eyes) that he would have to wait for semester breaks to ‘sneak into’ the industrial arts building to fire his clay sculptures in their kilns.  Keep in mind that at this time, the Tower Fine Arts Building was just being built on the Brockport campus; the Ceramic and Sculpture departments did not exist yet.  Interestingly, one of Stewart’s responsibilities in his new position was to prepare an equipment list to outfit the new ceramics and sculpture department.  When the Tower Fine Arts Building opened, Stewart was offered a full time position teaching both ceramics and sculpture. He became ‘self-taught’ in the field of ceramics, learning through the process of trial and error, which looking back, he feels worked to his advantage.  Eventually, the Art Department asked him to choose between the two and he chose Ceramics.  With Stewart solidifying his art career as a Ceramic Sculptor, SUNY Brockport was positioned to be one of the countries progressive art departments that placed Craft Media alongside Painting and Sculpture, disintegrating the hierarchy in the Fine Arts.

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Witchy-Woman, 2004, Terracotta Glaze and Mixed Media

Witchy-Woman, 2004, Terracotta Glaze and Mixed Media

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Freida the Cat - J.Fred Mugs and the Fabulous Porkers, 2004, Terracotta Glaze and Mixed Media

Freida the Cat – J.Fred Mugs and the Fabulous Porkers, 2004, Terracotta Glaze and Mixed Media

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stewart’s early Ceramic Sculpture solidified as a distinct body of work with its roots in the West Coast Funk Art Movement which drew is its inspiration from Dada, Surrealism, Pop Art and the Beat Culture. This movement is significant for its non-traditional approach to ceramics that incorporated humor and sometimes graphic content to address a range of social and political issues.  Stewart writes about his own work:  “I am particularly fascinated by images and objects produced by children, folk and outsider artists. The ability to communicate without being encumbered by skill and technique yet with such honesty and passion is exemplary.This assimilated information integrated with a working approach based on intuition and a spontaneous response to the magic of the imagination hopefully, produces objects that have an eccentric energy. The objects are somewhat on the edge, off center, humorous, weird, absurd or irreverent.”

Stewart’s early Ceramic Sculpture solidified as a distinct body of work with its roots in the West Coast Funk Art Movement which drew is its inspiration from Dada, Surrealism, Pop Art and the Beat Culture. This movement is significant for its non-traditional approach to ceramics that incorporated humor and sometimes graphic content to address a range of social and political issues.  Stewart writes about his own work:  “I am particularly fascinated by images and objects produced by children, folk and outsider artists. The ability to communicate without being encumbered by skill and technique yet with such honesty and passion is exemplary.This assimilated information integrated with a working approach based on intuition and a spontaneous response to the magic of the imagination hopefully, produces objects that have an eccentric energy. The objects are somewhat on the edge, off center, humorous, weird, absurd or irreverent.”

Although, Bill has retired from teaching, he is as prolific as ever.  His work continues to evolve as he has shifted from the zany, colorful, highly patterned surfaces to using black as his primary color and highly textural surfaces that create visual and tactile patterns.  His current body of work called the Shaman Series  is more personal, inspired by Indian Mythology, Native American ceremonial rituals and his visits to China and the Southwest.  The humor and satirical commentary are still there, but take a back seat to deeper questions about the interplay of body with spirit, of how our choices for body adornment can affect our psychological and physiological identification with ourselves and others.  Stewart’s current work has truly come into its own – not easily categorized into any type of ‘ism’.  What will Bill do next?  One thing I know is whatever it is, it is sure to evolve, entertain and inspire awe.

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Shaman and the Rabbit, 2013, Terracotta and Mixed Media

Shaman and the Rabbit, 2013, Terracotta and Mixed Media

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The Elders New Socks, 2013, Terracotta and Mixed Media

The Elders New Socks, 2013, Terracotta and Mixed Media

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional information about Bill Stewart can be found on his website: Stewart Sculpture

Written by Robin Muto

Images: Clockwise from top left:
Witchy-Woman, 2004, Terracotta Glaze and Mixed Media /  Freida the Cat – J.Fred Mugs and the Fabulous Porkers, 2004, Terracotta Glaze and Mixed Media  /  Shaman and the Rabbit, 2013, Terracotta and Mixed Media  /  The Elders New Socks, 2013, Terracotta and Mixed Media

 

 

 

 

 

 

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