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Celebrating John Chalke - Past & Present January 17 - March 9, 2002 Official
opening: Thursday, January 17, 2002 at 7:30 p.m. * Triangle
Gallery John Chalke … potter, ceramic artist, teacher, writer, philosopher, construction worker .. a man for all seasons … a westerner with an English accent. John Chalke of Calgary has been at the forefront of contemporary Canadian ceramics for over 30 years and, in March 2000, was awarded one of the first ever Governor General's Award in Visual & Media Arts. Chalke was born in 1940 in Gloucestershire, England and educated in a strict public school system with rigorous discipline. From 1959 to 1962 he studied sculpture and painting at the Bath Academy of Art, and worked under the well-known painter, Howard Hodgkin. He actually trained as an art teacher and received an Art Teachers Certificate from his alma mater in 1962. At the age of 21 he chose clay as his medium. "… My early self-teaching were through the Bernard Leach school of pottery in England " - says Chalke - "the Anglo-Japanese alliance of the 1920s and 1930s in which Leach brought in Zen philosophy and the awareness of the 'unknown craftsman', the products he would have made and their attributes. They were invisible to most people … Leach and some others wrote about these qualities. And he opened my eyes to wonderful things. So I went off to Japan, as well as to the Middle East and Korea, looking for other sources. But at one time, the Japan source was utmost…". Bridging East and West and the Atlantic as well, Chalke came to Alberta in 1968 to teach ceramics at the University of Calgary. While he has taught throughout his career at the University of Calgary, University of Alberta, and the Alberta College of Art & Design, the main focus of his energy has been in the studio. Over his career he has been featured in nearly 240 solo and group exhibitions across Canada and around the world. In addition to that, Chalke has participated internationally in numerous ceramics symposia and has acted as juror for exhibitions in Canada and the United States. He also collaborated with Wengers Ceramic Supplies (now Potterycrafts) of Stoke-on-Trent, U.K., to provide a raku clay body, glazes and equipment for use in schools and colleges across England. Chalke is recognized internationally for his achievements in this medium especially with soda vapour glazing. He is also a co-author, with Ann Mortimer, of The Canadian Connection, the first full-length audio-visual presentation describing the growth of Canadian ceramics from 1695 up to 1979. This has been featured at many ceramics conferences, including international presentations in Syracuse, New York; London, U.K.; and Vienna, Austria. His audio-visual presentation from 1983, Pickin' up the Pieces, the first in-depth study of early pioneer clay workers in western Canada, has won him an admiration of art critics and historians of Canadian art. Chalke's work is found in numerous private and public collections throughout North America, in the U.K., Italy, Japan, France and Australia. His is one of only four Canadian artists to have had work purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, U.K. John Chalke's unique pieces reflect an ongoing exploration into the historical aspects of three-dimensional form. This retrospective presentation discusses the influence of philosophy, environment, and aesthetics in the works of this influential and internationally acclaimed senior artist from Calgary. VIEW SHOW Margaret
Sundstrom Jacek
Malec
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