Mid2Mod: Studio Arteos

Showing posts with label Studio Arteos. Show all posts

Friday, November 15, 2013

Erna Aaltonen

Erna Aaltonen (1951- ) is a Finnish ceramist known for her coarse stoneware sculptural vessels with rubbed oxides on a pitted surface. She is the wife and business partner of Howard Smith, about whom I posted yesterday.

Aaltonen studied under Heikki Jylhä-Vuorio at the Kuopio Academy of Design from 1981-1987. She then worked at Arabia Finland as an assistant to Smith, Heljä Liukko-Sundström, Kati Tuominen-Nittylä, Inkeri Leivo and Jun Kaneko.

She and Smith established Studio Arteos in 1988, and she has also maintained a studio of her own since 1996. Her awards include Arts Council of Finland grants in 1998 and 1999, a one-year Artist Grant by the Finnish State Committee for Design in 2000, a one-year work grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation in 2001, the Greta and William Lehtinen Foundation Award in 2002 and the Finnish State Committee for Design exhibition grant in 2004.

Aaltonen creates her pieces out of thinly rolled ribbons of clay joined at the edges. She does not use a potter's wheel or molds.Her designs are simple but very elegant and represent the Finnish aesthetic well.

She and husband Howard Smith have converted a barn built to store apples into a magnificent home that's full of their beautiful creations.

From ceramicstoday.com and boston.com

Ceramic vessels
architecturaldigest.com

Roselia
artnet.com

Oceana
artnet.com

Chardes
artnet.com

Glow
artslant.com

Verytide
artnet.com

Peru
ceramicstoday.com

Dune
ernaaaltonen.weebly.com

Ituri
ernaaaltonen.weebly.com

Rain
ernaaaltonen.weebly.com

Aaltonen ceramic piece with Karti Haahti wall hanging
onoma.org

2012 Nostalgia exhibition
pinterest.com - Hedge Gallery

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Howard Smith

Howard Smith (1928- ) is a ceramist, sculptor, painter and textile designer who has lived and worked in Finland for over 50 years.

Smith was born in Moorestown, New Jersey. In 1949 he joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Japan, Korea and Germany. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1950 and was honorably discharged in 1958.

In 1960 he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and became a fellow in 1962. That year he made a trip to Finland as a member of the Young America Presents group and remained there, having his first private exhibition in Helsinki in 1963. He worked for a short time as an assistant to Kaj Franck at the Institute of Applied Fine Arts in Helsinki.

Smith exhibited widely in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s and also completed a number of large commissions for murals. During this time he also worked for Vallila Interiors, producing textile designs for that company. He also did enamel work for Wärtsilä.

In 1976 he moved back to the United States, where he stayed until 1984. On returning to Finland, he became a visiting artist at the Arabia ceramics factory and designed for them from 1986-1995.

In 1988 he and ceramist Erna Aaltonen formed Arteos Studio. They moved to Fiskars near Helsinki in 1996, where they continue to live today. Smith's versatile work has been done in almost every medium─paper, wood, textiles, enamel, metal, ceramics and glass. He has produced paintings, sculptures, prints, reliefs in paper and appliqué.

In 2008 the U.S. Embassy in Finland hosted a reception to honor Smith's career. That same year, an exhibition entitled Howard Smith─Party 45. Smith was awarded the State Design Prize in 2001 in recognition of his achievements as a ceramist. His work is found in the collections of the New York Museum of Modern Art , the Museum of African-American Art in Los Angeles, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the Design Museum in Helsinki. His life is the subject of a biography which was edited by the architect Jussi Suomala.

His most recent exhibition, Bridge, ran from February through April of 2013, in celebration of his 85th birthday.

From galeriebesson.co.uk, finland.usembassy.gov, onoma.org and modish.net