In the early 1960s, Václav Šerák began to collaborate with porcelain manufacturers as a designer. He familiarized himself in detail with this field as an apprentice at a plant in Merklín that manufactured high-voltage circuit breakers. Throughout his life, he has been interested in technical aspects of the making of silicate materials, and thanks to his thorough knowledge about them and his experiments with materials and shapes, he has come up with innovations that he has applied working in the studio and in his original designs. He has also applied his original, monumental, and expressive style to works incorporated into architecture since the early 1990s in collaboration with the architect Bohumil Chalupníček, and somewhat nontraditionally in snow and ice sculptures together with Jiří Laštovička and Petr Říha. In 1966, he founded the International Symposium of Ceramics in Bechyně together with Lubor Těhník, Pravoslav Rada, and Bohumil Dobiáš, Jr. It is the longest continually existing symposium on the European continent.
In 1990 Václav Šerák became the leader of the Studio of Ceramics and Porcelain at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, where he was appointed to a professorship in 1992. In the atmosphere following the revolution, he introduced students to developments in ceramic sculpture and design from the recent past beyond the borders of Czechoslovakia. Šerák’s pupils now have great influence over Czech design, and it is no coincidence that the academy and university studios in Bohemia and Slovakia working with ceramics are lead by Daniel Piršč, Antonín Tomášek, Gabrilel Vach a Maxim Velčovský. http://www.upm.cz/index.php?language=en&page=123&year=2014&id=240&img=1556 http://en.artceramics.cz/members/serak-vaclav
In 2016, Anderson Ranch Arts Center will commemorate 50 years as a world leader in the growth and development of the visual arts through innovative workshops, transformative residencies for artists, and critically acclaimed visiting artist projects. This exhibition celebrates the artists who have been active in the development of our programs, contributed to the dialogue that inspires common humanity, and created a campus imbued with a spirit of community, challenge, exploration, and innovation. Whether they have been faculty, residents, students, or staff, these artists have truly embraced the creative, supportive spirit of the Ranch and reached the highest level of critical conversation in contemporary art, creativity, discovery and art making.
Anderson Ranch: Mentoring Artistic Excellence By Doug Casebeer The Aspen area has been a hub of creative thinking for over 70 years. That feeling of artistic vitality nurtured a community need that helped establish the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in the late 1960s. Two important Aspen organizations, The Center of the Eye and The Center of the Hand merged to form the Anderson Ranch. The humble beginnings of the Ranch were rooted in photography and ceramics. The two pivotal artists were Cheri Hiser and Paul Soldner. After several years of bringing his graduate students here for the summers, Paul invited his close friend Sam Maloof to set up the wood shop. In 1971, David Ellsworth became the first artist in resident; working in the wood shop. Our special exhibit celebrates artists that have been participates in developing artistic excellence and artistic merit at Anderson Ranch. They embody the creative community and spirit that is the roots of Anderson Ranch. As anyone can imagine, the Ranch was loose and free in the late 1960s and early 70s. Paul Soldner was chosen by community planners to pick one of the seven working Ranches in the Brush Creek Valley of Pitkin County, Colorado, where arts activities could happen. When I asked Paul about the choice, he would refer to the remarkable views and studio potential from the old Anderson Ranch log buildings. Artists moved in and never departed. Scandinavian farmers and ranchers settled the original homesteads in the late 1880s. These hearty settlers were brought here to support the mining industry. Since the beginning and to this day, creative problem solvers have been raising families and making a life on the Ranch in its old log structures. Anderson Ranch moved in and out of several operating models in the 1970s before landing on the current model of summer workshops, artist residencies and visiting artist projects. In 1984, with a very active and involved board of directors, Brad Miller, the Executive Director, set in motion a direction for operation that supported year-round studio activities and staffing. The early team of Artist Directors was Jim Baker, Peter Korn and Doug Casebeer. As the studios were renovated and spaces were added, programs were developed in printmaking, painting, sculpture, photography, furniture design, critical studies and children’s programs. Architect Harry Teague designed an intentional creative environment where artists of different media could move freely from studio to studio. (read more) |