Warren MacKenzie: An American Potter
Residency & Exhibition - 21 September to 2 November 2013
Warren MacKenzie gave this masterclass as part of his residency at the Leach Pottery, St.Ives, Cornwall, in September 2013. As well as throwing pots, Warren shares his memories of working with Bernard Leach in the early 1950's.
Warren MacKenzie at the Leach Pottery, Sept 2013
The Leach Pottery celebrated American potter, Warren MacKenzie, who was apprenticed here from 1949-1952, and returned to undertake a residency during September 2013. Recognized as a master of 20th Century ceramic art, Warren’s traditional, wheel thrown stoneware vessels reflect the creative philosophies of Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada combined with his own unique approach to ceramic form and functionality.
Born in 1924 in Kansas City, Missouri, Warren MacKenzie studied ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago. After his three year apprenticeship at the Leach Pottery he established his own pottery studio in Stillwater, Minnesota. In 1966 Warren was made professor at the University of Minnesota where he continued until his retirement from teaching in 1990.
Warren MacKenzie is a Fellow of the International Academy of Ceramics and in 1998 was honoured with the Gold Medal from the American Crafts Council. His work is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; the Minnesota Museum of American Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.During his residency in St. Ives, Warren opened a solo exhibition of recent work made at his pottery, just outside Stillwater, Minnesota, as well as making and firing new work which is now exhibited here.
