A Chosen Path

The Ceramic Art of Karen Karnes

By Garth Clark | Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press

About the book

Renowned ceramic artist Karen Karnes has created some of the most iconic pottery of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The body of work she has produced in her more than sixty years in the studio is remarkable for its depth, personal voice, and consistent innovation. Many of her pieces defy category, invoking body and landscape, pottery and sculpture, male and female, hand and eye.

Equally compelling are Karnes’s experiences in some of the most significant cultural settings of her generation: from the worker-owned cooperative housing of her childhood, to Brooklyn College under modernist Serge Chermayeff, to North Carolina’s avant-garde Black Mountain College, to the Gate Hill Cooperative in Stony Point, New York, which Karnes helped establish as an experiment in integrating art, life, family, and community.

This book, designed to accompany an exhibit of Karnes’s works organized by Peter Held, curator of ceramics for the Arizona State University Art Museum’s Ceramic Research Center, offers a comprehensive look at the life and work of Karnes. Edited by highly regarded studio potter Mark Shapiro, it combines essays by leading critics and scholars with color reproductions of more than sixty of her works, providing new perspectives for understanding the achievements of this extraordinary artist.

Editions of A Chosen Path

Hardcover
ISBN 9780807834275
EBook
ISBN 9798890886033
EBook
ISBN 9780807868133

Read an Excerpt

Renowned ceramic artist Karen Karnes has created some of the most iconic pottery of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The body of work she has produced in her more than sixty years in the studio is remarkable for its depth, personal voice, and consistent innovation. Many of her pieces defy category, invoking body and landscape, pottery and sculpture, male and female, hand and eye.

Equally compelling are Karnes’s experiences in some of the most significant cultural settings of her generation: from the worker-owned cooperative housing of her childhood, to Brooklyn College under modernist Serge Chermayeff, to North Carolina’s avant-garde Black Mountain College, to the Gate Hill Cooperative in Stony Point, New York, which Karnes helped establish as an experiment in integrating art, life, family, and community.

This book, designed to accompany an exhibit of Karnes’s works organized by Peter Held, curator of ceramics for the Arizona State University Art Museum’s Ceramic Research Center, offers a comprehensive look at the life and work of Karnes. Edited by highly regarded studio potter Mark Shapiro, it combines essays by leading critics and scholars with color reproductions of more than sixty of her works, providing new perspectives for understanding the achievements of this extraordinary artist.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is A Chosen Path about?

Renowned ceramic artist Karen Karnes has created some of the most iconic pottery of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The body of work she has produced in her more than sixty years in the studio is remarkable for its depth, personal voice, and consistent innovation. Many of her pieces defy category, invoking body and landscape, pottery and sculpture, male and female, hand and eye.

Equally compelling are Karnes’s experiences in some of the most significant cultural settings of her generation: from the worker-owned cooperative housing of her childhood, to Brooklyn College under modernist Serge Chermayeff, to North Carolina’s avant-garde Black Mountain College, to the Gate Hill Cooperative in Stony Point, New York, which Karnes helped establish as an experiment in integrating art, life, family, and community.

This book, designed to accompany an exhibit of Karnes’s works organized by Peter Held, curator of ceramics for the Arizona State University Art Museum’s Ceramic Research Center, offers a comprehensive look at the life and work of Karnes. Edited by highly regarded studio potter Mark Shapiro, it combines essays by leading critics and scholars with color reproductions of more than sixty of her works, providing new perspectives for understanding the achievements of this extraordinary artist.

What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in A Chosen Path?

Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure > Handicrafts, decorative arts and crafts > Pottery, ceramics and glass crafts

Where can I read a sample of A Chosen Path?

You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780807834275

How long is A Chosen Path and how many pages does it have?

A Chosen Path has 192 page(s)

Who is/are the Author/s of the book A Chosen Path?

Garth Clark

Who is the Publisher of the book A Chosen Path?

The University of North Carolina Press

What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?

A Chosen Path is available as hardcover(ISBN 9780807834275) and ebook(ISBN 9798890886033) and ebook(ISBN 9780807868133)

Where can I buy A Chosen Path online or support local independent bookshops?

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Where can I buy A Chosen Path?