The Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
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Kathy Butterly
1963 Born Amityville, New York
EDUCATION
1986 BFA Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1990 MFA University of California, Davis, California
APPRENTICESHIPS AND RESIDENCIES
1993 The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
BIOGRAPHY
Kathy Butterly is known for her elegantly designed and decorated small-scale porcelain sculptures. Each sculpture begins with the same cast vessel form. * The finished form is created by twisting, pinching, building, and otherwise manipulating the perfect classic vessel form to create unique pieces. The pieces are frequently glazed in a bright palette of colors accented with black and white.
During this process she, “thinks a lot about the quality of the lines,” she is creating. The resulting forms are reminiscent of the work of George Ohr. The altered forms often suggest the human body, an image she enhances by the addition of appendages. Butterly says she thinks of the pieces as, “containers for color”. * The subtle rich surface colors are the result of the application of numerous layers of glazes and using as many as 40 firings. *
*Butterly discussing her work, 92Y Virtual Clay and NCECA: Kathy Butterly: “Looking Back and Looking Forward”, February 6, 2018.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
Cantor Art Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Museum Het Kruithuis-'s Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adkins, Gretchen. “The Pots of Kathy Butterly.” Ceramics Art and Perception no. 23 (1996).
Butterly, Kathy. Kathy Butterly: Between and Rock and a Soft Place. New Yorkk, NY: Tibor de Nagy Gallery, 2007.
Clark, Garth. “Rising Above the Polemic-Organic Abstraction in Contemporary Ceramics.” Ceramics Art and Perception no. 22 (1995).
Cotter, Holland. “New Sparkle for an Abstract Ensemble,” The New York Times, January 7, 2011.
Danto, Arthur C. and Janet Koplos, Choice from America: Modern American Ceramics. The Netherlands: Museum Het Kruithuis, 's Hertogenbosch, 1999.
Levin, Elaine. “Kathy Butterly: Lots of Little Love Affairs.” Ceramics Monthly (May 2013).
Ollman, Leah. “Exhibition Reviews: Kathy Butterly.” Art in America (March 2013).
Porter, Jenelle and Jeremy Sigler. Figuring Color: Kathy Butterly, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Roy McMakin, Sue Williams. Boston, MA: Institute of Contemporary Art, 2012.
Smith, Roberta. “Crucible of Creativity, Stoking Earth into Art.” The New York Times, March 20, 2009.
Sutton, Benjamin. “Playful Ceramicist Kathy Butterly Wins Smithsonian’s 2013 Contemporary Art Prize.” Artinfo, November 2012.
Yau, John. “Kathy Butterly: Pantyhose and Morandi,” The Brooklyn Rail, June 2010.
CV or RESUME: Click Here to Download
Source: Tibor de Nagy Gallery
CV or RESUME: Click Here to Download
Source: Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Elaine Levin Archive, University of Southern California
Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified February 15, 2024. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/butterly
