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Mark Pharis

Biography to Display: 

1947Born Minneapolis, Minnesota

EDUCATION

1971BFA University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

APPRENTICESHIPS & RESIDENCIES

1970Short-Term Residency, Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, Montana

1985Visiting Artist, University of Southern Illinois, Edwardsville, Illinois

1988Visiting Artist, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

1995Visiting Artist, University of Massachusetts, New Bedford, Massachusetts

1996Visiting Artist, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina

1998Visiting Artist, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1980-1985Faculty, Winona State University, Winona, Minnesota

1985–2008Professor, Chair of the Department of Art, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

 BIOGRAPHY

Mark Pharis is known for wheel-thrown stoneware high-fired functional pottery created in his early career and from the early 1990s onward for slab-built low fired earthenware utilitarian objects.

Pharis uses paper templates to develop components of slab-built works. The surface technique is minimal. In early work Pharis used earth-toned glazes and later work often features contrasting brightly colored geometric shapes.

Pharis’ formative years as a student at the University of Minnesota with Warren Mackenzie inform his studio practice.

Public Collections

Public Collections to Display: 

Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, Alfred University, Alfred, New York

American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas

The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii

Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan

Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York

Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri

Ken Ferguson Teaching Collection, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City Missouri

Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota

Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin

rosenfieldcollection.com

University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee

University of Wisconsin River Falls, River Falls, Wisconsin

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wisconsin

Weisman Museum of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

Bibliography

Bibliography to Display: 

Brown, Glen R., “ Mark Pharis: Geometry of Experience,” Ceramics Monthly, September 28, 2015.

Carter, Ben. “Mark Pharis on Embracing the Edges of Utility”. Tales of a Red Clay Rambler. Podcast audio, October 15, 2015 http://www.talesofaredclayrambler.com/episodes/mark-pharis-on-embracing-the-edges-of-utility

Cooper, Emmanuel. Ten Thousand Years of Pottery. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.

Digeros, Mark, Mark Pharis, Alison Reintjes, and Peter Sundquist. Plane & Solid: the Geometrics of Mark Digeros, Mark Pharis, Alison Reintjes, and Peter Sundquist. Chicago, IL: Lillstreet Art Center, 2013.

Eden, Michael, and Victoria Eden. Slipware, Contemporary Approaches. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.

Mark Pharis. VHS. Directed by Mark Pharis, Jeanne Quinn, and Suzanne Foster. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado Boulder, 1998.

Marks, Graham and Wayne Higby. Useful Pottery: Eight Artists: William Brouillard, Bruce Cochrane, Time Crane, Andrew Martin, Walter Ostrom, Mark Pharis, Paul Rozman, Michael Simon. Rochester, NY: Pyramid Arts Center, 1985.

Pharis, Mark, and Catherine Fuller. Mark Pharis: Themes and Variations. Concord, MA: Lacoste Gallery, 2005.

 

 

 

Center for CraftCenter For Craft

 

 

AMOCA American Museum of Ceramic ArtAMOCA American Museum of Ceramic Art

 

The Marks Project is not aware of any signatures or marks for this artist.
Teapot
Date: ca 1980
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Thrown
Surface Technique: Glaze
Robert L. Pfannebecker Collection
Photo: TMP
Robert L. Pfannebecker Collection
Photo: TMP
Soy Bottle
Date: ca 1975-1984
Materials: Earthenware
Method: Thrown
Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.3 x 12.1 inches
Surface Technique: Glaze
American Museum of  Ceramic Art, gift of The American Ceramic Society, 2004.2.23
Photo: TMP
American Museum of Ceramic Art, gift of The American Ceramic Society, 2004.2.23
Photo: TMP
Teapot
Date: ca 1990
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Thrown
Surface Technique: Glaze
Robert L. Pfannebecker Collection
Photo: TMP
Robert L. Pfannebecker Collection
Photo: TMP
Photo: TMP
Bowl
Method: Hand-Built
Surface Technique: Glaze
rosenfieldcollection.com
rosenfieldcollection.com

Citation: Kuratnick, Jeffrey. "The Marks Project." Last modified August 7, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/pharis