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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
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
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
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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.
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Citation: Kuratnick, Jeffrey. "The Marks Project." Last modified August 7, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org:443/marks/pharis