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1929 Born Waterloo, Iowa
2015 Died Ann Arbor, Michigan
EDUCATION
1952 BA Ed., University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa
1958 MFA Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1991-1993 Interim Dean, School of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
1959-1995 Professor of Art, School of Art, University of Michigan
1995— Catherine B. Heller Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan
John Stephenson’s ceramic sculptures explore a number of themes among them are machines, tools, the sea, twisted forms, and objects from a surreal landscape.
Each of Stephenson's sculptures is built using stoneware clay, occasionally with the assistance of a metal armature. The highly textured surfaces are glazed with broad brush strokes reminiscent of the abstract expressionist painting style.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
Cranbrook Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan
Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan
Faenza International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan
Icheon World Ceramic Center, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
International Ceramic Center, Musee Ariana, Geneva, Switzerland
Keramion Museum, Frechen, Germany
Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Oregon
Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin
Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, Praha, Czech Republic
Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Arts, Alfred University, Alfred, New York
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clark, Garth. American Ceramics, 1876 to the Present. New York, NY: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1978.
Conrad, John. Contemporary Ceramic Techniques. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1979.
Crowell, Susan "Together in Clay" Ceramics Art and Perception, no. 17 (1994).
Donhauser, Paul S. History of American Ceramics, The Studio Potter. Dubuque, IA, Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., 1978.
Eidlelberg, Martin and others, Design In America, The Cranbrook Vision 1925-1950. New York, NY, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1983.
Frith, Donald E. Mold Making for Ceramics. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Company, 1985.
Glick, John. "Twelve Potters from Detroit." Studio Potter (Winter 1973).
Hopper, Robin. Making Marks. Iola, WI: Krause Publications 2004.
John Stephenson: After the Fire, A Retrospective, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Museum of Art and the University of Michigan School of Art and Design, 1995.
Keller, Martha. "John Stephenson." American Ceramics (Fall 1983)
Nelson, Glenn C. Ceramics, A Potter's Handbook. Fifth Edition. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984.
Nordness, Lee. Objects: USA. New York, NY: Viking Press, 1970.
Pasfield, Veronica. "Studio Visit," Detroit Monthly (March 1992)
Perry, Barbara. American Ceramics, the Collection of the Everson Museum of Art. Syracuse, NY: Everson Museum of Art and Rizzoli International Publications, 1989.
Perryman, Jane. Smoke Fired Pottery. London, England: A & C Black Publishers Limited, 1995.
Peterson, Susan. The Craft and Art of Clay. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1992, 1995, 2000
_______________. Contemporary Ceramics, New York, NY: Watson-Guptill, 2000.
Rhodes, Daniel. Clay and Glazes for the Potter. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Company, 1973.
Schwartz, F.R. "Five Potters, Albion College." Craft Horizon, (January 1968)
Slowinski, Dolores. "John and Susanne Stephenson." Ceramics Monthly, (September 1989).
Stephenson, John. "Form and Color - A True Symbiotic Relationship." Studio Potter (June 1983).
_______. "Weightless Form: John Stephenson." Ceramics Monthly (Sept 1983).
_______. "Potters on Color." Studio Potter (Spring 1986).
_______. "National endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowships 1986." American Craft (1986).
_______. "Art, Money and the NEA." Ceramics Monthly (Feb 1987).
_______. "Perception/ Inner and Outer Vision.” Studio Potter (December 1988).
_______. "Time, Place and a Taste of Clay." Studio Potter (December 1993).
________. "Simple Pleasures," Ceramics; Art and Perception, no. 43 (2001).
_________. "Lou Xiaoping, Work on the Scholar's Desk" Ceramics Art and Perception, no 47 (1992)
Zakin, Richard. Ceramics, Mastering the Craft, Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Company, 1990.
______________. Electric Kiln Ceramics, Second Edition. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Co., 1994.
CV or RESUME: Click Here to Download
Source: Susanne Stephenson
WEBSITE(S):
Artist's Studio: Stephenson's Ceramics
Brush written initials, underglaze blue or black. Scratched with a pin tool in the glaze on the side near the bottom of the vessel. Some clearer than others, some works are unmarked.
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Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified March 30, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org:443/marks/stephenson-1