Matthias Merkel Hess, William J. O’Brien, Arlene Shechet. SUM

Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

May 25 — September 2, 2012

Opening Preview: 6–8 pm, Friday May 25

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I’m so excited for this show and it’s an honor to be showing with William J. O’Brien and Arlene Shechet. I’ll be in Kansas City next week to install the show and I’ll be at the opening on the May 25. If you’re in the area, please stop by.

My installation will be a sort of “Bucketry II” and build on my recent show Bucketry at ACME. in LA. This version will include more than 70 pieces, including new bucket and gas can forms. I’ll post some preview photos of the new work in the next few weeks.

After the first batch sold out, I made more BrickEnds for St&ndard Goods in LA. It took me a while to post these photos, so not all the sets of these glazed firebricks are available. Check online or visit the shop to see what’s still for sale. $80 for a set of two.

In store at Iko Iko now! A collection of new MerkelWare spot jugs. This time in a coppery-shino glaze with orange peel spots. The jugs come with the standard rough-cut corks (not pictured).

More shapes in this glaze combo coming soon!

Slake #4, “Dirt,” is out now and includes a few contributions from me:

> A four-page MerkelMall artist’s project.

> These ceramic tiles I made are used in some of the graphic design.

> Finally, I made a special edition of 20 whiskey jugs incorporating Los Angeles dirt and rocks. They sold out almost right away, but there may be more dirt-themed MerkelWare / Slake collaborations to come…. I’ll keep you posted

If you’re in LA, please join me on Friday, May 4 for the launch party.

Here’s some pics of the MerkelMall spread:

Thanks to Anne M. and the whole Slake team for including me in this issue. It’s so great to be part of this new literary voice in L.A. Please support Slake by buying an issue or subscribing.

Milk Crate, porcelain, 2012 by Matthias Merkel Hess

Just a reminder if you’re in New York in the next few weeks….I’m part of the pop-up shop Material, curated by Duro for Salon 94 Freemans. It’s on display through March 10. The milk crate pictured above is on the pieces I have in there, along with several other milk crates and a laundry hamper.

My glazed firebrick Brickends are now available at St&ndard Goods in Los Angeles. They are $40 each or $80 for a set of two. Stop by and check ‘em out!

More info and photos at the store’s blog.

The 50th Law

by 50 Cent and Robert Green

Copyright 2009, by G-Unit Books, Inc., and Robert Greene

From page 210:

“Most people can’t handle boredom. That means they can’t stay on one thing until they get good at it. And they wonder why they’re unhappy.” —50 Cent

Eagle Gas Can, porcelain and gold luster, 2011-12, Matthias Merkel Hess

This piece was originally made for my Bucketry show, but during the glaze firing, a big gob of glaze sealed the spout shut. The air trapped inside the piece then caused the piece to splinter (but not explode) along numerous fault lines.

I patched all the cracks, reglazed the cracks with a clear low-fire glaze, then highlighted these repairs with gold luster. These are the results:

I was quoted in this article on the current show Clay’s Tectonic Shift at Scripps College. The article, which ran on page E7 of the January 29, 2012 Sunday edition of the LA Times also included a big photo of my recent show at ACME.

Also quoted: Kristin Morgin and Matt Wedel. Not mentioned: we were all at the CSULB ceramics studio at the same time in 2005-06 with lots of other great artists, Kristin as a professor, Matt W. as a grad student, and me as a post-bac.

Read the whole article here.

Michael Shaw has started a new artist-interview podcast here in Los Angeles that is posted on the Notes on Looking blog. He’s interviewed a bunch of artists, including this one with me.

For more of Shaw’s series, The Conversation, click here or here.