This piece was in the first exhibition I participated in Madrid, Spain in 2016 in a gallery in Malasaña. It was part of a group exhibition ccalled False Friends and the idea was to create a tribute piece, a fake, or commentary of a famous artist. Of course I chose an artist who while famous in ceramic circles, is not as well known by non-ceramicists, Hamada Shoji, reknown for his abstract paintings and the 20th century folk arts revival in the Japan.
This piece is comprised of 15 slabs rolled out on my table in my first flat in Chamberí. After it was bisque-fired, I dipped it into a white glaze, then handpainted Hamada Shoji’s two most famous images, the broken sugarcane and the rice field. The jar shape is based upon pickling and storage jars that he made. I used this triad of colors to speak to modern Japan’s love and constant association with Hello Kitty.
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Tribute to Hamada Shoji
2016 cerámica modelada y pintada a mano
esmaltada y dorada
22 x 23 cm
pieza única
[Price: 4,500€]
Camilo Hurtado de Amézaga y Balmaseda was born in Madrid in 1827. He was an aristocrat who became a farmer, a harvester, a creator, a journalist, an industrialist, fostering agricultural crops with great skill and building manufacturers of the highest quality abroad. He wrote several books on politics and was an important figure in the social and economic life of Spain in the 2nd half of the 19th century.
In 1858, he founded the newspaper El Dia. For him, the serious, continuous and verified information of the citizen was fundamental, which he thought, could only be obtained from a free and responsible press in its educational function. He founded a winery in Rioja, in the same year named after his title, Marqués de Riscal.
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El Florero de Camilo Hurtado de Amézaga y Balmaseda no.1
2021 cerámica modelada
y vidriado
18.5 x 8 cm
(t)here Series
Time & Space Collection
pieza única
Price: 110€ [SOLD]
He produced award-winning high-end Rioja wines which became the preferred wines of King Alfonso XII. He invented the gold wire netting cover to prevent counterfeiters from substituting theirs for his, since it was impossible to remove the netting without breaking it. Modern day bottles of Rioja carry this seal of authenticity but it is a much finer wire netting which serves primarily as decoration. The wines rivaled the most famous of France and England in quality, and surpassed them in affordability. The Marqués de Riscal wineries still produce wine today and his descendents are still involved in the business.
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El Florero de Camilo Hurtado de Amézaga y Balmaseda no.2
2021 cerámica modelada
y vidriado
22 x 9.5 cm
(t)here Series
Time & Space Collection
pieza única
Price: 130€ [SOLD]
Camilo Hurtado was once a well-known person and everyone recognized his seal. But now he and his seal are forgotten in time. His gold seal of authenticity is no longer relevant. His creation is now remembered as a simple decoration of thin gold-colored wire.
Proving ownership and protecting authenticity are some of the key challenges for any creator. My mind began to think about how human beings throughout the ages have done so much to promote their individual selves and identify their ideas as their own original thoughts. We have developed stamps, stickers, seals, watermarks, signatures, etc. We have created so many ingenious ways of saying: this is me, this is mine, I am.
These pieces are a tribute and a wry laugh, a little joke, a pointed commentary on ownership, identity, originality, authenticity, and a memorial to a great man considered to be an important free-thinker.
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