Vintage Louis Mendez Studio Pottery Wall Design Art 17

Louis Mendez Studio Pottery Wall Design Art. Dome shaped piece that features a mosaic tile type of design achieved with incised lines, creating a symmetrical tribal patterning with each individual section glazed in red, blue, pinks, off white, plum brown and the dividing lines in a varied brown black that appears to be achieved via raku firing. Small crack (see photo)RJ1.

Louis Ernest Mendez was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan of Puerto Rican, Spanish and Irish heritage. He spent his early years in Spanish Harlem and his teenage years in Goshen, NY, where his high school teachers recognized his unusual talent in drawing and sculpture. Louis went on to earn degrees from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, where he became a protege of Professors Charles Harder and Daniel Rhodes, influential figures in the mid-century American studio ceramics movement. After college, Louis was hired by fellow Alfred alumnus, David Gil, as the first designer at Bennington Potters in Vermont. He later worked as a designer at Lenox China in Trenton, NJ, before entering the field of education, teaching first at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, then at the Philadelphia College of Art, and ultimately at the Ohio State University in Columbus, where he was an Associate Professor of Art and Chairman of the Graduate Faculty in the Ceramics Department.

Aside from these professorial appointments, he taught more casually, but with no less enthusiasm, at numerous venues, including New Jersey City University and the Ceramic Education Center (NJ), Brookfield Craft Center (CT), Art+Clay (NM), Valle de Bravo (MX), Juniata College, (PA), and with special joy at the 92nd Street Y 60+ Program in New York City. From the 1960s onward his output included not only pottery, but masks, wall-reliefs, mosaics, and free-standing sculptures both large and small.

Louis developed his signature Spanish Handbuilding Technique, an approach to ceramic hand building that allowed construction and firing of large sculptural works in clay without the use of an armature. Mendez exhibited in many important venues in the USA, including the Museum of Art and Design, the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, Taller Boriqua, the Brooklyn Museum, the Everson Museum, the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, and the Silvermine Guild of Artists.

International exhibitions include group shows at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Internazionale Biennale dell' Arte Contemporanea (Florence, Italy), the Gangjin Festival (Korea), and a one person show at the Museo Regional Michoacano (Morelia, Mexico). His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Art and Design (New York), the ASU Museum at the Herberger Institute for Design + the Arts in Tempe (AZ), the Mint Museum of Craft & Design (North Carolina), the Columbia Museum of Art (SC), the Gangjin Ceramics Museum (South Korea), and the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art at Alfred University, among others. I try to accurately assess the condition of each item. I get my description information through research and other collector's opinions. All descriptions are for informational purposes only. PLEASE LOOK CAREFULLY AT ALL OF THE PHOTOS AS THEY ARE PART OF MY DESCRIPTION. I STRIVE TO PROVIDE QUALITY PRODUCTS AND QUALITY SERVICE. Please see my store for other Great items!

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This item is in the category "Pottery & Glass\Decorative Pottery & Glassware\Vases". The seller is "sarajanesalley" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, Korea, South, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Republic of, Malaysia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bolivia, Egypt, French Guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macau, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion, Uruguay.

Type: Wall Art
Material: Clay
Color: Multi-Color
Production Style: Art Pottery
Production Technique: Pottery
Handmade: Yes