An exhibition concurrent with NCECA, Page Bond Gallery is pleased to present new and retrospective ceramic works by Piero Fenci. This will be the artist’s 5th solo exhibition at the gallery.

 

With a deep connection to traditional and indigenous ceramics methods and pre-Columbian architecture, Fenci is influenced by a diverse range of historic functional objects. Japanese armor of the Muromachi period and Shaker hat boxes, both utilitarian and sleek in design, are examples of the types of forms that Fenci is inspired by. Coated in reflective, jewel-like glazes that the artist develops himself, the works pay close attention to surface detail. Through touch and form, Fenci uses an intuitive way of working to create pieces that are suggestive of his own personal archive, both metaphysical and divine.

 

Fenci’s sculptures have been featured in numerous magazines and books, such as Ceramics Monthly, American Ceramics, The Contemporary Potter, and Clay and Glazes for the Potter. His work is represented in many private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Scheiner-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art in New York and the Tyler Museum of Art. He was recognized for making a significant impact on the field of craft in 2012 by the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft as a Texas Master, the first ceramicist to receive this award. Recent solo exhibitions include Museo Casa Chihuahua Centro del Patrimonio Cultural, the Galveston Arts Center, and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.

For over 40 years, Piero Fenci has been a distinguished artist and educator. Originally from Santa Barbara, California, he holds an MFA from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in Alfred, New York, and a BA in Latin American Studies from Yale University. Fenci has been head of the ceramics department at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX since 1975. He has spent time as a visiting professor at both the Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts in Nantucket, MA, and the Escuela de Bellas Artes, Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua, Mexico, where he founded the first university ceramic art program in the state’s history.

Piero Fenci continues as a Professor of Art at Stephen F Austin State University and lives and works in Nacagdoches, Texas.