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Estonia Comes to the BerkshiresBy Peter Dudek - August 21, 2008
Special to iBerkshires
Sergei Isupov: "Androgyny"
Kadri Parnaments: "Solo Show: Ceramic Sculpture"
Aug. 23 - Oct. 4; Ferrin Gallery, 437 North St., Pittsfield,
Information: 413-442-1622 or info@ferringallery.com
PITTSFIELD — Estonia, that Baltic nation of 1.5 million people, will have two artists, Sergei Isupov and Kadri Parnaments, exhibiting this month at the Ferrin Gallery.
The exhibition opens with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23, and features recent ceramic sculptures that were made in nearby Cummington.
Both Isupov and Parnaments have an extensive background in making and exhibiting their ceramic sculpture and, although they use similar techniques, they end up producing radically different objects.
Isupov's work is figurative and dreamlike. His sculptures, often self-portraits, contain autobiographically surreal narratives. With imagery that often includes heads, hands, feet, hearts and tapirs (a nocturnal and hoofed forest-dwelling mammal of South America) he explores the rich terrain of male/female relationships, often rendered through graphic sexual images. These are extroverted works, an open diary, revealing (perhaps reveling in) the oddities and quirks of his life.
 Kadri Parnaments works in ceramics evoke an organic feel. At right is 'Deviant.'
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Parnaments, on the other hand, creates organically morphed forms with speckled glazes that have a corallike appearance. Her sculptures can contain multiple shapes that appear to grow out of each other. Visually quieter and smaller in size than most of Isupov's work, Parnaments' sculptures seem meant for holding in one's hands and examining with a kind of familiarity that such contact can bring about. Hers is an art of exploring the world outside oneself.
She has been making her work at Project Art, a residency project housed in the building in Cummington jointly owned by Isupov and Leslie Ferrin. This is also where Isupov's studio is, and as a result of working virtually side-by-side, they have developed collaborative works that fuse his surreal figurative elements with her organic forms.
Typically these pieces start with Parnaments making one of her biomorphic shapes. Isupov will then sculpt onto it one of his characters fully rendered in relief including lines and color. Afterward, he applies a protective wax coating to his addition so that Kadri can finish glazing her portion.
Several of the collaborations will also be in the exhibition.
How did these Estonians get here? Well, Isupov was actually born in Stavropol, Russia, in 1963. He studied ceramics in Kiev and later in Estonia. After a few years in Estonia, he became a citizen but then in the early '90s he met a woman from Kentucky, wooed her and accompanied her to Louisville, where they wed.
Sergei Isupov creates surreal self-portraits. Above are 'Androgeny Heads.' |
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At the time, he had already accumulated an impressive international resume but was little known in the United States. Through a series of chance encounters, Leslie Ferrin discovered his work and, in 1996, he began exhibiting with the Ferrin Gallery. He now lives year-round in the Cummington building.
Parnaments was born in Rakvere, Estonia, in 1968 and met Isupov while in school in Estonia. They kept in touch, taking turns visiting each other here and in Europe. And when Isupov and Ferrin started Project Art, they decided that Parnaments would be the first artist–in-residence. She has been here since May and will finish her residency at the end of August.
Parnaments has participated in several exhibitions throughout Europe and China; this exhibition with the Ferrin Gallery will be her first in the United States.
Ferrin Gallery:
The gallery presents exhibitions of contemporary art, photography and sculpture from throughout the region along with nationally known ceramic sculptors and studio potters.
Ferrin Gallery opened in Northampton in 1979, relocated to Lenox in 1999 and, in June 2007, moved to its current 2,600 square-foot space in downtown Pittsfield.
During the "off season" the gallery participates in art fairs in Miami, Palm Beach, Chicago and New York.
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