May 20 – Sept. 25, 2011
Ogliara, Italy
Not many info are available on this exhibition, but we decided to mention it even though we can only provide the top lines. Indeed, Ferdinando Vassallo is a very interesting ceramic artist who explores the realm of experimentalism with surprising results and we were very keen on spending a few words on his work.
The majolicas featured in this exhibition have been designed by Italian and International artists – among them Bernard Zimmer, Luigi Ontani, Michel Haindorf and Achille Perilli – and made into actual works by Vassallo. On the last day the program includes a “Cravon Fire” show, a demonstration of a fast firing technique invented by the artist.
Ferdinando Vassallo was born and still lives near Salerno, not far from Vietri sul mare, an area where pottery making is not only heritage but a part of life.
He was born in 1952 and he was only 18 years old when he built his first kiln “Ottomattoni”, made of 8 bricks and a small gas burner. It worked amazingly well and it filled the artist with an astonished surprise that were to fuel his enthusiasm for pottery making for the rest of his life…