JOHN GILL (1949 - )
John Gill has had a distinguished career both as a teacher and as a ceramic artist. He is
most noted for his sculptural forms which have been exhibited in a number of museums
and collections but he has experimented with a wide variety of techniques and forms.
He is presently on the faculty of Alfred University where he is Professor of Ceramic Art.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT – JOHN GILL
“In my work I try to utilize simple techniques. This allows for freedom of ideas and
process. Shape, form, use and color inform and question other possibilities. My work
uses shape and form to inflate color. Working within the realm of function expands the
potential. History of ceramics, painting and sculpture collide. Clay has a simple
directness – it prints beautifully.”1
1. Faculty web page for John Gill. http://art.alfred.edu/faculty/fa_gill-j.html
RESUME – JOHN GILL
1949
Born in Renton, Washington
1968-1970
Cornish School of Art, Seattle, Washington
1971-1973
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Kansas
1973
B.A. Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Kansas
1975
M.F.A., New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University,
Alfred, New York
1975
Married Andrea Gray
1975-1977
Instructor at Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island
1977-1978
Taught at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
1978-1979
Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana
1979-1984
Taught at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
1984-
Professor of Ceramic Art, Alfred University, Alfred, New York
BIOGRAPHY – JOHN GILL
John Gill was born in Renton, Washington, in 1949. Although struggles with a learning
disability caused difficulties with traditional school subjects, he was fortunate to have
supportive teachers who worked with him and encouraged his interest in the arts.
Following high school, he studied pottery with traditional potter Thorne Edwards at the
Cornish School of Art in Seattle and later with Patti Warashina. He first concentrated on
hand building but as he became more drawn to ceramics, he branched out and tried a
number of approaches. His second year Irv Tepper replaced Warashina at the school
and it was from him that Gill learned how to throw and to do slipcasting.
Encouraged by his teachers, he applied to the Kansas City Art Institute where he studied
with Ken Ferguson, Jackie Rice and Victor Babu from 1971-1973. He started making
loose forms, more sculptural, and expanded his work by trying more techniques. Again
he had supportive teachers in the liberal arts faculty and with their help he worked hard
and completed his academic courses. Gill, like many others who have a visual learning
disability, is often able to take text and translate it to visual images which can be drawn,
outlined, and otherwise made into visual learning aids, and in addition he has a very
strong memory. Gill received a B.F.A. degree in 1973.
Following his graduation, Gill went to New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred
University to continue his studies, receiving his M.F.A. in 1975. While there he also met
fellow ceramics student Andrea Gray, and they were married in 1975.
He began his teaching career at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1975, leaving in
1977 to teach for a year at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Both
John and Andrea Gill won awards at the Young Americans exhibition in 1978 and were
also awarded NEA grants to the Archie Bray in Helena, Montana. At the completion of
their summer at the Bray, they stayed on for a year, using the time to concentrate on
what it meant to be a potter. “What was really good about being at the Bray was that it
gave me a chance to become believable as a potter, to figure out what it meant to get up
every day and go down to the studio and figure out the most economical way to make
something. It forced me to really make sense of what I had learned at school.” 1 In 1979
his career took him to Kent State University and he taught there until 1984. Since 1984
he has taught at Alfred University in Alfred New York where he is currently Professor of
Ceramic Art where he has also served as Chair of the Division of Ceramic Art.
During his studies Gill was attracted to historical ceramics, particularly English
porcelains and creamwares as well as Persian ceramics. Other influences included
painting, including the work of Arthur Dove and Giorgio Morandi as well as Milton Avery
and Stuart Davis. He is noted for his teapots and other pots with their sculptural forms.
He has said that the techniques he uses come from tinwork and are “not unlike custom
tailoring.”2
His work has been exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Grace
Borgenight Gallery, New York; Dorothy Weiss Gallery, San Francisco; and the
Kraushaar Gallery, New York. His work is held in a number of collections, including the
Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Archie Bray
Foundation, Helena, Montana; and Taipei Museum. He is a member of the Council of
the International Academy of Ceramics and the recipient of a number of awards and
honors including an NEA Individual Artist Grant.
1. Zakin, Richard. Ceramics; Ways of Creation. Iola, Wisconsin, Krause Publications,
1999. 17-18.
2. Kagan, Dick. “High Tea.” Art & Antiques. 27, no. 5 (May 2004).
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY – JOHN GILL
Books and Catalogs
Clark, Garth. American Ceramics 1876 to the Present. New York: Abbeville Press,
1987.
Peterson, Susan. The Craft and Art of Clay. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice
Hall, 1996.
Zakin, Richard. Ceramics; Ways of Creation. Iola, Wisconsin, Krause Publications,
1999.
Periodicals
Carr, C. “Andrea Gill/John Gill.” American Craft (U.S.A.) 43, no. 6 (December 1983January 1984): 19-23.
Garcia, Christopher. “Minor Works by Major Ceramists II: A Mail-Art Project Revisited.”
Ceramics Technical no. 21 (2005): 63-68.
Kagan,D. “High Tea.” Art & Antiques 27, no. 5 (May 2004): 56-59.
McAuliffe, Chris and John Gill. “This Sporting Life.” World Art (Australia) no. 4 (1996):
56-63.
McTwigam, Michael. “A Handful of Beauty, a Hint of Beast.”
(U.S.A.) 3, no. 4 (1985): 22-27.
American Ceramics
Rubin, Michael. “John Gill.” Ceramics Monthly (U.S.A.) 35, no. 4 (April 1987): 28-29.
Seyfarth, Mary. “Alfred Now.” Ceramics Monthly (U.S.A.) 43, no. 8 (October 1995): 5961.
Warren, Ron. “John Gill.” Arts Magazine 59 (April 1985): 39.
Videos
“Contemporary Ceramic Teapots.” American Craft Museum. CP-788W, VHS.
“Contemporary Ceramics.” American Craft Museum, CP-800W, VHS.
GALLERY REPRESENTATION – JOHN GILL
Kraushaar Galleries, 724 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10019
WEB SITES – JOHN GILL
http://www.internationalceramics festival.org/2005/guestartists/johngill.htm
Brief article about John Gill with illustration of the artist.
http://art.alfred.edu/faculty/fa_gill-j.html
Official faculty web site at Alfred University for John Gill; contains brief listing of
exhibitions, collections, and honors.
February 10, 2007