EXHIBITION PRESS RELEASE
GALLERY II

LELAND SHAW
CERAMIC LEGENDS

November 25, 2005 – January 21, 2006

Brad Cooper Gallery is pleased to present  a solo exhibition titled, “Ceramic Legends” by Leland Shaw   opening Friday,  November 25, from 7 –9pm. The exhibition runs through January 21, 2006.

On view will be a new series of relief plaques and tower-like constructions, vases,  bowls, and free form vessels which are covered with relief figures of  animal, human and architectural form.  These mold-pressed figures which make up Shaw’s thematic compositions appear as if they were lost symbols from a previous era. Over the last decade,  his one-of-a-kind objects have taken on an irreplaceable vocabulary of amusement with a liberal sense of play..

In 1963,  Shaw received a masters in  Architecture at the University of California, Berkley where he also  studied ceramic sculpture with Peter Voulkos and Ken Price.   In 2003,  Leland  Shaw  was made  a  Professor  Emeritus  at  the University of  Florida School of Architecture, and he retired as a Professor,  teaching for 37 years.  Former Students include many well-known Tampa Architects, Albert & Carlos Alfonso, Peter Hepner, Eric Kreher,  and many more. 

“This recent work carries on a long-time exploration of three-dimensional surface decoration applied to functional pottery forms.  In the series of new plaques the relief figures are composed to create a specific mythology.  On large pieces, animal, human, architectural, and vegetable images are  juxtaposed, fragmented and/or re-configured to  tell enigmatic stories to be freely interpreted by the viewer. Carved textures often form the ground for the  figures. The work builds from my formal architectural education as seen in the figure/ground, and recent time living in Italy.  I play with scale and spatial  compositions.  A love of the unexpected, accidental, and unexplained,  tempered at times with humor informs my work.”   

-Leland Shaw

concurrent exhibition in Gallery I:  TWENTY-ONE: Works on Paper   Press Release          

The Brad Cooper Gallery is located at 1712 E 7^th Ave in YBOR CITY, and Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11am until 5pm. (Please call 813-248-6098 for additional evening and weekend hours.)  

*online exhibition link coming soon

Gallery II Exhibition:

Brad Cooper Gallery
1712 E 7th Ave. YBOR CITY  (between 17th & 18th St)

11am - 5 pm / Wed – Sat  &  by appointment.