Kirk Mangus injects excitement and movement to his clay works

Photo Gallery Kirk Mangus says his work is about 'movement and leaving an object frozen in motion' Sidney L. Davis, Tribune-Review The pottery of Kirk Mangus is on display at the Clay Place Gallery Sidney L. Davis, Tribune-Review Mangus' pottery involves a careful craftsmanship Sidney L. Davis, Tribune-Review

The pottery of Kirk Mangus currently on view at The Clay Place Gallery no doubt will cause many casual gallerygoers to do a double take when they see it.

Oblong platters, thick with glaze, lay low like sagging donuts. Roughly formed tea bowls are slashed with abstract markings. Tiny vases, accented with rudimentary birds or snakes, look like small pinch pots made by some primitive culture. And large, heavy vessels are either deeply gouged with various markings or accented with sculptural reliefs of birds or bug heads - all put together with what seems to be the crudest touch.

But spend a little time with Mangus' mugs, tea and rice bowls, platters and vases, and one might begin to understand why he has been a favorite at The Clay Place since 1976, having shown there every other year since.

"For years, he has had a love of clay and a love of experimentation," says Elvira Peake, owner of The Clay Place. "He works very fast. He has lots of energy."

In the world of studio pottery, Mangus is a magnum force and a highly regarded figure. Having taught ceramics at Kent State University since 1985, this Pennsylvania native has won numerous awards and grants, and his work is included in a variety of important museum collections.

Although his work seemingly rises out of the Art Brut tradition, it more obviously rises out of brute force.

"Movement and leaving an object frozen in motion" is what Mangus says his work is about. "Clay has no form. For every action there is a reaction. You make a movement, it makes a form."

Mangus, 49, was raised in rural Mercer County, just outside of Sharon, Pa. He says when he was growing up, his father often would bring forsythia, pussy willow and various other flora and fauna into the house and place them into small vases.

"He'd put them in little vases, and they'd all come to life with the water and the warmth of the house. That's humanity," Mangus says.

For the vases in this show, Mangus mined his memory of the early Etruscan pottery he had seen on his travels to Italy. Numerous existing examples of Etruscan pottery include figural decorative motifs or bas-relief elements.

Hence, several of Mangus' small vases include similar features like handles in the form of snakes or birds.

Two small vases look more like they were unearthed in Pompeii than made just recently. With thick, pitted and crusty natural glazes - the result of being placed at the "fire mouth" of a wood-burning kiln where they were exposed to the ash and charcoal flying off the burning wood - they look as though they were fired in the mouth of Mt. Vesuvius itself.

For Mangus, "The vase is the most important thing a potter can make," because, he says, "We take something from the universe. We put it in an object that we make, and we don't eat it. We look at it. It's aesthetic."

His larger vessels include various incised markings that he has deeply gouged into the surfaces of each. "Ocean Urn," for example, features a variety of abstract plant forms gouged in the entirety of its surface exterior. A smaller, green vase features several large drawings of fish gouged all around the outside.

Other vases include gouged markings combined with sculptural reliefs, as in "Vase with Women," which features small drawings of faces incised into the body of the vase, which has been accented with large, crude versions of bug heads and birds.

Bugs, snakes, birds and the like have always been a part of Mangus' work. With this fascination Mangus finds a kinship in humanity. "We are all just ants on an anthill," he says. "We're all close. Drop off a couple limbs, and we're there."

Various mugs, rice and tea bowls complete the show, providing more utilitarian wares that are just as energetic and interesting as the small vases and large vessels.

For all of the movement and crudeness contained in his work, Mangus makes no excuses. "I want my pots to not be something that sits back but to reach out and grab you."

"You can eat off of rocks if you wanted to," Mangus says, "but we make our own rocks because we can. That's what art is about."

Even if one is familiar with Mangus' pottery, his work always is worth a second look.

• Through Jan. 1. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays; also 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays
• The Clay Place Gallery, 5416 Walnut St., Shadyside
• (412) 682-3737

  Kurt Shaw can be reached at kshaw@tribweb.com.
  
  See another great article on Kirk Mangus.