PIETRO ELIAMADDALENA

Pietro Elia Maddalena

www.pietro.netLoc. Bagnano, 135 - 50052 Certaldo - Firenze

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With Beauty May I WalkNavajo Prayer

With beauty may I walk.With beauty before me, may I walk.With beauty behind me, may I walk.With beauty above me, may I walk.With beauty below me, may I walk.With beauty around me, may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty,lively, may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty,living again, may I walk.It is finished in beauty.It is finished in beauty.

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The work of Pietro Elia Maddalena

I first met Pietro, on an April day, a little over thirty years ago. Nearing the end of my long drive from England, descending the bumpy gravel track to Riparbello I was a little tired, and more than a little apprehensive. The unknown is always a little daunting. Within minutes of arriving, as Pietro showed me round the Riparbello workshops, the apprehension evaporated and I felt completely at ease. Here was a man, warm and welcoming, who had a mission and was professional to the core – organised, focused and passionate. Thus began, in that workshop tour, a relationship, and a friendship, that has endured now for over three decades. Pietro’s mission had been formulated in his years in England and he always intended to return to Italy. In his work and studies in England he had become a master of high temperature ceramics. He was acutely aware that the richness and depth of Italian ceramic traditions lay in terracotta and maiolica and that, in Italy, there was virtually no tradition and little knowledge of the qualities of high temperature ceramics. So, very simply, his mission was to promote appreciation and knowledge of the rich and diverse possibilities of stoneware and porcelain. He aimed to do this both through exhibitions and workshop sales of his work and through organising events and courses. He knew the task facing him was formidable but he was undaunted. At this stage, in rented accommodation with limited possibility for major adaptation, his major assets were his knowledge, expertise and skill, and his drive and energy. Some ten years after commencing at Riparbello, Pietro had the opportunity to acquire a nearby property and here he has created La Meridiana International School of Ceramics. Establishing, nurturing and developing this has been Pietro’s major commitment and achievement over the past two decades. It has been a Herculean task. When he acquired La Meridiana it comprised a shell of a building and neglected grounds. With employed help, of course, but virtually always with an input of his own labour, and always to his design, he has transformed that shell of a building and its surrounding grounds into an ideal setting for courses. The workshops are spacious and well lit, and there are apartments, a gallery, office with library and a quiet room for talks. Equipment and appropriate space exists for all the ceramic processes used on the wide ranging courses. A variety of kilns - gas, electric and wood - permit firings of every conceivable sort. The reputation, quality and success of La Meridiana’s courses bear witness to the clarity of vision which was evident in those early days at Riparbello. From the first courses and for many years following, Giuliana Rodolfi, Pietro’s partner, has been assisting with planning, running and general organisation. Since the decision to expand to year round courses, Pietro has been assisted with a team of permanent staff, headed now by Claudia Bruhin, School Administrator, responsible for programming, organisation and publicity whose energy and commitment complements that of Pietro. With all the time and energy needed to expand, nurture and run La Meridiana, Pietro’s focus on his personal work might be thought to have diminished. In fact the contrary has been the case. In the time he has set aside for himself, when he is not working towards an exhibition, he has focused on research and development of a diversity of new ideas and processes. His personal workspace is a treasure trove of trials and samples of great diversity – mark making trials, maquettes, and material tests from terra sigillata to porcelain, in huge variety. While he started his professional life with an in-depth expertise in thrown and reduction fired stoneware, his expertise now covers an exceptional range. After his schooling Pietro undertook a course in engineering at the end of which he was awarded a distinction and was offered various jobs, one which involved him working in London. Here, to use his free time, he signed on for an evening class. In this class he encountered throwing for the first time and was immediately captivated. This encounter changed the direction of his life. Wanting to see if the wider field of ceramics also interested him he found work in a pottery mainly as a plaster mould maker. This, too, engaged his imagination and interest and he decided to apply for a 3 years degree course in ceramics.Pietro’s odyssey with clay had begun.

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He was accepted onto the three year BA(Hons) degree course at West Surrey College of Art and Design at Farnham and immersed himself thoroughly in this. His exhibition at the end of this course, in 1978, was so outstanding that he was head-hunted to join the Dartington Training Workshop, an interesting project set up to give young potters of talent one year of intensive workshop experience. Pietro’s contribution to the successful running of the workshop, particularly as a thrower, became so valued that he was asked to stay for an additional year. So it was with both a broad knowledge, gained from a three year degree course, and a depth of experience, gained from two years of workshop production, that Pietro returned to Italy. It was natural that Pietro’s initial production at Riparbello would begin in the area in which he had most experience, that of reduction fired stoneware both utilitarian, repetition ware and series of unique pieces, incorporating variations. Peter Dormer, travelling to research for his memorable and much respected book “The New Ceramics”, visited Riparbello in those early days recording, in that book, the accolade that it was refreshing to find “good pots” at the end of a “dusty track in Tuscany”. Pietro still makes utilitarian ware and, as much as ever, it retains that distinct but unobtrusive quality which enhances the visual presence of food it contains. His series of unique thrown pieces have grown in variety. There are others, but two series deserve particular mention. One is large full bodied jars marked, at the end of thinning, with freely combed texture and then extended to fuller form. These, in addition to their rich surface, have that wonderful continuous convexity which is one of the qualities of superlative throwing, controlled, but near the edge of possibility. Another, cylindrical by contrast, is tall porcelain vases, reformed to oval section when leather hard, with surfaces marked gently by the slight relief of ribbing and with thin undulating edges and, often, with projecting wings. It is this range of content and quality, from strong and robust to delicate and subtle, which makes Pietro’s work in throwing so unusual, and, additionally, helps to make him such an effective and charismatic teacher of throwing. Some years after setting up at Riparbello Pietro decided to branch out and include raku in his production. Raku was introduced to the West from Japan where it had been used almost exclusively on a small scale, usually to make tea bowls. Pietro decided to use it on a large scale. This work was in stark contrast to his stoneware and was also in contrast to the uneven, rough qualities often associated with raku. A few forms were thrown but most were moulded: slip cast vertical forms and hand jolleyed dish forms. In diameters up to 60 cms these were impeccably glazed in white, green, blue, turquoise, yellow or pink, often with black unglazed edges crisply defining the extremity of the form. Pietro’s work in raku so distinct for its meticulous finish, crisp form and impressive scale, contributed to the international redefinition of the possibilities of raku which had begun some while before in the USA. In contrast both to his raku and to the different aspects of his thrown stoneware and porcelain are several other groups of work which all depart from any reference to wheel made forms. The Tuscan towers, using a variety of warmly coloured and grogged clays which he has sourced and adapted, and fired in varying ways, exist in a variety of warm sienas and ochres and aptly celebrate the colours and textures of the local architecture. The work with large surfaces of relief, which exists both in free standing versions and as relief panels for architectural settings, exploits the soft, plastic qualities of clay and is therefore in complete visual contrast to the scraped, rectilinear qualities of the Tuscan towers. When the new entrance walls and gates were recently finished, Pietro wanted some form of name sign for La Meridiana and set about making huge clay letters to spell out the name. These, thicker than bricks, had a massive presence on the workshop tables and were far removed from the norm. Finished in a residual soda firing and installed, these blend admirably with the traditional materials of the wall, and spell out the name, clearly, yet unobtrusively. Pietro relished this project for its combination of technical and visual challenges. That challenge of the combination of visual and technical problem solving has been one of Pietro’s inspirations in his long working life both in refining his earlier interests and, also, in his investigation of new possibilities. When technical problems occur, as they do in most fields, Pietro focuses on understanding and solving them. Having clearly defined challenges, both visual and technical, is always stimulating.

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Pietro’s first attraction to ceramics was to clay and the different ways it could be formed. The only regret he has expressed about his time at Dartington is that, because his expertise in throwing was in such demand, he was unable to give as much time as he would have liked to making experiments with glazes and glazing. Pietro has given time, since the very earliest days at Riparbello, to evolving a range of glazes. He has achieved control of particular glaze effects –Chun, blue celadon and sang de boeuf – and has evolved a range of glazes both for courses and his personal use. Raku and other glazes are a separate matter but, until recently, his use of stoneware glaze was mainly to complete and enhance the form and surface of clay. Visual aspects of the work, both subtle and major, were determined by the time objects were leather hard. This of course is a classic and not uncommon practice and Pietro’s recurrent interest in soda firing relates to this. For the quality, range and intensity of colour which they allow Pietro has experimented, in recent years, with a variety of oxidised stoneware glazes and different ways of applying these. This research has led to a distinct new departure in two groups of work, manifest in both cases in the context of shallow dishes. In these, glaze, and its application, rather than being a contributing element, has become the dominant factor in the visual presence and impact of the work. In the first of these groups concentric rings of overlapped, sprayed glaze layers of contrasting and merging colours are applied to the inside dish surface. These surfaces have a strong visual impact from a distance but reveal a complexity and subtlety on closer scrutiny. The second group, using glazes applied by a combination of brushing, spraying and painting, often onto resisted surfaces, is visually distinct from the first in that defined markmaking rather than soft edged, merging areas constitute the visual quality. These two groups of work add a new and distinct aspect to the range of Pietro’s work. I have known the work of many potters who have worked thirty years and longer. Development is usually linear. Refinements occur, variations are tried, adjustments to materials become necessary but, only rarely, are major new avenues explored, and, only very rarely, are several new avenues explored. This is one factor which is so distinct about Pietro’ odyssey with clay. He began with a particular interest, which he pursued in depth, and, in the subsequent decades has pursued, developed and refined a number of different interests, so his work now incorporates an extraordinary diversity. One day he may be making objects of specific utility which, through their quality, achieve visual presence; another day he may be making objects of no obvious utility which achieve relevance, and utility of a different type, simply through their visual presence. Being able to work at both ends of this spectrum of function, in the diversity which Pietro’s work shows, is a rare and precious achievement. Through exhibitions of his work in Italy, many times, and internationally – in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, England, Brazil and the USA; through the events and conferences he has organised; and through his many, many students and assistants he has touched and enriched the lives of many. In all that he has achieved, both in his work and through his courses, he has stood for three principles: the importance of research as the basis for the development of ideas and the understanding of material and process; the importance of a mastery of material and process for the full realisation of quality and ideas; and the importance of the sharing and dissemination of knowledge. His mission has been fruitfully realised and continues. That chance decision to enrol on a pottery evening class all those years ago was a most fortuitous decision. I recall a radio interview during which an internationally known artist was asked the question “How would you describe yourself”. His reply was simply, “I am a painter”. Pressed by the interviewer “Why don’t you call yourself an artist?” the painter said “What I do is to paint, if others see my work as Art I take that as a compliment, but it is not for me to say”. Some while ago I asked Pietro that same question “How do you describe yourself?” and his reply – clear, confident, immediate – was: “I am a potter”. Indeed he is. But I would add – Pietro Maddalena is a potter, and he is an artist. Long may his odyssey continue.

John Colbeck, educator, critic and maker.

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Exhibitions 2014 Sardinia, San Pantaleo, Olbia. Two men exhibition.2012 Montelupo Fiorentino, Firenze. Four Ceramic Artists.2011 Bandol, France. Italian Ceramists, Group show.2009 Worcester, UK. The Gallery at Bevere. Ceramists from Europe.2007 Virginia, USA. Sixteen Hands Exhibition.1997 - 2006 No Shows. Have dedicated most of his time and energy to organising, promoting and teaching at the International School of Ceramics in Tuscany La Meridiana.1996 Elba Island. Gulliver Gallery. “Four European Ceramists”.1995 Museum Val de Charmey, CH. One man show. Munich, Germany. Krempl Gallery. One man exhibition. Wien, Austria. Keramik Galerie. One man exhibition.1994 Tokyo, Japan. NOA Galley. Two man exhibition.1991 Burgersaal-Northeim, Germany. One man exhibition. 1990 Bologna, Italy. Gallery “Il Giardino dell’Arte” Group exhibition.1988 S.Stefano Camastra, Sicily. National Invitational. First prize Paris, Bruxelles, Amsterdam. Group exhibition.1987 Barberino V.E.,Italy. Palazzo Pellegrini. One man exhibition.1985 Zurich, Switzerland. Heimatwerk. Group exhibition.1984 Assemini, Sardinia. National Invitational. Price winner.1983 Trieste,Italy. Gallery La Scelta. One man exhibition.1982 Laveno-Mombello, Italy. “Terra-Terra Uno” Invitational.1980 – 1981 Group ehxibitions in Italy.1978 – 1979 Group shows in London, Guilford, Cambridge, Dartington.

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Architectural panel (detail)Grogged stoneware Fired to 1280°C in residual sodaHight 42 cms.

Winged vaseLimogès porcelainFired to 1280°C in oxidationHight 23 cms.

Decorated vase (detail)Raku firedHight 52 cms.

BoatWhite stonewareFired to 1240°C in oxidationLenght 52 cms.

Archtectural panelGalestro with white slipFired to 1000°CHight 64 cms.

Boat with releaf (detail)White stowareFired to 1240°C in oxidationLength 58 cms.

JugStoneware with slip decoration Salt glazed at 1280°C in reductionHight 27 cms.

BowlRaku firedDiameter 60 cms.

Tuscan TowersVariety of grogged claysFired at different temperaturesHights from 25 to 38 cms.

CoralsLimogès porcelainFired to 1240°C in oxidationDiameters from 5 to 15 cms.

Letters (detail)Grogged stonewareFired to 1280°C in residual sodaHight 40 cms.

Seabed (detail)Stoneware bowlFired to 1240°C in oxidationDiameter 50 cms.

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PIETRO ELIAMADDALENA

Pietro Elia Maddalena

www.pietro.netLoc. Bagnano, 135 - 50052 Certaldo - Firenze