Alan Lerner

Alan Lerner

Artist Alan Lerner (1952, Chicago) is the judge for the 2019 Pottery of Protest Exhibition at Lincoln Square Pottery Studio – Learning Center. Lerner has more than three decade’s worth of ceramic experience, including teaching at institutions across the city.

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Lerner, who studied sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago through the late 1970’s, was introduced to the art fair circuit at a young age. His apprenticeship with Bruce Cash at Big Hart Pottery (Michigan), gave him a behind-the-scenes view on how to make a living through pottery. Within a year, he was taking his wares to fairs around the Midwest (Old Orchard, Ann Arbor Art Fair) as well as out East (the Smithsonian Craft Show). Lerner was able to make a living from his work, taking orders at the fairs, and then spending the following year completing the commissions. He also struck a collaboration with a shop in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, providing increasingly larger vessels for sale. Through the 1980’s and 90’s Lerner taught a variety of ceramics classes at both Lillstreet Art Center and SAIC.

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In the early 2000’s, Lerner decided he needed to expand his education to include a master’s degree. Because he was teaching at SAIC, he was able to complete it one 2003. The artist decided to change directions and study print media, more specifically screen-printing. Two decades of working in ceramics had exhausted Lerner creatively. Taking on another medium helped him form new ideas. His works on paper took on political underpinnings, delving into issues of environmental decay, industrial pollution and climate change. Along with teaching screen-printing at the Chicago Print Maker’s Collective, Lerner sent his work to exhibitions across the country.

2015 was the year two mediums collided for Lerner. He was asked to teach a screen-printing on clay class at LSPS-LC, and this became the impetus to re-start his ceramics practice. Since the class, Lerner has set up a clay studio in his home, complete with a kiln and plenty of space for drying his work. The artist is back in his clay groove, creating mixed media sculptures under the theme of “bloated narcissistic authoritarianism”. His newest pieces are set to show at the Firecat Projects in Chicago this fall.

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Alan Lerner will judge the Pottery of Protest Exhibition on March 2nd, and help pick winners for categories such as Peace, Human Rights, as well as Politics and Policy. We think he’s the right artist for the job, and are looking forward to seeing his newest and most political work…

Check out his newest creations on his website and Instagram:

https://alanlerner.com/home.html
@lernerala

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