Warren MacKenzie, regarded as one of the great contemporary studio potters, has died. A student of Bernard Leach from 1949 to 1952, the American artist created a unique style that drew inspiration from the Japanese Mingei style of pottery. Yet his aim was to create objects that were for use, an ambition thwarted somewhat by the interest museums showed in his work and the corresponding prices that they would go on to command. To counter fame, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports, MacKenzie went through a period of leaving his works unsigned. He also sold pots from a stand outside his home in Minnesota: left unattended, passerby were asked to leave the money on a trust-basis in a basket.
“It is only when the user feels the presence of the hand of the potter that communication truly exists,” he said in the 2013.
2 January 2018
