The Remarkable Birds of Annette Corcoran

Stephanie Peek, Annette Corcoran, Adrienne Defendi
November 11 - December 22, 2011

Opening Reception - Saturday, November 12
1:00 - 3:00 p.m

Annette Corcoran
Golden Tailed Sapphire, Porcelain
12 x 7 x 5 inches
$10,000

We are very pleased to have works by, museum collected artist, Annette Corcoran for our upcoming show.  Annette's porcelain sculptures transcend the functionality of their teapot form; rather, they are relics of the wildlife that the avid bird watcher is so enamored by.  Annette's most recent body of work, highlighting the birds of Peru and her interpretations of Peruvian burial pots, will be featured in this upcoming show. 

Highly regarded in the world of ceramics, her pieces have found permanent homes in significant collections worldwide, both public and private.  Locally, you may have seen some of Corcoran's eye catching birds during a trip to the  Oakland Museum of California or the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

“All wild birds beguile and fascinate, and Annette Corcoran’s porcelain bird teapots do that, and more.  Corcoran’s work draws on her love of wild birds and her extraordinary ability to capture them in porcelain.  Each piece is a complete sculpture that captures the gesture and spirit of the subject birds, even when tethered to the requirements of their teapot perches…Their subtle yet intricate feathers afford Corcoran an opportunity to use her skillful trompe l’oeil painting, which she tempers with graphic realism, modulating gracefully between two- and three-dimensional renderings.”

                                                           

Martha Drexler Lynn, Ph. D., Founding curator of the twentieth-century decorative arts collections, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, on the work of Annette Corcoran.

“Of the many fine artists working in clay who have come into view in the last decades, only a few have referred so directly to nature as Annette Corcoran.  Corcoran is a long time bird watcher, who brings an informed point of view to her subject of porcelain bird teapots...with a truly free vision and competent dexterity, she has created such wondrous, often breathtaking objects.  If it were possible to transcend nature, Corcoran’s birds could be the candidates. Perhaps this is one reason her work has such great appeal to viewers who respond to representational work, as well as to collectors whose primary interest is in a more abstract or non-objective avant-garde art.

 Annette Corcoran believes in using her imagination, fantasies and inspirations in making her innovative teapot forms.  Her ideas are combined with an unusual perfection of ability in achieving sculpture which captures the spirit of the bird she has chosen to depict.  The imagery of the bird and the form of the teapot are totally integrated, creating a perfect harmony between two elements, the functional and the aesthetic…Corcoran works quietly but passionately absorbed in her work in which subtle questions and challenges are posed and explored.  It is her sensitive and very personal way of combining her infatuation with nature and the world of art which continues to enchant me.”

                                                             

 Dorothy Weiss, Founder of the Dorothy Weiss Gallery, San Francisco, on the work of Annette Corcoran.

Annette Corcoran
Chaffinch, GoldFinch, Greenfinch, Hermitt, Manakin, Tragopan
Please contact the gallery to inquire about availability and pricing.
Photographs by Patrick Tregenza.

Please feel free to contact the gallery regarding work by Annette Corcoran.  We can be reached at 415-441-4777.  We look forward to seeing you at the opening.