Brian Molanphy
Brian Molanphy makes pots because they are empty. They propose less to the beholder and may demand more (to be filled). A double-walled vessel may appear on the outside to have the potential to contain a lot. If the containing space is limited to the volume provided by the smaller inner wall, however, then the vessel is just full of itself. This can be a surprising, absurd, & beautiful thing.
A European bicycle tour introduced Brian to wood-fired ceramics & wood-oven-baked bread. He studied pots & pastry until a Pennsylvania State University Fellowship put pastry on the back burner. A Fulbright Fellowship at the National Manufactory of Sevres, France, led to exhibitions in Pennsylvania & in New Mexico. A Visiting Artist residency at Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary, Canada, afforded him the time to complete two exhibitions for the Robert Nichols Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico. He returned to France as a Fellow of the Camargo Foundation in Cassis (pictured) & as a Fellow of the Brown Foundation in Ménerbes, which led to several exhibitions in France. Brian teaches ceramics at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Curriculum Vitae
Recent One- & Two-Person Exhibitions
2013 encapsulations, Forum Gallery, Brookhaven College, Dallas, TX
2012 Brian Molanphy & Danielle Prijikorski, Galerie 22, Coustellet, France
2011 Ça des bloques à plein cube, with Brigitte Long, Terres d'aligre, Paris, France
les fontaines, Eglise de Notre Dame de la Rivière, Beaumont, France
2010 round hole square peg, Colorado College Coburn Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO
2009 matière grasse contre matière grise, Robert Nichols Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
silly fuss (performance), Gallery 371, Calgary, AB, Canada
showing shadows shimmering in the shade, Gallery 371
2008 In Living Black & White, Robert Nichols Gallery
L’amour, la mort, Conscious Café, NCECA, Pittsburgh, PA
Recent Invitational Exhibitions
2012 Académie Internationale de la Céramique, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM (catalogue)
Cups from the Diane & Sandy Besser Collection, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM
2011 Céramique, Galerie 22, Coustellet, France
Mondes céramiques, Centre d’art contemporain des Pénitents Noirs, Aubagne, France (catalogue)
Resident Artists, Oregon College of Art & Craft, Portland, OR
2010 Exposition de groupe, Terres d'Aligre, Paris, France
Critical Chaos, Santa Fe Community College Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Salons Maison Dora Maar, Dora Maar House, Ménerbes, France
2009 Cup Invitational, Isadore Gallery, Lancaster, PA
New Faculty, Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada
Teapot Invitational, Foster Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, WI
2008 1000 Miles Apart, Fifth Parallel Gallery, University of Regina, SK, Canada
Recent Juried Exhibitions
2013 Two by Two Biennial, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA
Gesturing Into Consciousness, Zoller Gallery, Penn State University, University Park, PA
Regional Ceramics Competition, Haggerty Gallery, University of Dallas, Irving, TX
2013-2 Orton Cone Box Show, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS & NCECA, Houston, TX (award)
2012 Craft Texas 2012, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX
Unicum International Ceramics Triennial, Ljubljana, Slovenia (catalogue)
Eight Fluid Ounces, Glassell Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Materials: Hard & Soft, Meadows Gallery, Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, TX
2011 Projects Space, NCECA, Tampa, FL
2010 Ink & Clay 36, Kellogg Gallery, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA
Clay?, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA (Best in Show)
Beyond the Brickyard, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT (catalogue, Juror's Prize)
2009 Craft Forms 2009, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA (catalogue)
Proverbial Porcelain, Zelli Gallery, London, England
From the Ground Up XXIV, Museum of Art, Las Cruces, NM (award)
4th Bienal Internacional, Talavera, Spain (catalogue)
5th World Ceramic Biennale, Yeoju, South Korea (catalogue, Juror's Prize)
Clay National Biennial (NCECA), Arizona State University Art Mus., Phoenix, AZ (catalogue)
2008 1st Annual Lillstreet International, 'Functional Porcelain', Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, IL
40th VAST Visual Arts Exhibition, Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, TX (catalogue)
Concordia Continental Ceramics Biennial, Concordia University, St. Paul, MN
It’s Only Clay, Bemidji Arts Center, Bemidji, MN
3rd Annual National Juried Cup Show, Taylor Gallery, University of Arkansas, Monticello, AR
Recent Grants/Fellowships/Awards
2013 Division of Art Grant, SMU, Dallas, TX
2012 President's Partners Grant, SMU
University Research Council Grant, SMU
Meadows Fellowship, Meadows School of the Arts, SMU
Meadows Faculty Travel Grants, SMU
Division of Art Grants, SMU
2010 Brown Foundation Fellowship, Ménerbes, France
Camargo Foundation Fellowship, Cassis, France
2009-8 Research Grant, ACAD, Calgary, AB, Canada
2007 Arthur King Peters Memorial Grant, Limoges, France
2007-06 Fulbright Fellowship, Sèvres, France
Recent Bibliography/Publications
2013 "Ceramics at SMU", Glasstire online review
"Mysterious Ratio" in "From Yellow Clay to Black Gumbo" catalogue, Pollock Gallery, SMU
"Marbled Clays of Provence", NCECA Journal, Littleton, CO
"Covering Ground" in "The Pacific Northwest Inlander", January, Spokane, WA
2012 "Up Front" in "Ceramics Monthly", February, Westerville, OH
2011 "To Boldly Fail..." in "Studio Potter", Vol. 39, No. 2, Summer/Fall, Shelburne Falls, MA 2010
"Brian Molanphy: Clay Man on Fire", in "Ceramics: Art & Perception" #81, Sheridan, WY
"Up Front", in "Ceramics Monthly", January 2009 "Clay Times", September, Waterford, VA
"Pasatiempo", 5 September, Santa Fe, NM
2008 "250 Years of Porcelain at the Sèvres Manufactory", NCECA Journal, Littleton, CO
"Ceramics Monthly", October
"Ceramic Review", November/December, London, England
Collections
Camargo Foundation, Cassis, France
Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
DePaolis Collection, Provence, France
FuLe International Ceramic Art Museums, Fuping, China
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Rosenfield Collection, Dallas, TX
Seery Collection, Santa Fe, NM
World Ceramic Exposition Foundation, Icheon, Korea
Education
M.F.A. Ceramics Pennsylvania State University (PSU), University Park, PA
B.A., magna cum laude Art, with distinction Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
Current Appointment
Assistant Professor of Art, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
