The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection Sept. 2014 | Page 47
We never were going to be ceramicists in that sense, but
we did appreciate the creativity and skill that went into the
fabrication of a piece and were amazed at how objects that
entered a kiln at well over a thousand degrees could survive
and emerge as fabulous works of art.
artist, you should take a look at this piece, you should take
SH: These acquisitions spoke to our new interest in figurative
a look at this body of work,” we would be attuned to that.
or abstract works versus vessels. Work of this kind really
In the mid-1980s we began to subscribe to American
Ceramics, a leading magazine in the field. Harry Dennis
was the publisher and Michael McTwigan was the editor.
spoke to us. I’ll never forget that first visit to his studio.
RP: You continued to visit Michael’s studio over the years
and became fast friends.
One day I happened to see an ad by a woman named
Maria Friedrich—we later found out that she was married
to Michael McTwigan. She was a private New York art
dealer who had originally started in Boston. Her ad listed
several ceramic artists— including Michael Lucero and
Jan Holcomb—that we hadn’t heard of before. There was
a phone number on the ad so I called her on the spur
of the moment and explained that we were interested
in contemporary American ceramics. This call began
a long-term relationship with her. Over the years, she
introduced us to the work of many wonderful contemporary
artists including Robert Arneson, Ken Price, and Daisy
Youngblood. It was she who organized our first visit to
Michael Lucero’s studio around 1987–88. I remember we
walked in and it was like nothing we had ever seen before.
PH: The studio was chock full. Just think of his work—
different shapes, different forms, the glazes were
over-the-top fabulous.
SH: Yes we did. But back then the East Village was a very
difficult place. There were a lot of drugs, vacant buildings,
and empty lots. I came from my office wearing a suit. I
got off the subway and started walking towards Avenue
B or C. A policeman stopped me and said, “Where are
you going?” I said was going to see my friend. He said,
“Let me escort you. You shouldn’t be walking around here
wearing a suit.” So the next time we went to visit Michael’s
studio we put on our torn blue jeans. I put money in the
bottom of my sock, we put on our oldest clothes and we
walked through that neighborhood. That’s just a little aside
of how far we were willing to go to visit our artist friends.
RP: Were there visits to other artists’ studios that you
particularly remember?
PH: There were a lot of interesting visits. One was as a
result of an exhibition that we saw at the New Museum
in New York that had been organized by Marcia Tucker.
SH: It was the most exciting thing we had seen since
She had included work by Kukuli Velarde, an artist
we started looking at ceramics. We came home and
whose work we were not familiar with. Marcia came to
spoke about how fascinating our visit was. I think shortly
our apartment a short time later and we commented
thereafter we bought several of Michael’s pieces.
that we really liked Kukuli’s work. She offered to set up
PH: We bought Day Dreamer (1984) and Black Fish (1986).
We also bought seven of his crayon drawings. These were
the first pieces by Michael Lucero that we acquired.
a studio visit for us. “But you have to realize that she is
squatting in a bombed out, empty apartment building
with other artists and squatters. Just be prepared when
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