Teapots, paintings, jewelry and sculpture on exhibit in Philadelphia

The Paradise City Art Fair opens in Philadelphia, Pa. Friday, April 4 and runs through Sunday, April 6, 2008. The event includes a wide variety of unusual artwork, ranging from paintings, sculpture, ceramics and glass to furniture, home furnishings, wearable art and jewelry.

Don't miss the teapot exhibit!
Whether you're a teapot collector, an avid tea-drinker or you just want to drink in an amazing range of teapots, you'll want to stop by this exhibit.

Contemporary teapots are variations on those centuries-old forms. A potter will often take the creation of the perfect teapot — lid, handle, spout and feet — as the ultimate challenge. Just as often, the artist creating a teapot will make the leap into pure sculpture, using the traditional shape as a jumping-off point. The resulting piece could be a miniature teapot, delicately made of silver, pewter or porcelain, or it could reach a monumental five feet tall, covered with expressionistic painting!

Ceramist Noi Volkov, one of the artists featured in the teapot exhibit, was born in 1947 in Agapovka, Russia. He graduated from Odessa Grecov Art College in 1967 with a BA in Fine Art, and from Leningrad Mukchina College in 1973 with an MFA in Fine Art and Ceramics. Arrested for his subversive paintings by the KGB, Volkov eventually emigrated to the USA. Turning from painting to painterly ceramics, his art is "a tribute to all the artists who have ever inspired me. My work is intended to put emphasis back on past masters in a fun, unexpected way. I paint and sculpt, and ceramics is a medium where I can mix the two."

Volkov's work resides in dozens of museums and collections, including the Mint Museum of Charlotte, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the National Museum of Ceramics in Baltimore and even the Liberty Museum, here in Philadelphia.

Learn more about the show and Watch a slide show preview of some of the artists who will be exhibiting at the Philadelphia Paradise City Art Fair.

Share this: