Bradley Keys
 

b. 1968

Bradley Keys explores the geography of Western Canada in Grounded.

The artist enjoys the interplay of his work with clay and the 3D aspects of our surrounding geography. As we move within our environment, so we interact with his works, taking in all the various viewpoints and responses that involvement in place offers. The forms and glazes of Bradley’s hand-built ceramic pieces incorporate the rhythms and colors of the prairie and the mountains. This artist loves the land and offers us opportunities to take a bit of it home to enjoy and cherish.

Bradley Keys has distinguished himself by developing a popular line of purposeful ceramic work that explores and portrays the atmosphere of the Alberta prairie. He manipulates clays, slips and glaze colors, and adds regional icons such as grain elevators or buffalo, with delicacy and intimacy that come from loving the land.
 
 
"Maybe when they're holding something, a mug or a little pot or something, to notice this couldn't have been made in a mold, it really can't be mass produced, which is kind of one of the things I try to go for." (Bradley Keys in "Ceramicist sees fundamental shifts in social interactions" by Dominique Carrier (Rocky Mountain Outlook, 28 August 2008. Bradley in his studio, 2008.

Artists Statement

With his trademark touch of whimsy, Bradley examines the kindred intersections of nature, humans, and our connections to place.

Who has seen the wind? On the prairies, we stand in a sea of wind. The wind touches every aspect of your life. From a cool summer evening breeze that gently rustles the leaves of trembling aspens to a thundering Chinook wind that can change the temperature from minus 20 to plus 20 in an hour, everything on the prairies is connected by the wind. Wind creates some of the most startlingly beautiful skies in the world and dances atop the amber waves of grain. The wind masterfully mixes the blue, grey, greens, and purples of our endless horizons with the tans, amber, rusty reds, and winter wheat of our rolling plains. The wind is the brush on the canvas that is the prairies.

It is through making pots that I strive to connect myself to this place and time. My pots are a constant exploration of form, surface, and glaze. I try to balance these elements to create something that begins to tell a story; a story that is revealed over time through use and mutable observation. Using prairie icons such as the old grain elevators and the buffalo, which are both all but gone, I hope to immediately draw in the viewer so that more subtle elements can reveal themselves. A slightly rippled edge of a bowl that suggests a gentle breeze, the drip of a slip line that looks like a furrowed field and fits your finger just right, or the transition of a glossy to a matte glaze surface that alludes to the shoreline of a slough. These are some of the narrative elements that I am seeking to expose in my work.

Pottery’s unique place in our cultural milieu captured my interest right away. It has the enviable ability to be imbued with meaning and then place itself in the closest possible relationship to the viewer, in their homes and as a functioning part of their lives. Through use it dispenses meaning over time, often becoming more meaningful the longer the pot is used and appreciated. It adds warmth, comfort, and meaning to our daily rituals and our most important traditional festivities. In doing so, the circle is complete. The hand and mind of the maker are linked to the hands and minds of the user.

Education:          

1992-1994     Alberta College of Art and Design (BFA with Distinction).
1990-1992     Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
1985-1989     University of Calgary, B.Sc. in Zoology.

Solo Exhibitions:

2012, Grounded, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff
2010, As the Crow Flows, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff
2008, iPot, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff National Park
2005, Elevators of Alberta, Willock and Sax Gallery, Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta.
2001, Terra Sections, Willock and Sax Gallery, Waterton Lakes National Park

Selected Exhibitions Group:

2011, The Makings II, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff
2010
Clay 2010, Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Alberta Craft Council Travelling Exhibition
The Makings, Willock and Sax Gallery, Banff
2004, Clay Creates Culture, Alberta Potters' Association, VAAA Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Honourable Mention.
2003, Mugs and Jugs, Vessels of Libation, Alberta Craft Council Gallery, Edmonton
2002, Art vs Craft, The Great Debate, Alberta Craft Council Gallery, Edmonton
         Bradley Keys Pots, Generations Gallery, Stony Plain, AB
2000, Artwalk 2000, Eclectibles, Calgary, AB.
        Home on the Range, The Station Cultural Centre, Okotoks, AB.
        Cover Stories, Alberta Craft Council Gallery, Edmonton, AB.
1999  Vanishing Icons, Provincial Museum, Edmonton, AB, travelling
        Tea for the Taking, Alberta Craft Council Vault Gallery,   Edmonton.
1998  Clay Invitational, West End Gallery, Victoria, B.C.
        Clay, Spirits from the Earth, Alberta Craft Council Vault Gallery, Edmonton.
1997  Artwalk 97, Provenance Gallery, Calgary.  
        Quality Trademark Show, Alberta Craft Council, Edmonton
1996  Vessels in Celebration, APA 25th Anniversary Show, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, travelling.
1995  Treetop Art Walk, Invermere, B.C.
        Half Dozen of the Other, Marion Nichol Gallery, Invitational ACA Alumni show, Calgary.
        Made in Alberta, APA juried show, Karuna Gallery, Calgary.
1995  Earth Shines, Sunlife Plaza, Calgary.
        Birthday Show, Provenance Gallery, Calgary.
        FLUX, Ceramics Department Graduating Show, Art is Vital, Calgary.
        ACA Graduating Show,  Alberta College of Art.

Awards:

1994 The Board of Governor's Award, Nominee; Louise McKinney Post Secondary Scholarship, Nominee; 1993 Louise McKinney Post Secondary Scholarship for Academic Excellence; Culpepper and Mile-Hi Ceramics Prize; Dr. J. C. Sproule Memorial Scholarship; 1985 Alexander Rutherford Scholarship;

Publications:

2005, “Making Marks”, Robin Hopper, KP Books
         “500 Cups”, Lark Publishing.
2004, “ Profiles, Alberta Craft, Culture in the Making," January
2000, “Contemporary Potters”, Rockport Publishing.
1999, “Where Magazine”, Rocky Mountain Edition, Summer 1999.
         “Albertans”, Alberta Report, Feb. 1, 1999.
1998, The Best Of Pottery 2, Rockport Publishing, U.S.A
         “Fete of Clay”, Legacy Magazine, Nov. to Jan. 1998.
1995, “Defining Design”, City Scope, March/April.
1993, “Throw and Altered”, Contact Magazine, by Bradley Keys, Autumn 1993, 94

Collections:

Alberta Foundation for the Arts
University of Lethbridge
Private Collections: Canada, United States, Australia, Japan, UK