Jim Melchert

Jim Melchert
Born	James Frederick Melchert (1930-12-02)December 2, 1930 New Bremen, Ohio, U.S.
Died	June 1, 2023(2023-06-01) (aged 92) Oakland, California, U.S.
Education	Princeton University, University of Chicago, University of California, Berkeley
Known for	Ceramics, fine art
Movement	Funk art
Spouse	Mary Ann Hostetler
Children	3

Jim Melchert (né James Frederick Melchert; December 2, 1930 – June 1, 2023)[1] was an American visual artist, arts administer, and professor. He is known for his ceramics and sculptures. Melchert was part of the Funk art movement.[2]

Early life and education

James Frederick Melchert was born on December 2, 1930, in New Breman, Ohio.[3] His parents were Hulda Egli and Rev. John Carl Melchert, and he had two older brothers.[3] He graduated in 1948 from Mansfield High School in Mansfield, Ohio.[4]

After earning an AB in art history from Princeton University in 1952, he moved to Japan where he taught English for four years after he declared himself a conscientious objector to the Korean War.[3] Upon returning to the United States, he earned postgraduate degrees in painting at the University of Chicago (1957), and studied ceramics under Peter Voulkos at the University of California, Berkeley (1961).[5]

Career

Throughout his career, Melchert worked with many media, including painting, drawing, performance art, film, and most notably sculpture and ceramics.[6] His unique process involves breaking down, drawing on, and reassembling ceramic tiles before painting the new constructions with glaze.[7]

He taught at San Francisco Art Institute from 1961 to 1965; and the University of California, Berkeley from 1965 to 1992. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha was one of his notable students at UC Berkeley.[8]

From 1977 until 1981, Melchert served as the director of Visual Arts Program for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).[3][9] From 1984 until 1988, he was the director of the American Academy in Rome.[3]

Death and legacy

Melchert died at his Oakland, California, home on June 1, 2023, at the age of 92, of complications from a stroke he suffered in April.[10][3] He had three children.

As part of the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, Melchert donated his papers to the Smithsonian’s Archive of American Arts in 2004 and 2019–2021.[11] His work is held by over two dozen collections, including the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, The Museum of Arts and Design and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Collections

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art[12]
• Metropolitan Museum of Art[13]
• Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam[14]
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art[15]

Publications

• Nut Pot Bag or Clay Without Tears (artist book). Authored by Jim Adamson, Robert Arneson, Clayton Bailey, Fred Bauer, Maija Peeples-Bright, Victor Cicansky, David Gilhooly, Jim Melchert, Nicholas Stephens, Chris Unterseher, Peter Vandenberge, David Zack, Lowell Darling. University of California, Davis. 1971.
• Miller, Sequoia (2015). The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art: Selections from the Linda Leonard Schlenger Collection and the Yale University Art Gallery. Yale University Art Gallery. ISBN 978-0300214406.
• Spinozzi, Adrienne (2021). Shapes From Out of Nowhere: Ceramics from the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection. August Editions. ISBN 978-1947359062.

References

1. "Jim Melchert, artist and beloved UC Berkeley professor, dies at 92". San Francisco Chronicle. June 15, 2023. ISSN 1932-8672.
2. Thorpe, Renee Melchert (2023-06-08). "Remembering Jim Melchert, celebrated ceramics artist, teacher, and expert winker". The Oaklandside. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
3. Mizota, Sharon (2023-06-05). "Appreciation: Beloved artist and professor Jim Melchert taught us the value of paying attention". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 2165-1736. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
4. "Remembering: Jim Melchert". American Craft Council. August 3, 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
5. Marter, Joan M. (2011). "Peter Voulkos". The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art. Oxford University Press. p. 432. ISBN 978-0-19-533579-8.
6. Maloney, Patricia (2021-10-04). "Jim Melchert's Gallery 16 Retrospective Cements His Enduring Influence". KQED. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
7. "Jim Melchert". Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Retrieved 2021-10-23.
8. Marter, Joan M. (2011). "Theresa Hak Kyung Cha". The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art. Oxford University Press. p. 433. ISBN 978-0-19-533579-8.
9. Lewallen, Constance (2020-12-14). "JIM MELCHERT with Constance Lewallen". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
10. Whiting, Sam (15 June 2023). "Jim Melchert, conceptual and ceramic artist and beloved UC Berkeley professor, dies at 92". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
11. "James Melchert papers, circa 1949-2021". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
12. "Melchert, Jim". SFMOMA. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
13. "Untitled (Vessel)". The Met Museum. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
14. "Changes - Jim Melchert". Stedelijk.nl. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
15. "Black A". LACMA Collections. Retrieved 2021-10-23.