By Abraham Rubio
On the occasion of his exhibition REVERSIBLES: Object-Landscapes, held at the Madrid gallery “Cuatro Diecisiete”
(English translation: Denise Phelps)
To introduce José Antonio Sarmiento at the Cuatro Diecisiete gallery is an honour. Firstly because to be able to speak of an artist with integrity is a privilege, and secondly because it is a luxury to have an exhibition catalogue written by one of Spain’s great art historians, Javier Hernando, who I have admired for many years, and who I have quoted in my own writing more than once.
The space provided by the Cuatro Diecisiete gallery has proved the perfect foil to José Antonio Sarmiento’s expertise, and the collection represents a faithful depiction of both his work in pottery and his firing techniques, presenting some marvellous sculpture-plates fired in his anagama kiln where fire and ash, hand in hand with the artist, have painted expressive and suggestive shades of nature’s colours. The collection of pieces called “reversibles”, imbued with the strength of black and white glazes and fired at 1300ºC in the noborigama kiln, represent a wonderful discovery and a sculptural revelation, where the spectator has the last word, deciding which way up they will sit, according to the mood. Lastly, although this is the first thing that strikes the spectator on entering, he has taken advantage of the heat of the noborigama’s last chamber to fire a collection of red pieces with translucent white slip, suggesting simplicity and economy of expression but at the same time, a complex conceptual network.
This exhibition is proof that the potter, José Antonio Sarmiento, has reached his maturity as an artist. If before, using the potter’s wheel, hand modelling and domestic pottery traditions, he was able to convert simple everyday pieces into works of art, now, with these “reversible” sculptures, he has gone one step further and has reached the heart of conceptual art, achieving a balance between the nature which surrounds him and his own, most intimate emotions, at times full of poetry.
It was in 1999, at the 4th Congress of the Ceramics Association, where I was first introduced to the work of José Antonio Sarmiento by his sister, María Jesús, who gave a revelatory speech on the Japanese-influenced ceramics which emerged from his two-chambered, wood-fired kiln, built in San Cibrian de Ardon (one year later, he would go on to construct an anagama-noborigama kiln on the same site). These days, this small village in the province of León is well-known to all who work with or write about pottery, and all have heard of it, seen photographs or read articles. At that Congress, in Vitoria, I presented a speech on the Zuloaga ceramists, about whom I was preparing a thesis for the Complutense University of Madrid, and who I considered to be among the heralds of the change which was to occur towards the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century in Spanish pottery. I am speaking of the change from craftsman to artist. José Antonio and María Jesús came from a completely different perspective, that of totally contemporary pottery, whilst I was studying what had happened more than 100 years ago. I do not think I ever spoke to them about my experience of contemporary pottery, but it has always interested me, as has its relation with vanguard art. In fact, part of my cultural education was undertaken in Cuenca at a time when the Museum of Abstract Art there was very much a talking point, from 1975 to 1978. Later, when I arrived in Madrid in 1980, I entered a pottery studio, working on my own pottery from 1982 to 1985, and I also felt drawn towards oriental pottery, especially Japanese pottery.
When I saw what José Antonio Sarmiento was capable of producing with clay, I was utterly captivated, and felt I would have given anything to have been able to work in a studio like his in the now distant era of the beginning of the eighties. I foresaw then that he would go far, above all if he managed to find a balance in his apprenticeship of the Japanese influence, passing it through the mesh of Western culture and breathing the creative spirit which one perceives to be part of his nature, into his work.
Ever since his works and those of other internationally renowned potters began to appear on the Galería Azul’s web site, I have been a frequent visitor, curious to see the new works presented as well as the evolution of José Antonio Sarmiento’s work. There is no doubt that he has reached a stage of creative and personal maturity, founded on oriental techniques and aesthetics. At the same time, he has not abandoned his close relationship with Japanese pottery, and I do not think there is any other Spanish potter who feels such a close identification with Japanese culture as he. He is the Bernard Leach of Spanish pottery, or perhaps I should say of León pottery, if you permit me to also mention the Catalonian potter, Artigas.
Two years ago, I was invited to give a speech at the Cerralbo Museum in Madrid on the influence of oriental ceramics on Spanish pottery. Once I had reviewed the various stages in the history of ceramic art and had arrived at the present day, I could think of no better example than José Antonio Sarmiento. I well recall the public’s expressions of amazement when they saw images of his work, and above all, of his monumental anagama-noborigama kiln. It is possible that potters or experts who have specialised in the area would not be so surprised by this kiln, but for the general public, with no specialised knowledge but rather a more overall interest in pottery in general, the discovery of Japanese firing techniques is a revelation.
After so much has already been said about José Antonio Sarmiento, to write something new about his pottery is a serious responsibility. Among those who have followed the evolution of his art are Antonio Vivas, who has written of him many times in his introductory articles for the Cerámica journal, the indispensable articles written by his sister María Jesús Sarmiento, Kosme de Barañano’s model catalogue, the creative catalogue published for this exhibition with a front cover designed by the artist and text by Javier Hernando, and above all the short text by Eduardo Zotes written for the Salamanca exhibition, “After winter”, which revealed to me what it was that drew me so strongly to the work of José Antonio Sarmiento, the aura it radiates.
Clearly, José Antonio Sarmiento is in complete control of the potters wheel and hand modelling techniques, glazes and firing. But if that were all, he would merely be just another craftsman. He creates art with clay, and possesses a unique style of his own, which distinguishes him from the rest. This is one of the qualities to which all artists aspire, and he has achieved it.
Abraham Rubio Celada has received his doctorate in History of Art, collaborates with the Royal Academy of History, is an expert on contemporary ceramic art, has published numerous works on the subject, and is a member of the Asociación de Ceramología.