Sergei Isupov
Sergei Isupov is a ceramic artist born in Stavropol, Russia now living in Cummington, Massachusetts, United States and Tallinn, Estonia. He is represented by Ferrin Contemporary. He was educated at the Ukrainian State Art School in Kiev and went on to graduate in 1990 from the Art Institute of Tallinn in Estonia with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees in ceramic art. He has since exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions, received numerous awards and widely collected by museums and private collectors.
Isupov's parents are both artists, his father, Vladimir, a painter and his mother, Nelli, a sculptor working in ceramics. His brother, Ilya, is a painter. Sergei emigrated to the United States in 1993.
Solo exhibitions
- 2018: Directions, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
- 2017: Sergei Isupov: Selections from Hidden Messages, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
- 2016: Sergei Isupov: Hidden Messages, Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
- 2016: Head On, de Menil Gallery, Groton School, Groton, MA
- 2016: FIREFEST, STARworks, Star, NC
- 2015: Sergei Isupov, Kasher | Potamkin, New York, NY
- 2014: Promenade, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL
- 2014: Collection Focus: Sergei Isupov, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
- 2014: New Work: Sergei Isupov, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL
- 2014: Sergei Isupov, Ferrin Contemporary at Independent Art Projects, North Adams, MA
- 2014: Here and There, International Biennial of the Vallauris Institute, Hôtel de Ville, Vallauris, France
- 2014: Here and There, solo exhibition, HOP Gallery, Tallinn, Estonia
- 2013: Call of the Wild, Barry Friedman Gallery Ltd., New York, NY
- 2013: Here and There, HOP Gallery, Tallinn, Estonia
- 2010: He + She, Barry Friedman Ltd., New York, NY
- 2010: Firmly Standing, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Tallinn, Estonia
- 2009: Androgyny, Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Mesa, Arizona, United States
- 2009: Androgyny: New Work by Sergei Isupov, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, Missouri, United States
- 2008:Androgyny, Ferrin Gallery, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
- 2007: Ferrin Gallery, Lenox and Pittsfield, Massachusetts
- 2003: Ferrin Gallery, Lenox, Massachusetts
- 1995: It all started with tea, Connell Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
- 1995:Marta Hewett Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
- 1993: Mosabaka Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
- 1993: Vasa Gallery, Falun, Sweden
Selected group exhibitions
- 2018: Masters in Craft, Strohl Art Center, Chautauqua Institute, Chautauqua, NY
- 2018: Animal Kingdom, William Baczek Gallery, Northampton, MA
- 2017: Sabbath: The 2017 Dorothy Saxe Invitational, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
- 2017: Alice in Wonderland, Guldagergaard, Skælskør, Denmark
- 2017: Alice in Wonderland, Officine saffi, Milan, Italy
- 2016: EXPOSED: Heads, Busts, and Nudes, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
- 2016: Selected Work from Current Projects, Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA
- 2016: NCECA pre-conference, exhibition & workshop, Lawrence Art Center, Lawrence, KS
- 2016: Recent American Ceramics from the Collection, Daum Museum, Sedalia, MO
- 2016: GrowlerFest, Lawrence Art Center, Lawrence, KS
- 2015: Selfies: 50 at 50, Southwest School of Art, San Antonio, Texas
- 2015: Fashion in Art, Abmeyer + Wood Fine Art, Seattle, WA
- 2015: Convergence and Transcendence, Icheon Special Exhibition at “Color: Ceramic Spectrum,” Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale 2015, Republic of Korea
- 2015: Of Earth + Sea: Contemporary Artists Respond to the New Bedford Whaling Museum Collection, New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA
- 2015: Family Affair: Sergei Isupov, Kadri Parnamets, Roosi Parnamets, Independent Art Projects, North Adams, MA
- 2015: Revealing Identity, Concord Art Association, Concord, MA
- 2015: ErotiCLAY, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia
- 2015: Selected Works from Current Projects, Ferrin Contemporary at Independent Art Projects, North Adams, MA
- 2015: Selected Works from Current Projects, Ferrin Contemporary, New York Ceramics Fair & Glass Fair, New York, NY
- 2015: Everything is All White, Kasher | Potamkin, New York, NY
- 2015: Immersion: Becoming You, Kate Shin Gallery, Waterfall Mansion, New York, NY
- 2015: InCiteful Clay, touring exhibition, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, Topeka, KS, CSU, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA
- 2014: Intangible Beauty: Beautiful Women and the Endless Void, Kasher | Potamkin, New York, NY
- 2014: Craft Matters, Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
- 2014: Promenade, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL
- 2014: Collection Focus: Sergei Isupov, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
- 2014: InCiteful Clay, touring exhibition, Foosaner Art Museum, Mebourne, FL, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR, Woodbury Art Museum, Orem, UT
- 2014: Collaboration and Revelation, Kohler Arts and Industry 40th Anniversary Exhibition, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
- 2014: TEN-IN-ONE, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ
- 2014: Contemporary Figure, , Westport, MA
- 2014: Body Language, Albany International Airport, Albany, NY
- 2014: The Bacchanalistas: Passions + Pleasure, Bohemian National Hall, New York, NY
- 2014: Body and Soul, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
- 2014: Clay Bodies, Barry Friedman Ltd., New York, NY
- 2014: Animal Stories, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2012: Clay & Prints, 8 artists 2 medium, Davidson Galleries, Seattle, WA
- 2012: Covet, Ferrin Gallery, Pittsfield, MA
- 2012: Heated Exchange, Alabama School of Fine Arts, Birmingham, AL
- 2011: Nude in Chicago, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- 2011: He + She, Barry Friedman Ltd, New York City, New York, United States
- 2010: Illumination, Bard College at Simon's Rock, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, United States
- 2009: Figuration to Fragmentation: The Human Form in Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture, Morlan Gallery, Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky, United States
- 2009: The Perfect Fit: Shoes Tell Stories, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts, United States
- 2008:Voices, NCECA Invitational Exhibition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- 2007: Shy Boy, She Devil, and Isis: The Art of Conceptual Craft, Selections from the Wornick Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
- 2006: Harvey K. Littleton and Friends: A Legacy of Transforming Object, Image and Idea, Western Carolina University Museum of Fine Art, Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States
- 2006: Resident and Invited International Artist Exhibition, Archie Bray Foundation: North Gallery, Helena, Montana, United States
- 2006: Surface Tension, JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide, South Australia
- 2006: The Body Ceramic, Morlan Gallery, Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky
- 2006: The Edges of Grace: Provocative, Uncommon Craft, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts
- 2006: SOFA Chicago
- 2005: Excess: A Group Exhibition, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
- 2005: Particles of Passion: The Art of Clay, Academy of Art Museum, Easton, MD
- 2004: “A Family of Artists”, Ferrin Gallery, Lenox, MA
- 2003: “Short Stories”, Ferrin Galley, Lenox, MA
- 2002: “Tastefully Tawdry”, Wexler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- 2002: “Big Head: Ceramic Sculpture on a Heroic Scale”; Southwest School of Art & Craft, San Antonio, TX
- 2002: “Biological Mutiny”, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
- 2001: National Clay Invitational, Blue Spiral 1; Asheville, NC
- 2000: “Bridge VI”, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
- 1999: “The Nude in Clay II”, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL, Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine WI, curator Karen Johnson Boyd
- 1997: “All Figural: Many Media”, Contemporary Art from the Kamm Collection, California State University, Northridge, CA
- 1997: Teapot Exhibition, Craft Alliance Center for the Visual Arts, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
- 1996: “Altered States: Contemporary American Ceramics”, Denver Center for the Visual Arts, Denver, CO
Selected residencies, workshops and lectures
- 2018: Figure—Ground: Illustrated Sculpture Workshop, Project Art, Cummington, MA
- 2018: Figure—Ground: Illustrated Sculpture Workshop, Studio Asuurheraamika in Tallinn, Estonia
- 2017: Figure—Ground: Illustrated Sculpture Workshop, Project Art, Cummington, MA
- 2017: Firefest, Guldageraard International Ceramic Research Center, Skælskør, Denmark
- 2017: Master Potter Series: Sergei Isupov "Layered in Surreality," Workshop, Walnut Creek Center for Community Arts, Walnut Creek, CA
- 2017: Lecture, Sierra Nevada College, Holman Arts and Media Center, Incline Village, NV
- 2016: Visiting Artist Workshop, Community Clay Association at the College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL
- 2016: NCECA Pre-conference Workshop, Lawrence KS
- 2015: Artist-in-Residence and workshop presenter, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA
- 2014: Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA, Lecture and Juror of annual exhibition
- 2012-2013: Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Skælskø, Denmark
- 2012: Alabama Clay Conference, Birmingham, AL
- 2012: Image and Form Workshop, Travel Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 2009: Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Workshop, Mesa, AZ
- 2008:James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Lecture, Renwick Museum of the Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC
- 2008: James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Workshop: Corcoran College of Art + Design, Washington, DC
- 2008: Metropolitan State College of Denver, Workshop and Lecture
- 2007: International Ceramics Studio, Artist Residency, Kecskemet, Hungary
- 2006: Jam Factory, Adelaide, South Australia, Artist in Residence
- 2006: Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT, Artist in Residence, International Symposium
- 2005: California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art, Guest Artist, Lecture & Workshop Presentation
- 2005: Yixing Conference, Yixing, China, Guest Artist
- 2001: NCECA; Charlotte, NC; Demonstrating Artist
- 2000: Carnegie Museum of Art and Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA, lecture
- 1997: SOFA Miami 1997, Miami, FL, slide presentation
Awards
- 2001: Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award
- 1996: Smithsonian Craft Show Top Award for Excellence, Washington, DC
- 1993: Director’s Scholarship, six-week residency, International Ceramics Center, Kecskemet, Hungary
- 1991: “Best Young Estonian Artist” by the Union of Artists of Estonia Prize of the Ministry of Culture of Estonia
Museum collections
- de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
- Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, CA
- Houston Museum of Art, Houston, TX
- Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AB
- Tallinn Museum of Applied Art, Estonia
- Museum of Contemporary Ceramics, Summe, Ukraine
- Museum fur Angewandte, Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
- Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
- Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO
- Sparta Teapot Museum, Sparta, NC
- Arkansas Arts Center, Littlerock, AR
- Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
- Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
- Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- Mint Museum of Craft & Design, Charlotte, NC
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
- Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
- Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Estonia
- The Imperial Center for the Arts & Sciences, Rocky Mount, NC
- Oslo Museum of Applied Art, Oslo, Norway
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
- Norwegian Museum of Art, Trondheim, Norway
- Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY
- Museum of International Ceramics, Keckemet, Hungary
- Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC