RAiR | 1996

Charles Breth

Based in Saltspring, British Columbia Charles Breth (1949- ) gained a BA in 1969 and then a MA in Sculpture in 1971 from the University of California, Berkley. He later specialized with a MFA in Ceramics from Ohio State University, Columbus in 1993. Between 1990 and 2005, Charles contributed to over 25 solo and group shows. In the late 1980s and early 1990s he was Head of Ceramics at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio and Malaspina University College in Nanaimo, British Columbia.  Grants include the Alberta Culture Art Study Grant in 1983 and 1986 and the Canada Council Project Grant in 1994. His work is in the public collections of, amongst others, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Alberta Art Foundation, Edmonton, Alberta. 

Charles works in a variety of styles and mediums; he tends to focus mainly on figurative ceramic sculptures, but when he was on the Roswell grant, he produced a number of what he called “Lyric Drawings”, mostly done in colored pencil on paper. These abstractions are “random, graphic thoughts, like improvisations, similar to music.”  He is deeply influenced by pre-Columbian and Native American art. 

Charles Breth’s website

Roswell Museum and Art Center

Rair exhibition • charles breth “lyric drawings” • july 26 - october 6, 1996