FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 13, 2024 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ART Final Sale of Ceramics by late David Batz In recognition of the 30th anniversary of the untimely death of ceramicist David Batz, a “progressive exhibition,” open to the public, featuring unique artwork at both gallery locations, will take place on June 22 and 23, 2024: June 22, 2-4pm at Context Gallery W. 80th Street, Ste. 303 (W. 78th Street Studios), 216-282-4368 June 23, 2-4pm at Patti DiBenedetto Corna’s Gallery The Ohio Design Centre, 23530 Mercantile Road, Ste. 103, Beachwood, 216-470-9895 This will be the last opportunity to buy the extraordinary art of the late David Batz before it enters into a permanent collection of the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. This special exhibition will include ceramics by David Batz and pulp paintings by his life partner, Robert Jursinski. Dr. Joseph J. Garry, Jr., Co-Savior of Playhouse Square with Raymond Shepardson and the “Indiana Joe of the Lost Art,” hosted a private collectors’ gathering in 2023 of long hidden works forgotten in storage since David Batz’s sudden death. Garry will welcome guests both days of the exhibition. David Batz was an American artist known for ceramic vases, bowls, porcelain totem structures and paintings on handmade paper. He was a BFA/MA graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and was a teacher of ceramics at the Cleveland Institute of Art (1970-74) before opening Fiori Gallery in Little Italy with Robert Jursinski and working full time as an artist in his own studio. His works were selected for exhibition in over 17 Cleveland Museum of Art May Shows as well as numerous other exhibitions. In addition to creating functional pottery, he added glazed ceramic pictorial reliefs and sculptures to his works. Batz tragically died in 1994 while on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. His art has been under the care of his surviving partner, artist Robert Jursinski. Robert Jursinski blends modern European paper making techniques with ancient Japanese paper making techniques - working intuitively and largely inspired by nature - to create his art through pulp painting. Pulp painting is the technique of applying pigmented pulp directly to a freshly formed paper substrate, which is then pressed. His portrayal of nature is influenced by the works of Jan van Huysum, Henri Matisse and David Hockney. In 2021, a collaborative piece created in 1987 by Jursinski and Batz was sold in auction at Sotheby’s Paris, a gift from the collection of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Copies of the piece (150 of them) had been commissioned to be used as invitations to a 1987 party hosted by Progressive Insurance founder and CEO Peter B. Lewis. Jursinski received a BA from Cooper School of Art and completed post-graduate courses at Kent State University. For 10 years, he and his life partner, celebrated Cleveland ceramicist David Batz, ran Fiori Gallery. Under their leadership, the gallery became a salon for artists and art lovers, showcasing emerging and established artists. The sudden death of Batz changed Jursinski’s life, creating a decades-long absence from his artistic pursuits. In late 2022, when Jursinski decided to donate his long-darkened paper making studio to the Morgan Conservatory, he discovered a treasure trove of 13 of his forgotten pulp paintings along with cartons of Batz’s ceramics. For more information: Joseph J. Garry, Jr. garfra22@aol.com Christopher L. Richards, Context Gallery, Christopher@contextfineart.com, 216-282-4368 Patti DiBenedetto Corna’s Gallery, 216-470-9895