Anat Shiftan (b. 1955, Israel) is a ceramic artist based in New York. She uses artistic and decorative motifs found throughout Western art history—floral centerpieces and arranged still life vignettes—to explore her relationship to nature both as a human being and as an artist. In her own words, “When I make my floral piles, I explore the ambivalent condition of our relation with nature. As I attempt to look at nature I realize it is not there for me to view. Nature as an authentic, unpredictable, and uninterrupted phenomenon is not present in our world. Our ‘nature’ is stylized and cultured. Further, nature as a cultural concept is placed in contrast to the mechanized world, yet nature is in fact mechanical and predictable … Nature embodies the texture of sexuality, life and death, of power and subversion, and is very similar to complex political and social phenomena.”
Shiftan earned an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and Design in 1986 and is a Professor Emerita in the Ceramics Department at SUNY New Paltz, where she held a teaching position from 2003 to 2023. She has a degree in English Literature and Philosophy from Hebrew University and an MA in Ceramics from Eastern Michigan University. From 1986 to 1999, she was an instructor, production manager, senior designer, and director of education at the historic Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, MI. Her work has been exhibited extensively; she collaboratively organized Contemporary Issues in Clay: A British Perspective in 2006 and Why Clay in 2008 as well as Beyond Hand Made in 2008. Shiftan has twice received the Michigan Grant for Individual Artists. In 2023, she had a retrospective exhibition, Life & Still at the Zillman Art Museum in Bangor, ME.
ANAT SHIFTAN
b. 1955, Israel
1980 BA, English Literature and Philosophy, Hebrew University, Jerusalem,
Israel
1984 MA, Eastern Michigan University
1986 MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art and Design, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
1986 - 1999 Senior Designer and Director of Education, Pewabic Pottery,
Detroit, MI
1999 - 2002 Teacher, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
2003- Current Head of the Ceramics Program, SUNY New Paltz
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Beit Binyamini, Tel Aviv, Israel (Upcoming)
2023 Life & Still, Zillman Art Museum, Bangor, ME
2020 The Garden, Portchester Clay Art Center, Portchester, NY
Peka Gallery for Architecture and Experimental Art, Technion – Israel
2015 Anat Shiftan: Nature Reconsidered, Thomas Hunter Project Space,
New York, NY
2014 Le Jardin: The Ceramics of Anat Shiftan, Vessels Gallery, Boston, MA.
2012 Anat Shiftan, Vessels Gallery, Boston, MA
2010 Anat Shiftan: Recent Work, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia PA
Stilled Life, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY
2008 Anat Shiftan, Recent Works of Still Life, Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI
Anat Shiftan, Digital Art, WAW Peekskill Extension Center Gallery,
Peekskill, NY
2006 Contemporary Issues in Clay: A British Perspective, Greenwich House
Pottery, New York, NY
Lydia Zabetsky Gallery, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
2004 Ceramics and Digital Drawings, Fine Arts Gallery, Mott Community
College, Flint, MI
2003 Color Perception in Time: A Video of Digital Drawings, Union Media
Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
1988 Willis Gallery, Detroit, MI
1987 Artist Association, Ann Arbor, MI
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2020 Forest Primeval, Hostler Burrows, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Design Miami / Basel, Hostler Burrows, Basel, Switzerland
2018 Garden Feast of Paradise, NCECA, Pittsburgh, PA
Garden Feast of Paradise, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
2017 The Salon Art + Design, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
Intimately Unfamiliar, Dorsky Museum, State University of New York at
New Paltz, NY
Our Flag: Design Stands Together, R & Company, New York, NY
Small Favors: Think Inside the Box, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Winter Antiques Show, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
2016 Design Miami, Hostler Burrows, Miami, FL
Salon of Art + Design, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
Expo Chicago, Hostler Burrows, Chicago, IL
Hot Pots, Port Chester Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
2014 Floral panels by Nancy Lorenz and floral porcelains by Anat Shiftan: Old
Westbury Gardens / Nassau County Museum, NY
Anat Shiftan, Jenny Kemp, Noah Post, and Suzy Sureck: Tracery, Gallery
PS 209, Stone Ridge, NY
2013 Naturally, Clay Art Center, Schacht Gallery, Saratoga, NY
Dorsky Museum, State Univeristy of New York, New Paltz, NY
Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Small Favors VIII, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Roos Art Exhibition, Bowls and Platters, WSW
2012 Tending toward the Untamed: Artists Respond to the Wild Garden,
Glyndor Gallery, Wave Hill, NY
Blue and White, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Faculty of Wayne State Ceramic Program: 1990 – 2012, Detroit, MI
Small Favors VII, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Watersed Kiln God Show, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
2011 Ceramics Material and Material Culture, Curated by Sin Ying Ho, Queens
College, Queens, NY
eARTh, curated by Leight Michelson, Westchester Art Center, NY
Jingdezhen Contemporary International Exhibition, The 1st Kaolin Cup
China International Ceramic Art Contest and Exhibition (Honorable
Mention Award), Jingdezhen, China
Mercurial Objects: Luxuriant Obsession, Schuck Art Gallery, Skidmore
College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Small Favors VI, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
The Gift of Art, Vessels Gallery, Boston, MA
Teaching Artists, Peekskill Clay Studios, Peekskill, NY
2010 Visual Translations, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Small Favors V, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Re-Objectification, Leslie Ferrin Gallery, Pittsfield, MA
The Things Themselves, Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY
eARTh, Rockland Center for the Arts, Rockland, NY
The 4th Annual Jingdezhen Contemporary International Ceramics
Exhibition, Great China Museum, Jingdezhen, China
2009 University of Alaska, Anchorage, AK (Curated by Steve Godfrey)
Jingdezhen Contemporary International Ceramics Exhibition,
Jingdezhen, China
2009 Sanbao International Printmaking Exhibition, Jingdezhen Ceramic
Institute, University of Jingdezhen, China
Made in Clay, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY
Small Favors IV, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
2009 International Printmaking Exhibition, Sanbao, China
2008 Tercet, Anelie Gandellman Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
All Fired Up, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
Buckham Gallery, Flint, MI
Made in Clay, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY
Small Favors II, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Beyond Hand Made, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia PA
Why Clay, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY
Clay, Sensation: The 5th Biennale for Israeli Ceramics, Eretz-Israel
Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
2007 Craft Forms, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA
Mastery in Clay, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Visual Israeliness, The Open University of Israel, Ra’anana, Israel
Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Art and Soul: Discovering the Artist Within, Art Center of the Capital
Region, Troy, NY
Made in Clay, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY
Ceramic Abstraction: Exploration and Evidence in Contemporary
Ceramics, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT
Cups Coming Together, The Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
2006 Craft Forms 2006, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA
The Fourth Biennale for Israeli Ceramics, Eretz Israel Museum,
Tel Aviv, Israel
Mastery in Clay, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Ceramic Regional: Down to Earth, The Art Center of the Capital Region,
Troy, NY
Two Dimensions / Three Dimensions, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
10 x 10 x 10, Ellenville, NY
Jersey Shore Clay National, M.T. Burton Gallery, Surf City, NJ
Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Second Nature, Dorsky Museum, State University of New York,
New Paltz, NY
2005 Artist in Residence: The XII International Raku Symposium, Pleminitas,
Zagreb, Croatia
Five Israeli and Five American Ceramic Artists, Toby Rosenberg Gallery,
Portland, ME
The Third Biennale for Israeli Ceramics, Eretz Israel Museum,
Tel Aviv, Israel
Tile Matter and Motif, Baltimore Clay Works, Baltimore, MD
2004 Works by Art Faculty from SUNY Purchase and New Paltz, Dutchess
Community College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY
2003 Regional Drawing Exhibition, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Detroit, MI
2002 Center Gallery, Detroit, MI
1999 Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
1992 Habatat / Shaw, Southfield, MI
1991 Kresge Art Museum Biennial Exhibition, Michigan State Univeristy,
East Lansing, MI
Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI
1990 Great Lakes Gallery, Chicago, IL
Ten Year Anniversary Show, Detroit Focus Gallery, Detroit, MI
1988 Chicago Fire 2: Contemporary Ceramics, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
1987 Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
Detroit Focus Gallery, Detroit, MI
Eye Media, Ann Arbor, MI
All But Oil, Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI
Outside, Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI
1986 Contemporary Ceramics, Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, MI
Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI
Michigan Gallery, Detroit, MI
Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
Clay USA, Radford University, Radford, VA
FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS, AWARDS
2004 - 2017 Research and Creative Projects Award, SUNY New Paltz
2009 - 2010 UUP Professional development Award, SUNY New Paltz
2006 UUP/SUNY, Dr. Nuala McGann Drescher Award
2006 UUP Professional Development Award, SUNY New Paltz
2004 - 2005 UUP Professional Development Award, SUNY New Paltz
1990 Michigan Council For The Arts, Grant for Individual Artist
1988 Michigan Council For The Arts, Grant for Individual Artist
1987 Arts Foundation of Michigan Award
1986 Cranbrook Academy of Art, Tuition Grant
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2016 Laster, Paul. “18 Things We Want from Design Miami,” WhiteHot
Magazine, December
2014 Thoughts on Authenticity & Interpretation: Volume 42 #2, Studio Potter
2012 Tending Towards the Untamed, Artists Respond to the Wild Garden,
Glyndor Gallery, Wave Hill, NY
2011 The 1st. Kaolin Cup, China International Ceramic Art Contest and
Exhibition
Ceramics Art and Perception, Issue # 83: On Earth, pages 70 - 73
Printers and Potters: Creative Exchange, 2nd. China Sanbao International
Printmaking Exhibition, page 20
Mercurial Objects, Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College.
Pages 21, 23, and 28
2010 International Contemporary Ceramic Exhibition, Jingdezhen China
International Fair
Ceramics Art and Perception: On Earth, Issue #83
2009 Printers and Potters: Creative Exchange, West Meets East @ Sanbao,
International Contemporary Ceramic exhibition, Jingdezhen China
International Fair
2008 The Fifth Ceramics Biennale, Eretz Israel, Museum, Tel Aviv: Design, Art,
Design PP. Hagai Segev.
Angelica Pozo, 500 Tiles, An Inspiring Collection of International Works,
Lark Books, New York, NY
Ceramics Technical, Porcelain Still Lifes
“Enjoying the Still Life,” Ceramics Monthly, Volume 56 #7
2007 Elik Mishori, Visual Israeliness, catalogue, Exhibition in the Framework of
the 23rd Annual Conference of The Association for Israel Studies,
The Dorothy Rothschild Open University Campus, Raanana
June - July 2007. The Open University of Israel, Dept. of Literature,
Language and Arts
American Craft, February / March issue
2006 – 2007 Knafo, David. Catalogue, Territory and Identity- Between Ceramics
and Architecture, The Fourth Biennial for Israeli Ceramics, Eretz Israel,
Museum, Tel Aviv: Design, Art, Design. Pages 214 - 215
2006 Pozo, Angelica. Hand Made Tiles, A Lark Ceramics Book, A Division
of Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. New York, NY. Page 36
2004-2005 Cecula, Marek, The Third Biennial for Israeli Ceramics, Eretz Israel,
Museum Tel Aviv: Design, Art, Design. Page 93
2004 Walt, Irene, Sera, Grace, Monogram, Art in the Stations, The Detroit
People Mover. Detroit: Art in the stations. Art In The Stations.
Pages 14, 15, and 72
Clay Times, Volume 10 #5
“One Person Art Exhibition,” Flint Journal, March 22
1991 Detroit Free Press, February 22
1987 Detroit Free Press, January 27
Birmingham Eccentric, July 23
Detroit Free Press, July 28
Detroit Metropolitan, July
1986 Detroit Free Press, January 5
