February 24, 2010
The Month in Clay - March 2010
 The month of March is almost upon us. This means (hopefully) a little less snow around here (so over it!), and that the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Conference is coming right up. This year, we’ll be heading to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the event, which takes place March 31 - April 3. If you are attending the conference and would like to get ahead of your planning, you can check out the official NCECA Guide here. And be sure to come say hello to us at our booth!In today’s, Month in Clay post I am highlighting a couple of the events that are taking place in conjunction with NCECA, plus, a few other interesting clay events from elsewhere around the globe. If you can’t make it to NCECA or any of the other events here, check out the Ceramics Monthly calendar to see what else is going on in ceramics during the month of March! - Jennifer Harnetty, editor. |
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NCECA Preview For the last six years, Santa Fe Clay (www.santafeclay.com) has hosted a unique exhibition of dinnerware during NCECA called “La Mesa” (The Table). The exhibition includes more than one hundred place settings by artists from across the country (like Tara Dawley, whose work is shown above, and Scott Rench, whose work is show at right), and this year, several artists from overseas. Thousands of people have attended the spectacular banquet table display each year. La Mesa will be presented at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown from March 31 – April 3, 2010. There will be a reception for the artists on Thursday, April 1st, from 6 to 8 pm.  FILL-adelphia,” the first
juried exhibition of Potters Council members’ work, will be on display at A Show of Hands Gallery March 19-April
30 in conjunction with the NCECA conference. A reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held on April 2, 2010, from 6-9 p.m. You can RSVP here! Members were challenged to create work exploring all the
definitions of the word “FILL.” Juror Sherman Hall, editor of Ceramics
Monthly, chose work by thirty Potters Council members, running the
gamut from functional vessels (such as the casserole dish at the left by potter Robbie Lobell) to figurative sculpture (such as the sculpture to the right by ceramic sculptor Ovidio Giberga).Based on the success of this first exhibition, the Potters Council will hold the second annual juried show of members’ work in conjunction with NCECA 2011. To learn more or download a prospectus, visit http://ceramicartsdaily.org/potters-council/potters-council-members-only/potters-council-2011-juried-exhibition/ |
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For a complete look at NCECA events and exhibitions, check out the 2010 NCECA Guide! |
 “Corporeal Manifestations“ will be in view through August 2 at
Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum (http://www.collphyphil.org/MUTTER.ASP). Exhibiting artists are Tom Bartel (work shown at left), Jason
Briggs, Sergei Isupov, Roxanne Jackson, Jessica Kreutter, Kate
MacDowell, Melissa Mencini, Anne Drew Potter, Tip Toland, Colleen
Toledano, and Christina West (work shown at right).Artists spend their lives reflecting upon experiences and translating them into works of art. And what does each of us have more experience with than our own bodies? In this unique collaboration between the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and curator Sasha K.  Reibstein, eleven artists will
reinterpret traditional figurative sculpture by examining contemporary
issues relating to the body. The exhibition is inspired by the large
overlap between the disciplines of creating three-dimensional objects
from clay, one of the oldest materials for figurative works, and the
medical field of documenting, displaying and researching medical
specimens and their conditions. Both fields are reflecting on our
relationship with our bodies and the biological experiences that shape
our perceptions. Trenton, New Jersey“Around the Campfire,” a ceramics exhibition featuring functional and sculptural work by local and national artists is on display March 6-April 7 at Artworks Trenton (www.artworkstrenton.org). Curator Debbie Reichard states “While I was a visiting artist at SMU in Dallas last March, the conversation turned toward design and architecture. I wanted to find out what clay artists were thinking in terms of creating the big picture first, then the objects to go into it. Or were they creating the objects to figure out the big picture? I felt as though I already knew a bunch of people working on this problem. I also wanted to do a show with the very interesting and thoughtful people I have worked with from around the country and locally.”  Leipzig, Germany“Contemporary Japanese Ceramics: The Crueger Collection,” will be on display at the GRASSI Museum of Applied Art (www.grassimuseum.de) through May 4. The exhibition documents the appearance of present-day Japanese ceramics with reference to generic objects. Characteristic exhibits of the last third of the 20th century document the unbroken traditions of the Japanese ceramic art with their age-old traditional shapes and surfaces, but also their developmental trends. Thereby it is evident, that Japanese aesthetic with its preference for asymmetry and economical use of space contrasts with western art ideals in many areas. Also the individual works of contemporary studio ceramicists stand between the continuity of the Japanese ceramic tradition and the development under western influences. Benicarlo, Spain  “Clay Eyes,” an exhibition of clay sculpture and photographs by Cristina Guzman Traver, is on display at the Museum of Benicarló. Cristina Guzmán is a ceramist with deep social convictions, states Antonio Gasco in the exhibition catalog. “She is extraordinarily sensitive and understands very well the silent and eloquent message of the relationship between the pupils; she really wants to spread out the plea for help. Because of her sex, the artist pays much attention to those women who, due to their social, ethnic or religious backgrounds, are voiceless except for their gaze. The artist takes to the field of metaphor that quiet but intense request in her pieces of work made out of clay stoneware which has special conditions for the plastic response.”  Tempe, Arizona“Wanxin Zhang: A Ten Year Survey,” an in-depth survey of San Francisco-based artist Wanxin Zhang, is on view at the Arizona State University Art Museum (http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu) through May 1. Inspired by the soldiers of the Qin terra cotta army unearthed in Xian, China in 1974, Zhang’s large-scale terra cotta figures cross over from history into today’s culture. His works are marked at once by a collision of cultures; manner of dress, hair fashion and calligraphy are drawn from Chinese culture while American peculiarities are added as ironic twists.
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