Dirt On Delight: Impulses That Form Clay includes significant work in clay by 22 artists spanning four generations on view January 16-June 21, 2009.
Ranging from modestly scaled pots to figurines to large sculptures, these objects cross a spectrum of conventional delineations among fine art, craft, and outsider practices. Collectively, they suggest that clay appeals to basic impulses, starting with the delight of building form, coupled with the anxiety of completion. All of the works in the exhibition appear to be in some state of flux or growth.
Clay is a base material. From potsherds to porcelain fixtures, clay is synonymous with the building of industries and cultures. At the same time, its very materiality—its tactile malleability, earthen sensuousness, and humidity—make it the medium of more elemental associations and expressions. The immediacy with which clay allows one to build form and create ornament underlies its appeal—especially in relation to current modes that seem to take fabrication increasingly out of artists’ hands. More specifically, this exhibition is an opportunity to examine not only clay’s appeal, but also craft in general.
Ann AgeeRobert ArnesonKathy ButterlyNicole CherubiniLucio FontanaViola FreyJessica Jackson HutchinsJane IrishJeffry MitchellRon NagleGeorge OhrKen PriceSterling RubyAdrian SaxeBeverly SemmesArlene ShechetRudolf StaffelPaul SwenbeckEugene Von BruenchenheinPeter VoulkosBeatrice WoodBetty Woodman
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