Tag Archive "clay-studio"
Annette Monnier on liking–and not liking–art, next on artblog radio
Before the Vox building became a stacked art building, it was home to Black Floor Gallery. The groundbreaking Black Floor and its successor, Copy Gallery, are both gone, but they will remain remembered as among the best collective galleries in town in the first decade of the Twenty-First Century. One of the founders of both spaces is artist Annette Monnier, who came to town after art school in Cincinnati. Monnier is still making art. But most of her time is spent running the ClayMobile program out of the Clay Studio. And she writes a blog about art, One Review a ... More » »
Old City, Same Old
Old City brought the crowds on first Friday. The five o’clock crawl gave way to 6 o’clock jams, and by 7, the 20 and 30 somethings outnumbered the slightly older early-birds. So what’s the draw? The Clay Studio’s flagship exhibit for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts annual conference has a ponderous name: “Of this Century: Residents, Fellows, and Select Guest Artists of The Clay Studio, 2000-2010” (through May 2nd). Like the title, the show is large, organized by convention, and conveys less than its ought to for its length. As a survey show, it might seem ... More » »
Weekly Update – First Friday happens everywhere
This week’s Weekly has my First Friday roundup. Below is the copy with some pictures. In the world of visual art, kinetic sculpture is like the kindergartner in a room full of grown-ups—loud, rambunctious and ready to have a good time. Delaware Center for the Contemporary Art ’s anniversary show, “SHIFT: Kinetic Sculptures,” is a perfect example. Eight artists— including Philadelphia’s Tim Belknap—present works using electronics, motors, compressed air, water and found objects (including a trash container, a motorcycle and cow bones). The works may remind you of children’s toys or mad science experiments. Belknap’s water-filled trash container feels like ... More » »
Scarecrows — John Casey at the Clay Studio and in print
John Casey, Fourth Born, Mixed Media, 2008. approx. 11″ tall. When I saw John Casey‘s small cartoonish clay figures at the Clay Studio they resonated as weird bogeymen. The show’s called No One We Know and the pieces are titled First Born, Second Born etc. setting the stage for an open reading of the trunk-less little men with the gourd-end noses and worried expressions. Clay figuration has always ranged the gamut from serious academic studies whose goal is beauty to Hummel figurines (goal=comfort and fantasy) …to Robert Arneson‘s warts-and-all self portraits (goal=humor, self-parody, social commentary). I’d put Casey close to ... More » »
Weekly Update – Clay Studio’s summer shows
This week’s Weekly has my review of two shows at the Clay Studio. Below’s the copy with some pictures. More photos at flickr. One thing hasn’t changed in the roistering, shape-shifting art world: Clay exhibits, like those on view at the Clay Studio, are a celebration of the material’s great diversity. From traditionalists making cups and bowls that look like they’re from 1940 to clay sculptors making conceptual pieces, you’ll find it all in the associate artist and the graduate student exhibits. Pieces sit side by side on pedestals in a seemingly happy terra-cotta democracy. Andrew EastwoodBrown JacketEarthenware$1000 Twenty-five of ... More » »
First Friday roundup
A bust by resident artist Harin Lee, at the Clay Studio, one of the warmest of his portraits of people between worlds First Friday caught Roberta and me at just a few places. Here are my quick takes: Before I met up with Roberta, I ran into the Clay Studio to check out the stylized ceramic busts by by resident artist Harin Lee. The subjects are at once androgynous, seductive and chilly. They remind me of store mannequins, with mannered gender neutrality and prominent sexual traits like popping nipples and giant packages in their pants. Black and white and sensual ... More » »
