Featuring new ceramic work by seven contemporary clay artists, “The Low Down: Tales from the Margin” will open in the Kipp Gallery Annex on November 8, 2011, and run through December 9.
On Thursday, November 10, there will be a public reception and short talk with Jill Fotte-Hutton, co-curator and gallery coordinator from Red Lodge Clay Center. The talk begins at 5:00 p.m., and a public reception for the exhibition will immediately follow. The Kipp Gallery Annex is located on the first floor of Sprowls Hall in room 118B. Gallery hours are noon to 4:00 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays.
“The Low Down: Tales from the Margin” is an exhibit of contemporary ceramics which are both honest and current, reflecting narratives that are personal and shared, abstract and implied. The concept began with a volley of ideas and artists, until a group emerged who consistently generate objects that toy with definitions and tease visual, historical, and/or technical boundaries. The second factor in our selection process was an intent to extol the achievements of artists generating their main body of work within low temperature ranges.
Max Lehman, Carole Epp, Alex Kraft, Nick Ramey, Julie Guyot, Jason Bige Burnett, and Melissa Mytty have created a spirited and vibrant collection of objects, the best of which will pull the viewer into the tales they spin. Formal compositions pair sparse grounds with overwhelmed figures, and the viewer is left to decide if the decadence is for the better or not. Some of the more obvious narratives still leave ample room for audience interpretation; and, like a visual madlib, we can fill in the blanks. There are elaborate dialogues between material pairings made in fantastical, imaginary worlds alongside very evident social commentary with an extremely clear point of view.
This is an exhibition for a modern world with visual “sound bites” for those in search of overstimulation. However, if one chooses to go deeper, the conversation thread is there to pick up and carry. Perhaps this is what can happen when a graphic novel impacts the oft-insular world of clay?
The exhibit is a targeted snapshot of a specific area of inquiry in the field of ceramics—a peripheral group generating more and more buzz, and not just from the hum of an electric kiln. “The Low Down: Tales from the Margin” is a celebration of the creative exploitation possible with electric coils and eutectic compositions.
College of Fine Arts