California Clay Artists Get Their Due In Bedford Gallery's Latest Exhibition
YehRim Lee, Dopamine Dressing Pink
Bedford Gallery presents a survey of California-based artists working in clay with the exhibition California Clay. In response to the recent ceramics renaissance in the contemporary art world, this exhibition features an intriguing mix of functional, aesthetic, and conceptual works that highlights the versatility of the medium and celebrates ceramics as both functional and fine art. California Clay is on view through March 31, 2024, from 12:00pm-5:00pm, Wednesday through Sunday at Bedford Gallery inside Lesher Center for the Arts.
Ceramics have a long, rich global history originating with the functional use of pottery. Over thousands of years, artists have evolved the medium into aesthetic and conceptual fine art while others, like featured artists Kat Hutter & Roger Lee, Mary Law, Brandon Lipe, Nancy Selvin, and Sandy Simon, continue to honor ancient pottery traditions with their beautiful functional works that explore form in expanded ways. For Law, function informs her daily practice, imagining how the handle of her signature bird-like ewers might feel or how the gentle cascade of water from the spout might look and sound. In her Trophy series, Selvin turns to the urn to capture the true essence of clay and celebrate remarkable figures, like Abstract Expressionist women, and artistic concepts. With Red, for instance, pays tribute to the color’s myriad meanings across cultures.
Sandy Simon, Covered Jar Ayinger Beer Knob
Previously labeled craft, ceramics found footing in the fine art world during the California Clay Movement of the 1950s, a period when artists sculpted clay with aesthetics, rather than function, in mind. Contemporary California artists such as Sara Bright, Mark Goudy, YehRim Lee, Mary Alison Lucas, Liza Riddle, and Erik Scollon continue to push the boundaries of what clay can do and be. As an homage to her birthplace, YehRim Lee employs traditional Korean hand-building techniques to create contours and planes that jut out from the wall or pedestal. Decadent, colorful glazes flood the fragmented surfaces in her series, Dopamine Dressing, to attempt to trick the brain into releasing mood lifting chemicals. Goudy meticulously captures subtle, often unseen, yet complex geometry in nature. As a former engineer, he harnesses science to 3D print “mother molds” for his intricate, undulating ceramics that capture the light and shadows of sine waves.
Other contemporary ceramicists use clay as a vehicle to address complex concepts. In California Clay, Robert Brady, Reniel Del Rosario, Christopher Fortin, Phyllis Green, Ahn Lee, Cathy C. Lu, Nathan Lynch, and Ehren Tool explore topics relating to the body, identity, value, politics, and war in their work. Based in Santa Monica, Green molds and morphs clay into bodily representations as seen in her Odd Old Things series. Inspired by Degas’ dainty ballerinas, Green’s bulbous, rust colored sculptures provide a stark contrast and apropos commentary on aging. For Tool, clay is a bridge between his service in the Gulf War and civilian life, a material that “is very responsive and immediate but once it goes through the fire it is unchanged for many years,” much like the aftereffects of war. He prolifically throws cups laden with military insignia and gives them away, many to veterans and their families. The cups become touchstones for unspeakable conversations, bringing awareness that the artist hopes will last well after his lifetime.
Whether for the purpose of function, aesthetics, or concept, the artists in California Clay turn to clay for its expansive creative possibilities. The exhibition showcases the versatility of the medium and ingenuity of contemporary ceramicists.