Hot Clay

Sixteen West Coast

Ceramic Artists Surrey Art Gallery January 18 to March 28

Hot Clay is the most interesting exhibi- tion of contemporary ceramic work that we have seen for quite some time, per- haps ever, in the Lower Mainland. Liane Davison, curator of exhibitions at the Sur- rey Art Gallery, began the project with the intent of giving a province-wide over- view of ceramic artists. Although needed, she acknowledges the concept was too am- bitious. Instead she focussed on West Coast artists. In her excellent catalogue essay, Davison writes, “We looked for the antithesis of the ‘humble brown pot’.” What she found are sixteen artists whose work uses clay to explore ideas current in contemporary international art practice.

Works selected fall roughly into four cat- egories: surface, organic, architectural and critical. Luckily for the artists, these divi- sions did not dictate the installation. Each artist has a distinct space, giving the viewer an exciting experience at each turn. Ideas reverberate and contrast from one sculp- ture to another with enough unobstructed. vision lines that every artist’s execution and concept appear unique. Unlike Thrown: Influences and Intentions of West Coast Ce- ramics, the exhibition at UBC’s Belkin Gallery where each ceramist was selected for influences from Bernard Leach, Liane selected creators whose works are eclectic and eye-popping. It’s hot!

Rachelle Chinnery Flores 2002-03 porcelain, bronze, each 14.0 Hx 13.0W x 20.0 D. Collection: artist

Entering the exhibition, the gorgeous pit- fired patinas on works made by Laura Wee Lay Laq contrast with the vivid lush crys- talline and metallic glazed pieces by Gordon Hutchens. Their treatment of sur- faces transcends the mere pot form, creat- ing pure aesthetic pleasures for the eye. Equally beautiful are works by Rachelle Chinnery. Her undulating, carved, trans- lucent porcelain gems nest on bronze bases conjuring sounds of the sea and referenc- ing the ebb and flow of life. Another artist influenced by marine life is Alison Feargrieve. With multi-legged sea life shapes, she creates highly textured surfaces

manity aerosol can 1999, and. Exlighten- ment Brand (different from all others) lard pail 2001 are typical of her social political

Jeremy Hatch Still 2003, porcelain, 335 HX 396 Wx 152

D. Collection: artist

Alison Feargrieve Escape 2003, red earthenware, Coll: Jim McKnight

and uses strong colours. Often producing functional works such as cream and sugar sets, the works are also sculptures. Juxta- posing unlikely forms, she creates humourous commentaries on relation-

ships, both physical and spiritual/social.

Four artists, Judy Chartrand, Jeremy Hatch, Meg Ida and Paul Mathieu, con- tribute to the overall ‘hotness’ of the exhi- bition. Their sculptures question percep- tions, challenge traditional political-socio- logical views, add a sense of joyful humour, and raise cross-cultural and eschatological issues. Using low-fired handbuilt forms, mostly small in scale and covered with crude line drawings and text, Judy Chartrand’s sculptures are charged with political overtones. Reading her texts on everyday household objects such as aero- sol cans and lard pails, she elicits shock, shame and then anger. She expresses poignant statements about assimilation, dominance, suppression, racial whiteness and white superiority in the history of First Nations and white relationships in Canada. Good OI Boys — Aversion to Hue-

Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter

artwork. Jeremy Hatch’s Si7// 2003 is a life- size swing set complete with frame, seat saddles and chain supports, all cast in por- celain. The super realism of the work quickly gives way to its utter impractical- ity. Next the viewer is led to the quietness — the stillness — the conceptualization of the work. As Hatch says in his artist’s statement, he “... explores the ideas of ac- cessibility and inaccessibility, nostalgia and memory, the possible and impossible. The inherent fragility and physical vulnerabil- ity of porcelain evoke a sense of loss, long- ing, remembrance and anxiety” (Exhibi- tion catalogue p. 24). Meg Ida’s Evos & Thanatos 2004 is composed of functional

M eg Ida Eros and Thanatos (sex and death) 2003-4, (detail) stoneware salt and pepper shakers, dimensions variable. Coll: artist

salt and peppers in the shape of asparagus stems sprouting from a mound of real grassy earth. Each stem (salt) rests in a glazed clay receptacle (pepper). To use the pepper, one must lift the stem and invert the base, discovering that the pepper flows through the eyes of a skull embossed in the receptacle. Just as viewers areattracted

April 2004