Material Transcendence: Clay as Commentary
Curatorial Statement
Benjamin Schulman

Forward-thinking ceramic artists are paving the way for the biggest potential transformation of contemporary ceramic art since the emergence of the American studio craft movement in the 1940s and 1950s. Just as Modernism gave way to Post-Modernism, so has the modernist "pure" approach to ceramics given way to artists embracing a broadening of materials, practices and conceptual concerns. The ceramic artists who responded to Modernism searched for “truth,” focusing on purity and primacy of the material. However, we are no longer choosing to create art that focuses on clay's innate qualities as the overriding concept. Rather, we are embracing the uneasy territory of relativism and responding with conceptual approaches, mixed media practices and new modes of presentation. 

Material Transcendence: Clay as Commentary showcases 15 national and international artists who have embraced this broader methodology. They are aware of the possibilities and potential of clay, but do not rely too heavily on the seductive draw of the clay and glaze, its tactile qualities, or a serendipitous outcome from the firing process. The primary objective of the artists whom I have chosen for this exhibition is to create a commentary through their artwork, the material functioning only as the secondary focus.

My desire to help shape the future of ceramics has led me to this curatorial role. As an artist, I have a vested interest, which has inspired me to go beyond the studio in my scholarly activities. Over the years, I have become increasingly frustrated with the insistence of ceramics to persist with Modernist tendencies. With its continued reliance on a singular set of influences and practices, ceramics is destined to be defined only by its own esoteric community. In annual conventions, group exhibitions, published books, and magazine articles, the consistent focus is on the material and not the concepts. Glazes, kilns, firing processes, and techniques become schools of thought rather than tools and techniques that engender ideas. In the end, this technical approach limits our ability adequately to take part in and address our role in the shaping of contemporary culture. There is more to ceramics than just materials and processes.

What unites these artists within this exhibition is not just the primary material they use, but also their thematic and subjective sensibilities. It’s their approach, rationale, and the decisions they make. They choose clay because of its tangibility, tactility, flexibility, sensuality or perhaps its history, function, or form. What separates this group of artists, and thereby forms the basis of a new contemporary studio craft movement, is their ability to go beyond the material; to evoke, to contemplate, and to conceptualize.

The artists in this exhibition have their own agendas. They use clay as a tool, looking beyond the material; they confront and explore issues related to gender, hypocrisy, duality, irony, consumption, and the ephemeral. They question our perceptions, our politics, and our culture, at times creating a new language or narrative. They engage history, architecture, iconography, and domesticity. They are cynics, seducers, and subverters, in the most sublime and perverse manners.