Everson Museum exhibit shines light on cultural stories with ceramics

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The Everson Museum of Art’s new exhibit “Beyond the Blue” brings light to audiences who may have missed out on visiting art exhibits during the pandemic. The exhibit is filled with ceramic pieces that pop with color. The artists in the show used ceramic designs to tell cultural stories that span across different times.

In collaboration with Art Macao 2021, an international arts and cultural event, “Beyond the Blue” is accessible digitally and in-person through Nov. 21. The digital exhibit allows visitors to view 3D presentations of the ceramic pieces with descriptions, information about the artist and explore dimensions of the artworks’ meanings. Garth Johnson, the curator of ceramics at the Everson, said the digital format will give anyone around the world the access to view these unique pieces.

“Technology makes the virtual connection possible, but it’s truly the language of ceramics and the language of art that gives us a lasting connection,” Johnson said.

Dorothy Hafner, an artist participating in the exhibit, is known for her creations of glass sculptures, functional objects and architectural installations. The use of glaze in her casted porcelain ceramics give Hafner’s works functionality, said Bruce Pepich, executive director and curator of collections at the Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wisconsin.

Hafner’s work has “exuberant use of color and design, suggesting everything from window blinds to jelly beans,” Pepich said.

Hafner took inspiration from the pattern painting movement, which placed heavy emphasis on vibrant colors and patterns that cover a complete canvas. Pepich spoke of this comparison with the pattern painting movement in how Hafner used shapes, color and pattern to give her work a sense of joy.

Though the exhibit only presented ceramic works, the artists shown also explored connections to the rest of the art world, including to the fashion industry. Brian Rochefort, a mixed media sculptor based in Los Angeles known for his glazed and layered ceramics, has art on display in this Everson exhibit. His works have also been picked up for a collaboration with Paris fashion brand Berluti and sold in Berluti’s boutiques in Macao.

The ceramic works in the exhibit aim to show the joy and color of life.
Katie Kiessling | Contributing Photographer

In the exhibit, each piece of art represents humor, life and color. This exhibit is a representation of how ceramic art can resonate with several varying audiences, which was especially important during the pandemic when people were left with little to no human contact, Johnson said.

Peter Pincus’ “Losing #422 (15 Vessels)” ceramic piece was a ceramic in the exhibit that shows a gradient of “rhythm and stability,” as it said in the description, juxtaposed with the vibrant colors and stripes of the rest of the work, creating a “colorful noise.” This piece of artwork counterbalanced opposite colors and patterns to show the complexity and variety that ceramics have to offer as a whole.

“Ceramics is a shared bond, a shared language that brings us together, even in a time where coronavirus is keeping us apart,” Johnson said.