Installation shot of Clay Currents: The Wichita National Ceramics Invitational, Ulrich Museum of Art, Fall 2019.
“There’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip,” the saying goes. Things can go wrong until the very last minute even when you think that success is assured. Ceramicists—artists who work with clay (also called “slip” when used in liquid form)—know this all too well. Perhaps more than any other medium, clay has to be wrangled into the artist’s desired form every step of the way. Yet the rewards are great—clay possesses a truly remarkable versatility, which the Wichita National Ceramics Invitational highlighted. Bringing together twenty-four artists from around the United States, from celebrated masters to promising members of a new generation, this exhibition showcased the range of possibilities that contemporary ceramicists are exploring. With two earlier editions having taken place at the Reuben Saunders Gallery, the exhibition, in its third year, continued to introduce the Wichita community to some of the most exciting work being done in clay today.
Participating artists included:
Darien A-Johnson, Lesley Baker, Peter Beasecker, Doug Casebeer, Pattie Chalmers, Sam Chung, Bede Clarke, Trisha Coates, Yewen Dong, Adam Field, Julia Galloway, Perry Haas, Trey Hill, David Hiltner, Kyle Johns, Michael Kline, Liz Lurie, John Neely, Brooks Oliver, Virgil Ortiz, Liz Quackenbush, Jane Shellenbarger, Malcolm Mobutu Smith, and Russell Wrankle.
The exhibition was organized by the Ulrich Museum of Art and co-curated by Ted Adler, associate professor of ceramics media at WSU; Brenda Lichman, a studio potter, educator, and founder of Empty Bowls Wichita; and Ksenya Gurshtein, the Ulrich's curator of modern and contemporary art.
Recognition
Yewen Dong’s project for the exhibition was supported by the WSU Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
Funding for the exhibition was generously provided by Lead Sponsors: Emprise Bank and Fidelity Bank.
Watch John Neely's artist talk
Watch Pattie Chalmers' artist talk
Watch talk by ceramics collector Louise Rosenfield and ceramics curator Garth Johnson
Banner: Trisha Coates, Love Letter to My River, 2019, Cone 6 Porcelain and Stoneware, glass on panel, 45 X 144 x 8 in. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: James Ackerley Porter.
View a slideshow of the exhibition:
