Cups today and throughout history have reflected the way we live. Whether it’s function is utilitarian, or an abstraction of an idea, this simple form is complex. Artists from all over the world have been selected for this exhibit to represent how they interpret the ceramic cup through their range of processes, influences, and intentions. This exhibit will feature more than 400 cups representing 84 of the finest potters from around the world. The exhibit is curated by Jason Bige Burnett.Jason selected the artists based on the range of possibilities found among firing methods, construction techniques, and surface design. He is fascinated with how artists use traditional and more contemporary processes, from digging their own local clay to slip casting with commercial made slips. Then he focused on the unlimited ways to decorate surfaces from dipping into glazes to brushing on slips and carving into the pot or layering with decals and overglazes. Then he began to look at influences of the artists themselves and their own creative styles and whether or not work was utilitarian or conceptual.
Among the pieces in this exhibit Jason is particularly intrigued by Pattie Chalmers use of the ceramic cup as a fragment in her narrative sculpture that observes relationships and social phenomena. He also appreciates that Benjamin Carter's utilitarian cups are essentially a metaphorical landscape for southern comfort and hospitality. He found a sense of intimacy in the surfaces of Emily Schroeder's fingerprints and Susan Feagin's collaged fragments of written letters and journal pages as opposed to the controversial content that can be discovered in works by Tom Spleth and Triesch Voelker. Also, the range of narrative discovered on the cups surfaces of Ayumi Horie, Kathy King and Rough and Perfect. In the work of Elisa Helland-Hansen's mugs and gwendolyn yoppolo's cups and saucers Jason recognizes the beauty of form. The fantastic range of atmospheric surfaces can be found in the work of Shawn O'Conner, Lindsay Oesterritter and Judith Duff. Finally, Jason is fascinated by the influences of kitsch and souvenir portrayed by potters like Amy Santoferraro, Jeremy "Jr." Kane and Mark Burns. Every artist
included in this exhibit contributes in some significant way to interpreting the cup.This exhibition will open on November 5th and remain through December 31st. The exhibition will also be available online on November 4th at Midnight! Please join us for an artists reception on November 5th at 6pm. For more information call 828-688-3599 or online at www.crimsonlaurelgallery.com.
