‘Pervasive Clay’ Exhibit Set for Charles Addams Fine Arts Gallery at Penn

The Undergraduate Fine Arts Program at the University of Pennsylvania will hold “Clay@Penn 2014: Pervasive Clay,” an exhibition of ceramic works by 13 local and regional artists at the Charles Addams Fine Arts Gallery on the Penn campus. During the exhibition’s run, the Gallery will also host two evenings of Clay Salons, informal talks by eight distinguished scholars and art professionals from Penn and Philadelphia.

“Pervasive Clay” invites visitors to re-envision clay as an art practice in a rapidly evolving world of contemporary art and culture. Though often considered an archaic material, clay persists in shaping everyday needs and desires, and its movement continues to traverse history, geography and many bodies of knowledge.

The reception-style gatherings are designed to engage visitors in after-hours conversations with scholars, artists and professionals and to explore the many aspects of clay – practical, aesthetic, historical, social, digital – that inspire and inform lives, art and culture.

“Clay is not just a material for art,“ said Ken Lum, professor and director of the Undergraduate Fine Arts Program, “but fundamental to creativity in art.”

Participating artists in the exhibition are Ruth Borgenicht, Molly Hatch, Bryan Hopkins, Jane Irish, J.J. McCracken, Don Nakamura, Liz Quackenbush, Jenny Sabin, Paul Swenbeck, Matthew Courtney, Ryan Greenheck, Sumi Maeshima and Raymond Rorke.

The Clay Salon presenters on Oct.14 are Ann Blair Brownlee, Frank L. Chance, Jane Irish and Jenny Sabin. On Oct. 22, Elisabeth Agro, Marie-Claude Boileau, J.J. McCracken and Christopher R. Taylor will speak.

“Pervasive Clay” is free and open to the public. The exhibition will be on view Oct. 13-28 at the Charles Addams Fine Arts Gallery, 200 S. 36th St. Gallery hours during the exhibition are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon-4 p.m. Saturdays from noon to 4 pm. An opening reception will be held on Oct. 14 at 5:30 p.m. The evening Clay Salons will be held on Oct. 14 and 22 at 5:30 p.m.

“Clay@Penn 2014: Pervasive Clay” is also, in part, a celebration of The Clay Studio’s 40th anniversary as one of the nation’s premier centers for the development of ceramic art and artists.

Additional information is available by calling 215-573-5134 or at http://www.design.upenn.edu/fine-arts/undergraduate/events.

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