The Margins

摘要

A group show including work from 39 national and international artists was on view earlier this spring at the Icehouse (www.theicehouseaz.com) in Phoenix, Arizona, in conjunction with the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference. "Today, artists are using clay in every way possible; dominant and supporting, fired and unfired, for utility and experience, high tech, low tech, with other materials, in performances, objects, installations, etc.," state co-curators Brian Gillis and Nathan Betschart. "Artists are still using ceramic materials for their archival and sanitary qualities, as cultural and historical lenses, to access the fragility of Meissen porcelain and the strength of a Rapp Brother's brick. Ceramic art is simultaneously asserting why it has a vibrant tradition and dynamic living pulse, while the nature of its very versatility declares the necessity for it to no longer be referred to as ceramic art, but rather just art.