Playing with Fire: Ceramics of the Extraordinary

×

Expand

Ying-Yueh Chuang, "Cross Series #3," 2008

ceramic, mixed media

Showcasing a group of 11 highly celebrated BC-based artists, this premiere exhibition of ceramic works, expresses strong opinions on urgent social issues and offers subtle perspectives on the state of our contemporary world.

In Playing with Fire, the artists defiantly challenge the notion that all things made of clay are required to be functional; in their works, clay is released from this constraint and elevated into extraordinary works of art. Visitors are invited to explore the many layers of understanding each of these provocative works embody, boldly demonstrating clay’s myriad discursive possibilities.

Playing with Fire features the work of 11 internationally recognized BC-based artists — Judy Chartrand, Ying-Yueh Chuang, Gathie Falk, Jeremy Hatch, Ian Johnston, David Lambert, Glenn Lewis, Alywn O’Brien, Bill Rennie,Debra Sloan, and Brendan Tang — who are all acclaimed for their fearless innovation in ceramic work. Working in clay, the most accessible of mediums, and drawing inspiration from pop culture, art history, humour, beauty, hope, and nature, these artists bring fresh, playful, and challenging perspectives of the art form. Visitors will be encouraged to discover new meanings and uncover complexities hidden, often in plain sight, within the works.

For this exhibition, more than 35 ceramic installations will be on display — some of which are epic in scale, including Johnston’s The Antechamber (2010–2012), in which a 25-foot-long room is covered with a repeating, grid-like motif of ceramic elements, created through a vacuum-forming process. The result of these overlapping elements, hanging like roof tiles, evokes the massive scale of consumption of manufactured goods today.