FERRIN CONTEMPORARY AND RED STAR STUDIOS
Ceramic Top 40 | 2013
November 1 – January 25
exhibition of artists under and over 40 years of age currently working in ceramics
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Cummington, MA, USA – Ferrin Contemporary announces the Ceramic Top 40 | 2013 will take place at Red Star Studios, in their new home at Belger Crane Yard Studios opening November 1. The exhibition features selected works by a group of artists equally balanced between those over and under the age of 40 curated through a process that combines invited and juried submissions.
This exhibition will present the “It” artists currently working in conceptual utilitarian and sculptural ceramics. The show seeks to identify those working on the cutting edge of current processes, ideas and presentation concepts by both the up-and-coming generation of artists and established artists who are breaking new ground.
Leslie Ferrin, director of Ferrin Contemporary explains, “for over 25 years, our gallery has shown the finest ceramic art and studio pottery in solo and group exhibitions presented at the gallery, online and art fairs. With new technology and collaborative methods of producing art, it is now time to take a close look at who is responding and utilizing these opportunities among both established and upcoming artists. We used the “call for entries” format to uncover and survey those who are working with ceramic materials as singular objects or installations made up of multiples. After reviewing 475 submissions, we selected the artists whose current works best met the criteria and invited several others who are clearly leading the field in new directions.”
The collaboration with Red Star Studios, developed as the project evolved during 2013. Michael Baxley, Gallery Manager/Curator, “It is a perfect storm …, our new galley space opened at a time that Ferrin was seeking a central location for the exhibition. Ferrin inquired about our space after she selected several key artists who are currently working in or around the Kansas City area. The timing for the artists, the project and our space fit perfectly.”
Ferrin explains the concept of the show. “In the past, periodic survey exhibitions took place sponsored by institutions such as the Everson Museum of Art’s Ceramic National and American Craft Museum’s Young Americans. The recent exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of Art’s Renwick Gallery, 40 under 40: Craft Futures, a multimedia survey presented only a handful of artists working with ceramics. With increased media recognition and integration of contemporary ceramic art and objects in museum exhibitions and contemporary art galleries, it seemed important to fill the gap that opened up by the Renwick show and provide a subjective survey to the medium of clay. The process of creating this exhibition reveals what an important moment this is for a generation of makers and collectors.”
Using farming as a metaphor to describe this transitional moment for the field of ceramics, Ferrin states, “through this show, we are looking at who are the established masters continuing to break creative ground alongside the next generation of artists who are developing a strong root system of their own at mid career.”
Red Star Studios, a mainstay in Kansas City’s ceramics scene for almost fifteen years, has partnered with the Belger Arts Center in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District. Red Star Studios has recently expanded to Belger Crane Yard Studios, located at 2011 Tracy, Kansas City, MO 64108. The Red Star gallery is open 10am – 5pm, Wednesday through Friday, and 10am – 4pm on Saturdays.The gallery remains open until 9pm on the First Friday of every month. Red Star Studios also features studio spaces for resident artists and offers classes and workshops for all skill levels to the public. For more information please contact Michael Baxley, gallery manager, at mbaxley@redstarstudios.org or 816-474-7316.
Dates for Lecture, Reception and Educational Programming will be announced with the list of exhibiting artists on September 15.