- Opening Reception: Friday, April 25 | 6-8 PM
- Free, Illustrated Artist Talk: Saturday, April 26 | 1 PM
- Workshop | FIGURE: Form + Surface with Sergei Isupov, April 26-27, 2025
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
This April, District Clay Center (DCC) is honored to invite you to a solo exhibition and weekend workshop with internationally-renowned artist Sergei Isupov.
Drawing from a narrative-rich art practice, Moments from Eternity reflects on Isupov’s life as a multinational dual citizen. Born in Russia during the USSR, raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, and education in Tallinn, Estonia, Isupov emigrated to begin a new life in 1994. Sergei’s recent sculptures and installation Past & Present capture the atmostphere in the wake of Russian aggression near his families in Ukraine and Estonia. Ever hopeful, Isupov’s work capture life’s challenges with universal human emotions, telling stories across time and place.
Moments from Eternity features the Empaths, Isupov’s newest group of nine free- standing “statutettes” created in 2025 for the exhibition and presented with selected works from Past & Present.
FIGURE: Form + Surface, the corresponding workshop, will allow participants to learn the techniques Isupov uses to sculpt these porcelain masterworks.
PROGRAMMING
Art Across Borders: An Artist Talk with Sergei Isupov
April 23, 2025, 5:30 EDT
Estonian Embassy
2131 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC
Join us at the Embassy of Estonia for an artist talk with internationally renowned artist Sergei Isupov.
Free | All are welcome
OPENING RECEPTION
Friday April 25, 6-8 PM
District Clay Center
Join District Clay Center for the opening reception of “Moments from Eternity” with Sergei Isupov! Attendees will hear Isupov discuss his work on view.
The reception will take place at 6 PM on April 25 at District Clay Center in central Washington DC. During the reception, Isupov will give an introductory artist talk and discuss his work on view. Following the lunch break on Saturday, Sergei will give an illustrated talk featuring images of his studio practice and feature select works from throughout his career. Both talks will provide context for the techniques students learn during the workshop. The reception and artist talk will be open to the public.
Illustrated Artist Talk
Saturday, April 26, 1 PM
District Clay Center
FREE | All Are Welcome
FIGURE: Form + Surface with Sergei Isupov
April 26-27, 2025, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
District Clay Center
In this weekend workshop with internationally renowned artist Sergei Isupov, students will learn how to build form and develop surfaces to create a portrait bust in clay. The workshop begins with a Friday night public gallery reception prior to demonstrations and hands-on instruction on Saturday and Sunday.
Intermediate, Ages 18 year+
$540.00 | $486.00(members)
MEDIA
Art Across Borders: An Artist Talk with Sergei Isupov
District Clay Center and the Embassy of Estonia are proud to present an artist talk with internationally renowned artist Sergei Isupov. Hosted at the embassy in Washington, DC, Isupov is joined by Aari Lemmik (Counselor for Press and Cultural Affairs) and Connor Czora (Creative Director at DCC).
“Art Across Borders” takes place in conjunction with Isupov’s solo exhibition at District Clay Center, “Moments from Eternity”. The exhibition reflects on Isupov’s experiences as an Estonian-American artist, documenting his life as a multinational dual citizen. Born in Russia during the USSR, raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, and educated in Tallinn, Estonia, Isupov emigrated to begin a new life in 1994. Sergei’s recent sculptures and “EMPATHS” installation capture the atmosphere in the wake of Russian aggression near his families in Ukraine and Estonia. “FIGURE: Form + Surface”, the corresponding workshop, allowed participants to learn the techniques Isupov uses to sculpt these porcelain masterworks.
DCC would like to thank Sergei Isupov, Aari Lemmik, the Embassy of Estonia, and Leslie Ferrin for making this event possible.
Viewers may learn more about the show at DistrictClayCenter.com/moments-from-eternity—sergei-isupov .
To learn more about Isupov’s work, visit SergeiIsupov.com . To learn more about the Embassy of Estonia, visit Washington.mfa.ee .
Estonian-American, b. 1963 Stavropole, USSR,
lives and works between Cummington, MA, USA and Tallinn, Estonia
Sergei Isupov is an Estonian-American sculptor internationally known for his highly detailed, narrative works. Isupov explores painterly figure-ground relationships, creating surreal sculptures with a complex artistic vocabulary that combines two- and three-dimensional narratives and animal/human hybrids. He works in ceramics using traditional hand-building and sculpting techniques to combine surface and form with narrative painting using colored stains highlighted with clear glaze.
Isupov has a long international resume with work included in numerous collections and exhibitions, including the National Gallery of Australia, Museum Angewandte in Kunst, Germany, and in the US at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Crocker Art Museum, Everson Museum of Art, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Museum of Arts and Design, Museum of Fine Arts–Boston, Museum of Fine Arts–Houston, Mint Museum of Art, and Racine Art Museum. In 2017, his solo exhibition at The Erie Art Museum presented selected works in a 20-year career survey titled Hidden Messages, followed by Surreal Promenade e, another survey solo in 2019 at the Russian Museum of Art in Minnesota.