What types of art do you specialize in?

We specialize in contemporary ceramics from the 1950s onward, including clay and porcelain sculptures.

Do you offer collection services?

Yes, we work with private collectors and artist archives to organize, document, and appraise ceramic art collections for deacquisition or placement.

Can you help with exhibition development?

Absolutely, we collaborate with museums and cultural institutions to develop and present ceramic art exhibitions.

Do you provide touring programs?

Yes, we curate and organize touring exhibitions for contemporary ceramic artists.

What are legacy projects?

Legacy projects include customized services for artists, such as retrospective catalogs, exhibitions, and museum acquisitions.

SUBCONSCIOUS SURFACED | Moderne Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Moderne Gallery

1705 N American St. STE 3
Philadelphia, PA

May 1 – August 29, 2026

featuring Sergei Isupov

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Moderne Gallery presents Subconscious Surfaced, a group exhibition featuring works from the 1960s through the early 2000s. The exhibition explores a shared thread of surreal, otherworldly sculptural form across a range of expressions, techniques, and contexts.

A number of works in the exhibition derive from the esteemed collection of Marc and Diane Grainer, renowned patrons, collectors, and champions of the arts, who assembled a singular collection over the course of more than forty-five years. Moderne Gallery is proud to present these works and to serve as stewards as they find their way into new collections.

On view are works featuring figures, narratives, and compositions drawn from deep within the subconscious, emerging from a realm beyond the threshold of immediate awareness.

Through incongruous forms and psychologically charged imagery, the artists give material presence to subconscious visions, bringing into view what ordinarily remains beyond immediate perception. Situated between the imagined and the tangible, these works offer insight into psychological dimensions that exceed the limits of ordinary experience.

FEATURED WORKS BY SERGEI ISUPOV

“The exhibition at Moderne Gallery includes works by Sergei Isupov from 1995 – 2002 from his studios in Louisville, Kentucky and Richmond, Virginia acquired by the Grainers from visits to his studio, exhibitions at numerous galleries and the fairs he participated in.”

–Leslie Ferrin, Founder & Director, Ferrin Contemporary and Project Art

“Over the course of 45 years, Marc and Diane Grainer collected functional and sculptural ceramics and juxtaposed them with studio furniture and textiles and household items that invariably bore the imprint of their maker. Although they are perhaps best known for their encyclopedic collection of British studio pottery, the Grainers consistently chose work by artists who draw from the Surrealist well like Sergei Isupov, Michael Lucero, Nancy Carman, and Sun Koo Yuh. Each of these artists mixes and matches strategies like chance operations, including automatism, dream logic, juxtaposing seemingly unrelated elements, and metamorphizing their subjects.”

–Garth Johnson, Curator of Ceramics, Everson Museum of Art