UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING: HUMILITY AND GRANDEUR IN CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS
Traveling exhibition shown nationally | 2023 – Present
During an artist lecture in December 2021, Theaster Gates evoked a fascinating paradox in contemporary ceramics practice. Clay is the humblest of materials, often overlooked and more readily associated with a morning cup of coffee than with the international art world. But it is underneath everything. There is an expansiveness to work made or based in this medium, as artists push the limitations of clay, attaching layers of conceptual meaning and playing with the boundaries between ceramics and other media including film, photography, painting, performance, and installation.
This exhibition features artworks that honor the humility of the medium while simultaneously evoking a sense of grandeur and possibility.
Underneath Everything: Humility and Grandeur in Contemporary Ceramics is organized by the Des Moines Art Center in consultation with an Artist Advisory Committee including Katayoun Amjadi, Donté K. Hayes, Ingrid Lilligren, and Chuck Purviance.
Underneath Everything
Humility and Grandeur in Contemporary Ceramics
Grand Rapids Art Museum | Grand Rapids, MI | October 7 – January 14, 2023
ABOUT RAE STERN
Rae Stern’s practice employs digital tools in the manipulation of multiple media including ceramics, photography, paper, and textiles. After a decade in the high-tech industry, her work is concerned with the social and cultural effects of technology. Between 2009 and 2018, Stern collaborated with Aya Margulis under the name Doda Design and created several bodies of work. Recent residencies include the Penland School of Crafts, Anderson Ranch, and Belger Crane Yard Studios. Stern has received grants from Asylum Arts, the Schusterman Foundation, and Belger Arts.
Stern’s work has been exhibited internationally at The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Eretz Israel Museum (Tel Aviv, Israel), Belger Arts (Kansas City, MO), Harvard University (Boston, MA), and Medalta Museum, (Alberta, Canada). Her work is included in the collection of Eretz Israel Museum, as well as numerous private collections in Israel and the USA. Stern completed her undergraduate degree in psychology and communications at Tel Aviv University followed by a master’s degree in design from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design.
ALL ARTISTS
Katayoun Amjadi
Eliza Au
Sally Binard
Paul Briggs
Candice J. Davis
Edmund de Waal
Theaster Gates
Donté Hayes
Simone Leigh
Anina Major
Heidi McKenzie
Magdalene A.N. Odundo DBE
Vick Quezada
Ibrahim Said
Rae Stern
Ehren Tool
Ai Weiwei
VIRTUAL TOUR
UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING: HUMILITY AND GRANDEUR IN CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS
Des Moines Art Center
Des Moines, IA
UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING
PAST PROGRAMMING
Underneath Everything
Humility and Grandeur in Contemporary Ceramics
Anna K. Meredith Gallery, Des Moines Art Center | Des Moines, IA | June 3 – September 10, 2023
UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING
Published by The Des Moines Art Center
EXHIBITION CATALOG
Underneath Everything Humility and Grandeur in Contemporary Ceramics Catalog
$25.00 | 10% off for Members
UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING: HUMILITY AND GRANDEUR IN CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS, organized by Mia Laufer, Associate Curator at the Des Moines Art Center.
DES MOINES ART CENTER
June 3—September 10, 2023
GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM
October 7, 2023—January 13, 2024
The exhibition and catalogue were supported by: The Harriet S. and J. Locke Macomber Art Center Fund, EMC Insurance Companies and Toni and Tim Urban International Artist-in-Residence Fund.
DESIGNER
Goizane Esain Mullin, Des Moines, Iowa
EDITOR
Sheila Mauck | Des Moines, Iowa
TRANSLATION
Iowa International Center, Des Moines, IA
PRINTER
Point B Solutions, Minneapolis, MN
ISBN: 978-1-879003-81-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023906097
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