Art-world, crafts-world, and crossover talents come together in
Dirt on Delight: Impulses That Form Clay
, a lively presentation, on view at the Walker Art Center July 11–November 29, that features work in clay by 22 artists spanning four generations. Examining the rich history of clay and showcasing some of the medium’s most important practitioners, Dirt on Delight embodies a wide range of form and scale by contemporary artists as well as historic and outsider figures who have had a sustained engagement with clay and its processes. The exhibition originated at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania.
Ranging from modestly scaled pots to figurines to large sculptures, the 88 works on view cross a spectrum that includes fine art, craft, and outsider practices. Collectively they suggest that clay appeals to basic impulses, starting with the delight of building form, coupled with the anxiety of completion. All of the works in the exhibition appear to be in some state of flux or growth.
Clay is a base material. From potsherds to porcelain fixtures, clay is synonymous with the building of industries and cultures. At the same time, its very materiality—its tactile malleability, earthen sensuousness, and humidity—makes it the medium of more elemental associations and expressions. The immediacy with which clay allows one to build form and create ornament underlies its appeal—especially in relation to current modes that seem to take fabrication increasingly out of artists’ hands. And indeed the hand is everywhere in evidence—patting, pinching, squishing, rolling, punching, and painting. Inherent to clay’s materiality is its invitation to play, but also its requirement of technical skills. An amateur approach can emphasize clay’s more raw manifestations, but expert knowledge of clay types, slips and glazes, the potter’s wheel, and firing techniques is critical to making objects. More specifically, Dirt on Delight is an opportunity to examine not only clay’s appeal but issues surrounding the concept of craft in general.
The artists represented include the current generation (Nicole Cherubini, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Jeffry Mitchell, Sterling Ruby, and Paul Swenbeck), artists who emerged during the 1990s (Ann Agee, Kathy Butterly, Jane Irish, Beverly Semmes, and Arlene Shechet), those who established clay as a critical material during the 1960s and 1970s (Robert Arneson, Viola Frey, Ron Nagle, Ken Price, Adrian Saxe, Beatrice Wood and Betty Woodman), and historic and outsider figures (Lucio Fontana, Rudolf Staffel, and Peter Voulkos, as well as George Ohr and Eugene Von Bruenchenhein).
Art on Call: Free Audio Tour
Use your cell phone to find out more about the art and artists in the exhibition. Call 612.374.8200 and enter the four-digit codes for specific works of art or download Art on Call to your iPod at newmedia.walkerart.org/aoc.
In the Shop
A fully illustrated exhibition catalogue features essays by ICA senior curator Ingrid Schaffner, associate curator Jenelle Porter, and art historian Glenn Adamson. $35 ($31.50 Walker members).
RELATED EVENTS
Opening Day
Gallery Talk
Saturday, July 11, 2 pm, Free with gallery admission
Join the Dirt on Delight curators for a tour through the terrain of contemporary sculpture by way of an age-old material. Tactile, malleable, and at times unpredictable, clay offers inexhaustible territory for artistic experimentation. Listen in for new perspectives on the historical and current impulses that propel the use of this primary medium.
Target Free Thursday Nights
Thursday, July 16
Sound Bites: Spotlight on Nicole Cherubini, 6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Contemporary art and artists are the focus of these 15-minute gallery conversations led by Walker tour guides. Each highlights selected artworks, artists, or themes that serve as topics for illuminating discussions.
Thursday, August 20
Sound Bites: Spotlight on Lucio Fontana, 6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Contemporary art and artists are the focus of these 15-minute gallery conversations led by Walker tour guides. Each highlights selected artworks, artists, or themes that serve as topics for illuminating discussions.
Thursday, October 8
Panel: There’s Just Something About Clay, 7 pm
Cinema
Free tickets available at the Bazinet Garden Lobby desk from 6 pm
Dirt on Delight artists Ann Agee, Kathy Butterly, and Beverly Semmes describe the process of working in clay as malleable, sensual, and open to interpretation. It’s no wonder then that their vessels have attracted the public’s eye for more than a decade. Hear these artists in conversation with Andria Hickey, Walker curatorial fellow and coordinating curator for the exhibition, as they discuss their practice and the desire to work with clay. Copresented by the University of Minnesota and Northern Clay Center.
Target Free Thursday Nights sponsored by Target.
Free First Saturdays are for Families
Down with Dirt
Saturday, August 1, 10 am–3 pm, Free
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
This day of exploration and discovery is inspired by the exhibitions Dirt on Delight: Impulses That Form Clay and The Quick and The Dead.
Art-Making for the Entire Family: Vibrant Vessels
10 am–3 pm
Sculpt a functional form using colorful, nonhardening clay.
Crochet Workshop: The Institute For Figuring
12 noon–3 pm
Join LA-based artist Margaret Wertheim from the Institute For Figuring to make crocheted forms from plastic bags.
Free First Saturday is sponsored by Ameriprise Financial. Program support by Medtronic Foundation. As part of the Walker Art Center’s Raising Creative Kids Initiative, additional support is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Raising Creative Kids
Arty Pants: Your Tuesday Playdate
Tuesdays, July 14 and 28; August 11 and 25, 11 am–1 pm
Free with gallery admission; Walker members and kids ages 12 and under are always free
What do hip kids and their (possibly) cooler parents do to spark creativity?
Knead, smash, coil, create! Mold, sculpt, and transform your own ball of earth into a work of art inspired by the exhibition. Parents and children explore the tactile properties of clay through gallery activities, stories, film—and, of course, by getting their hands on the actual stuff.
Arty Pants: Your Tuesday Playdate is sponsored by Ameriprise Financial. As part of the Walker Art Center’s Raising Creative Kids Initiative, additional support is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Gallery Tours
Saturday, July 18, 2 pm
Sunday, July 19, 2 pm
Thursday, July 30, 2 pm
Saturday, August 15, 2 pm
Sunday, August 23, 2 pm
Thursday, August 27, 2 pm
Teacher Workshop
Dirt on Delight
Tuesday, August 18, 9 am–4 pm
$45 ($30 Walker and Northern Clay Center members)
The Walker and Northern Clay Center offer a workshop designed for teachers of ceramics, teaching artists who work with clay, and K–12 educators who wish to expand their experience with clay beyond function to expressive forms. The program begins at the Walker with an interactive tour of the exhibition followed by a visit to Northern Clay Center for a hands-on exploration of ceramics from a conceptual point of view. For more information, call 612.375.7614 or e-mail walker.registration@walkerart.org.
mnartists.org
Local Dirt: Exploring the Minnesota Ceramics Community
September–October 2009
This fall mnartists.org will feature a special series of articles and profiles exploring the historical context and diversity of artists whose work shapes Minnesota’s own distinctive ceramic arts tradition—from the elegantly functional wares of the Northern Clay Center and the acclaimed ceramic arts program at the University of Minnesota to local artists whose work lies at the intersections of fine craft and contemporary sculpture.
mnartists.org is an online database of Minnesota artists and organizations from all disciplines developed and maintained in partnership with the Walker Art Center and the McKnight Foundation.
Artist Talk
Beverly Semmes
Wednesday, October 7, 7 pm, Free
University of Minnesota Regis Center for the Arts
Multidisciplinary artist Beverly Semmes discusses her practice and unique approach to working with ceramics as well as her work on view in Dirt on Delight.
Co-presented by the Walker Art Center and Northern Clay Center.
Demonstration and Talk
Ann Agee
Friday, October 9, 1–5 pm, Free
Northern Clay Center, 2424 E. Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis
Originally interested in painting, Ann Agee turned to clay after taking classes at Greenwich House Pottery in New York in 1985. Since then, she has continued to “be endlessly interested.” Join Agee for a talk and demonstration on her working process. For more information, call 612.339.8007.
Co-presented by the Walker Art Center, the University of Minnesota, and Northern Clay Center.
Gallery Admission, Hours
$10 adults; $8 seniors (65+); $6 students/teens (with ID)
Free to Walker members and children ages 12 and under.
Free with a paid ticket to a same-day Walker event.
Free to all every Thursday evening (5–9 pm) and on the first Saturday of each month (10 am–5 pm).
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11 am–5 pm
Thursday 11 am–9 pm
Closed Mondays
