Clown meat tastes funny, and other observations on ceramics

Having launched the impressive and well-received Karen Karnes retrospective on view now at the ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center,  Curator of Ceramics Peter Held traveled to Santa Fe at the end of last month for the conference “CRITICAL Santa Fe: Developing Criticism in Ceramics,” at which Las Vegas-based critic Dave Hickey spoke and, as Peter put it, “stirred up the proverbial pot.” (Pun clearly intended. Those ceramics people are a clever bunch. The best Dave Hickey quote of the conference, according to Peter: “Clown meat tastes funny.”) Other speakers at the conference included Donald Kuspit, Janet Koplos and poet and critic Raphael Rubenstein.

Here’s just a taste of what Peter saw at the NCECA conference in Santa Fe:

Above:  Nathan Craven installation, Kosmeo, 6 ft. x 10 ft. x 7 in

Above:  Adrian Arleo, Apiary Twins, clay, glaze, wax encaustic, 21 1/2″ x 20″ x 15″

Above:  John Mess, Landfill No. 23, 11 x 13 x 9

Shortly after his return to Tempe, Peter turned around and headed to Chicago for SOFA (Sculpture Objects & Functional Art), and he brought back the photos below to share:

Above:  Cristina Cordova @ Ann Nathan Gallery, SOFA Chicago

Above:  Marc Sijan @ Ann Nathan Gallery, SOFA Chicago

Above: Elise Siegel @ Dubhe Carreno Gallery, Chicago

Above:  Richard Notkin’s The Last Syllable of Recorded Time, 2010, white earthenware clay, glaze, watercolor and pastel, 77″ x 51″ x 2″ @ Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago

Above:  Peter Held (on the left, in sunglasses) and Jeffrey Spahn in Millenium Park, in front of Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate.