Chris Stanley on thu 14 feb 02
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mike Pecen, Public Relations Coordinator
(210) 224-1848 ext. 328 mpecen@swschool.org
January 18, 2002
SCULPTORS EXPLORE CERAMICS ON A HEROIC SCALE
IN BIG HEAD
Sixteen Artists from across the Nation Exhibit New Work
SAN ANTONIO-From the ancient Egyptian and Olmec civilizations to the
present, artists have used the colossal head to capture the imagination of
their audiences. Now 16 ceramic artists from across the United States will
show work in Big Head: Ceramics on a Heroic Scale, an exhibition that
explores the impulse to create these oversized objects. The exhibition opens
at the Southwest School of Art & Craft with a reception Thursday, March 7,
2002, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
"We were intrigued by the number of contemporary artists creating large
heads in clay," said Paula Owen, director of the SSAC and co-curator of the
exhibition with Dennis Smith, ceramics department chair. The result is a
cross-section of well-known U.S. artists: Wesley Anderegg of Lompoc, CA; Tre
Arenz of Austin, TX; Gina Bobrowski of Corrales, NM; Mark Chatterley of
Williamston, MI; Cynthia Consentino of Northampton, MA; Alice Fairbanks of
Colton, WA; Verne Funk of San Antonio; Sergei Isupov of Richmond, VA;
Deborah Masuoka of Littleton, CO; Beverly Mayeri of Mill Valley, CA; Allan
Rosenbaum of Richmond, VA; Chris Silliman of Highland, NY; James Tisdale of
Austin, TX; Peter Vandenberge of Sacramento, CA; Triesch Voelker of
Corrales, NM; and Stan Welsh of Santa Cruz, CA.
"Scale imparts significance," Owen said, giving examples of colossal heads
as varied as masks from tribal cultures and the statues by Soviet social
realists. "An enormous, and often disembodied, head emphasizes power,
intelligence, emotion, spirit or senses. I think that artists also enlarge
the head to emphasize the disjunction between mind and body."
All the heads in Big Head are larger than human ones, but they run the gamut
in size, some exceeding 6 feet in height. This made it challenging to ship,
move and mount the works, but viewers will be rewarded richly. "Each artist
treats the clay differently, demonstrating the many ways in which clay can
be used and revealing it to be as expressive a material as paint," Smith
said.
The Southwest School of Art & Craft stimulates interest in and appreciation
of art and artists through its adult and youth studio education programs,
exhibitions and lectures. An additional purpose of the school is to preserve
the former Ursuline Academy & Convent as a place of historic significance.
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