Davis Arts Center
1919 F Street, Davis, CA 95616
davisartscenter.org
Contact:
Marketing & Communications Manager
Allison Sertic | allison@davisartscenter.org
Phone: 530.756.4100
Fax: 530.756.3041
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2014
Annual Eight from ACGA group exhibition opens at Davis Arts Center April 23rd
Davis, CA – Davis Arts Center is pleased to present Eight from ACGA, a juried exhibition of ceramic work by members of the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California, April 23 through May 24, 2014, with the opening reception on Friday, April 25 from 5-7 p.m. The annual show is presented in conjunction with the 26th California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art. A 2nd Friday ArtAbout reception will also take place on May 9 from 7-9 p.m.
Selected artists for this year’s Eight from ACGA show at Davis Arts Center are Barbara Andino Stevenson, Natasha Dikareva, Nina Else, Iver Henning, Suzanne M. Long, Kathy Pallie, Susan Press and Gail Ritchie. Artists were selected by juror Donna Seager of the Seager Grey Gallery in Mill Valley, CA. Seager has juried many exhibitions over the years and notes in her juror’s statement for this exhibition that the final selection of artists was very difficult, as the quality level was very high. “One of my interests as a gallerist has always been how an artist interacts with their materials and how intimately familiar they are with how those materials behave. For this reason, clay holds a great fascination for me, since the artist’s hand and the knowledge needed to fire and articulate the work is intrinsic to the process.”
Seager gives a thoughtful glimpse of the show in her description of the exhibition. “Many of the works in this exhibition tell stories and create convincing characters, particularly those of Iver Hennig, Susan Press, Barbara Andino Stevenson and Natasha Dikareva. Hennig, with his humorous mixture of animate and inanimate elements creates animal characters of astonishing detail while Press’s expressive faces and clever use of photography gives us glimpses into lives we might fully imagine. Andino Stevenson takes us to unknown places, planets or landscapes with fanciful creatures we cannot quite name. Dikareva’s works have a more epic or mythological tone, rooted in history. Her use of drawing on the surface of the work is particularly satisfying.
Kathy Pallie’s use of clay to replicate nature, particularly the bark of trees is masterful and very brave. That kind of exacting detail works only when it works completely and I believe through rigorous trial and error and the resulting suspension of reality gives us a magnified view of the wonders of nature.
Nina Else’s abstract constructions with their minimalist lines and flat shapes of pure color are consistently successful and Gail Ritchie’s still lives with birds are sensational both in detail and composition. Suzanne Longs works, either with books or her storytelling characters have both humor and charm with a particular quality that is consistent in everything she does.”
To learn more about the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California, visit http://www.acga.net. To see artist images, and to learn more about this exhibition, visit davisartscenter.org.
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Davis Arts Center, located at 1919 F Street, is a gathering place for dynamic engagement with the arts. Through multidisciplinary classes and programs for the regional community, the Art Center inspires creative expression in people of all ages and fosters an environment for the arts to flourish.