Paul Clay
June 23- July 30, 2011
Salon 94 Bowery  


“Nothing has to take grand scale, if it can be expressed in a diminutive, delicate and yet no less sophisticated way.” Paul Klee

Paul Clay is an exhibition of ceramic work made by an international selection of artists. These artists play dirty, unafraid to push the material of clay with their varied practices.

Together, the sculptures are presented on large platforms, activating one another to suggest a mise-en-scène.  A theatre in the round, the works are arranged in acts, where abstract colors fly and figures brawl.

Jessica Jackson Hutchins’s lumpy couch, Ron Nagle’s bizarre, anthropomorphic gems and Sterling Ruby’s “drive-thru” lava garden buttress the stage, while Betty Woodman’s Indian jugs, Andrew Lord’s body parts, and Jonathon Meese’s totems play act.  Arlene Shechet’s deflated wormholes swallow onlookers whole.  Francis Upritchard’s harlequins and Ralphael de Villers’s figurines whimsically conjure a circus.  Huma Bhabha’s skull is entwined in a barbed fence, while Francesca Di Mattio’s broken vessels deliver water.  

For the duration of the exhibit, Salon 94 Bowery will also house a pop-up shop of functional ceramic objects by artists we love. We celebrate this age-old tradition of transforming mud into functional ware.

The artists in the exhibition and store include:
Ardmore, Hope Atherton, Huma Bhabha, Sean Bluechel, Daniel Buren, Raphael de Villers, Francesca DiMattio, Nacy Graves, Mary Heilmann, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Hella Jongerius, Steve Keister, Naoki Koide, Julia Kunin, Shio Kusaka, Takuro Kuwata, Liz Larner, Andrew Lord, Jonathon Meese, Matthias Merkel Hess, Marilyn Minter, Kristen Morgin, Nicole Mueller, Ron Nagle, Yoshitomo Nara / Kasumi Ueba, Ruby Neri, William O’Brien, Izhar Patkin, Alessandro Pessoli, Ken Price, Brie Ruais, Sterling Ruby, Anna Sew Hoy, Arlene Shechet, Lisa Sitko, Rosemarie Trockel, Kumie Tsuda, Francis Upritchard, Elif Uras, Paloma Varga Weisz., Tam Van Tran, Uncommon Matters, Kurt Weiser, Betty Woodman, Julia Kunin, and Rob Wynne.