APRIL 19 - MAY 26, 2024
PLATITUDE: Queer Serviceware
Curated by ADAM CHAU
Opening reception with the curator • April 19th, 5-8pm
Gallery Talk and Closing reception with Kathy King and Leslie Ferrin • May 24, 6-7:30pm
PLATITUDE: Queer Serviceware
Curated by ADAM CHAU
Opening reception with the curator • April 19th, 5-8pm
Gallery Talk and Closing reception with Kathy King and Leslie Ferrin • May 24, 6-7:30pm
Scheduled to coincide with Northampton’s annual Pride celebrations, PLATITUDE looks at contemporary queer life in America through the form of ceramic serviceware. Using the canon of ceramics as a vehicle not only for function, but also for timekeeping and commemoration, ten artists present artworks that use the form of plates, platters, and other dishware with a queer voice. PLATITUDE values the various perspectives of the queer experience by featuring artists at different career and life milestones. Building on an exhibition and with the support of Ferrin Contemporary, there will be loans of contemporary work from Our America, Whose America as well as use of the collection of historic commemorative plates and dishware as a means to seek out the history of queer identity, or what is portrayed but “hidden in plain sight”.
Artists will include: Jeremy Brooks (he/him), Connor Czora (they/them); Belle-Pilar Fleming (she/her); Ron Geibel (he/him); Kathy King (she/her); August Lantz (they/them); Bri Murphy (they/them); Leo Minsky (he/him); Jinsik Yoo (he/him)
Adam Chau; curator (he/him) is an artist and curator in Connecticut. He holds a Masters of Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and researches technology within craft. In 2018 he was awarded the NCECA Emerging Artist Fellowship and in 2019 he became a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, a UNESCO partner.
PLATITUDE is part of A.P.E.'s Guest Curator Program.
This exhibition is made possible in part by a grant from the Artist Resource Trust Fund, a fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
Artists will include: Jeremy Brooks (he/him), Connor Czora (they/them); Belle-Pilar Fleming (she/her); Ron Geibel (he/him); Kathy King (she/her); August Lantz (they/them); Bri Murphy (they/them); Leo Minsky (he/him); Jinsik Yoo (he/him)
Adam Chau; curator (he/him) is an artist and curator in Connecticut. He holds a Masters of Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and researches technology within craft. In 2018 he was awarded the NCECA Emerging Artist Fellowship and in 2019 he became a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, a UNESCO partner.
PLATITUDE is part of A.P.E.'s Guest Curator Program.
This exhibition is made possible in part by a grant from the Artist Resource Trust Fund, a fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
May 24; 6 - 7:30pm
GALLERY TALK and CLOSING RECEPTION
with Kathy King and Leslie Ferrin
We are thrilled to host Leslie Ferrin (founder of Northampton’s Pinch! in 1979) and Kathy King (exhibiting artist in PLATITUDE) for what promises to be an insightful Gallery Talk about the exhibition and history of serviceware in the United States.
During the talk Leslie Ferrin and Kathy King will excavate some of the complex conversations held within the exhibition, including contemporary queer artists’ responses to the history of ceramic serviceware as a medium for commemoration, timekeeping, and fostering national and familial identity.
Included in the exhibition is an historic commemorative plate of Mt. Rushmore from Leslie Ferrin’s collection which sits in direct dialogue with exhibition artist Bri Murphy’s Mending Rushmore project. About this project, Murphy states: “the works in Mending Rushmore aim to pose difficult questions about representation, justice, and the lingering scars of colonialism on the American landscape. It is the hope of the artists to bring a deeper conversation about national pride and history, and the ways we choose to commemorate and to forget.”
King and Ferrin’s conversation will also explore the way these artists use plates, platters, and dishware as a means to bring forth both historic and contemporary aspects of queer identity.
Kathy King is currently an active studio artist in the Boston area and is an Instructor and the Director of the Harvard Ceramics Program. In her work, King uses satirical humor, irony and sarcasm to provide a seductive vehicle to approach issues of gender and sexuality.
Leslie Ferrin is the director of Ferrin Contemporary and Project Art (both in Cummington, MA). Specializing in contemporary ceramic art 1950 – present, Ferrin is an internationally respected curator focused on ceramics working in support of artists, private collectors and in partnership with galleries and museums throughout the USA and internationally. She also founded Pinch! in Northampton in 1979.
During the talk Leslie Ferrin and Kathy King will excavate some of the complex conversations held within the exhibition, including contemporary queer artists’ responses to the history of ceramic serviceware as a medium for commemoration, timekeeping, and fostering national and familial identity.
Included in the exhibition is an historic commemorative plate of Mt. Rushmore from Leslie Ferrin’s collection which sits in direct dialogue with exhibition artist Bri Murphy’s Mending Rushmore project. About this project, Murphy states: “the works in Mending Rushmore aim to pose difficult questions about representation, justice, and the lingering scars of colonialism on the American landscape. It is the hope of the artists to bring a deeper conversation about national pride and history, and the ways we choose to commemorate and to forget.”
King and Ferrin’s conversation will also explore the way these artists use plates, platters, and dishware as a means to bring forth both historic and contemporary aspects of queer identity.
Kathy King is currently an active studio artist in the Boston area and is an Instructor and the Director of the Harvard Ceramics Program. In her work, King uses satirical humor, irony and sarcasm to provide a seductive vehicle to approach issues of gender and sexuality.
Leslie Ferrin is the director of Ferrin Contemporary and Project Art (both in Cummington, MA). Specializing in contemporary ceramic art 1950 – present, Ferrin is an internationally respected curator focused on ceramics working in support of artists, private collectors and in partnership with galleries and museums throughout the USA and internationally. She also founded Pinch! in Northampton in 1979.
Leslie Ferrin with works by Connor Czora (Trenton Vase) and Elizabeth Alexander (plate), Russell Biles (sculpture); photo John Polak