|
|
|
| Christa Assad and Kevin Wickham in the studio with Breathe, photo courtesy of Kim Harrington |
|
Celebrated Artist Christa Assad Returns to NCECA
March 10, 2016
Belger Crane Yard Studios
2011 Tracy Avenue
Kansas City, MO 64108
816-474-3250
www.craneyardstudios.org
For more information contact: Kelly Seward, Marketing Manager
kseward@belger.net
For over 20 years, Californian artist Christa Assad has been a prominent figure in contemporary ceramics. Her “re-objectified” thrown and constructed sculptural vessels earned Assad the title of “Ceramic Artist of the Year” in 2012 by Ceramics Monthly Magazine. The accolade is just one of many for Assad, a Fulbright scholar with an enviable ceramics pedigree: a MFA in Ceramics from Indiana University and coursework from the University of Leeds, England, Pennsylvania State University, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in China.
In February 2014, Assad broke her back jumping out of her burning home and lost nearly all of her possessions. The ceramics community quickly came to her aid. Friends and supporters created a virtual presence for the artist at the 2014 National Council for the Education of Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Conference and later developed a crowd-sourcing campaign, “Help Christa Assad Get Muddy Again,” which drew 855 donors and raised over $50,000.
The injury temporarily kept Assad from her potter’s wheel, prompting her to create art in a new way. Collaborating with architect and designer Kevin Wickham, Assad continued her body of work – commentaries about war and decaying cities – substituting clay with materials such as recycled metal, rubber, and concrete.
Currently on display in the parking lot of Belger Crane Yard Studios (2011 Tracy Ave, Kansas City, MO 64108) is Breathe, a 7 foot tall gas mask, fabricated from recycled tires. Breathe makes reference to the sarin gas attacks in Syria as well as to the natural resources being fought over in wars all over the world. To Assad, the gas mask symbolizes humankind’s need to protect itself from itself. Covering the mask’s reflective lens is a small flock of painted doves signifying lost (or returning) hope.
Sharing the Belger parking lot is Proceed with Caution, a monumental construction cone assembled with recycled scraps of steel. With its outer skin riveted together in a quilt-like fashion, the sculpture signifies the fragile patchwork of a system in need of reinforcement. Covering the cone are painted warnings in the form of corporate logos: Barrick Gold Corporation, DuPont, Koch, Phillip Morris, and Johnson & Johnson, to name a few.
A third piece, Reconstruction, is currently on view at Weinberger Fine Art (114 Southwest Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108). Evoking her ceramics roots, the 7 foot tall teapot is constructed of lightweight concrete and recycled sheet metal. The form refers to the sharing of ritual and the intimacy of sipping tea with friends. Its design and decoration; however, alludes to the incinerators previously used in the American lumber industry. In Reconstruction, Assad addresses the absurdity of the ease with which people disregard one another and our natural resources.
For those familiar with Assad’s work in clay, this new trio of monumental sculptures may come as a surprise. While the materials and dimensions are significantly different, the work maintains the artist’s unmistakable iconography and concern for form and design.
As part of the 2016 NCECA conference May 14 - 17, Assad is also exhibiting select pieces of ceramics work at the Lawrence Arts Center, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, and the Kansas City Convention Center.
|
|
| About Christa Assad:
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, artist Christa Assad is best known for her re-objectification series: teapot designs based on objects and buildings from American industry. According to Assad,
"Growing up in Pittsburgh, PA, I was strongly influenced by the Steel City’s dying industry and the grit of these oft-abandoned sites. Tagged with graffiti and other remnants of trespassers and squatters, the physical remains of these sites serve as archaeological artifacts in the study of human behavior and societal evolution.”
A teacher and full time ceramicist with an MFA from Indiana University (1999), and BA from Penn State (1992), Assad’s work is in the permanent collections of The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Cafesjian Center for the Arts (Yerevan, Armenia), The Ceramic Research Center at Arizona State University Museum, and The Penn State Fulbright Scholar Collection. Her work is reproduced in Garth Clark’s Shards, Kevin A. Hluch’s The Art of Contemporary Pottery, and Lark Books’ 500 Teapots and 500 Pitchers. Assad was named, “Ceramic Artist of the Year,” in 2012 by Ceramics Monthly. Her work is represented by Abmeyer + Wood Fine Art (Washington), and Harvey Meadows Gallery (Colorado). www.christaassad.com
About Kevin Wickham:
Kevin Wickham is the design force behind Terrain Concepts, a design/build studio located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Whether a private residence, public art commission, or sculptural furniture, Terrain Concepts’ designs feature clean, modern forms with minimal impact on the natural environment.
As far back as he can remember, Wickham has had a passion for minimalism as it relates to living spaces and sculpture that work in harmony with their natural surroundings. He was influenced by self-taught Japanese architect Tadao Ando and his use of concrete to express a minimal relationship between interior and exterior.
Over the past 35 years Wickham has designed and built more than 20 of his own projects and countless others for clients and friends in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. As early as 25 years ago, Wickham began incorporating passive design into his buildings including solar energy, water collection, planted roofs and natural lighting and insulation to make the buildings more sustainable. www.terrain-concepts.com
|
| | About Belger Crane Yard Studios:
Since 2000, the Belger Arts Center has encouraged viewers to explore, question, and deepen their understanding of art and of the world around them. Drawing upon the extensive John and Maxine Belger Family Foundation collection as well as a rich variety of local, national, and international artists, the Belger Arts Center has staged over 70 large-scale exhibitions that represent some of the best in contemporary art.
In 2013, Richard and Evelyn Craft Belger expanded the Foundation's commitment to the creative process by opening Belger Crane Yard Studios, a facility dedicated to providing studio and exhibition space for artists working in a variety of media. A range of programming in ceramics education, in addition to a recognized artist residency program, has made the Belger a center for contemporary ceramics.
|
| | | High Resolution Image Links: |
|
| Proceed with Caution at Belger Crane Yard Studios
|
| | Christa Assad and Kevin Wickham, Breathe, 2015, recycled car and truck tires, rebar, Plexiglas, acrylic, hardware, 8’ x 7’ x 9’
|
| | Christa Assad and Kevin Wickman, Reconstruction, 2015, recycled metals, acrylic, and hardware, 7' x 8' x 6' |
| |
