September 15 – October 18 CA Gallery II
Department of Creative Arts Purdue University West Lafayette, IN
This exhibition of small ceramic works has tapped a vein of gently humorous fantasy surfacing in American ceramics since the early 1970s. The size limitations of this exhibition – that work must fit into an Orton pyrometric cone box – seemed to stimulate the imagination of those ceramists whose style incorporates anecdotal or verbal associations. Thus many entries utilized pyrometric cones as visual and/or verbal subject matter. Additionally, miniature scenes of psuedo-archaeological subjects, personal mythology, and surreal humor abounded.
Entries in the categories of abstract sculptural works and utilitarian pieces were in the minority, due undoubtedly to the necessity in many cases for a larger scale for these works to be meaningful. However, in spite of he limited number of entries in these areas, a few of the finest pieces in the show are in the small abstract sculpture and traditional/functional categories.
The predominance of anecdotal, representational subject matter elicited by the prospectus for this exhibition does indicate the small size in ceramics continues – as it has throughout history – to be associated with light-hearted subjects. The Cone Box Show, through size limitation, provides us with a valuable glimpse into this aspect of contemporary American ceramics.
Elena Canavier August 29, 1975