Monday, September 16, 2013

New work at Gallery 19's Art, Objects & Politics!






























Gallery 19 presents Art, Objects & Politics, opening on Friday October 11th from 6:30-10pm.

Chicago Artists Month Article:

"Gallery 19 will explore the intersection between sculptural objects, art and politics by featuring two Pilsen artists Eric J Garcia is a political cartoonist what just recently was awarded the prestigious Kohler residency and Doug Britt Reyes an emerging ceramic artist who work explores modernist ideas in the ceramic medium."

Click HERE for article
































Statement:

 This "Industry" inspired series of ceramic sculpture is driven by the lingering factory landscapes of the Midwest’s Industrial Revolution. These giants serve as crumbling monuments to America’s former productivity.

Process:

Each factory is put through the Raku process. Taking the bisqueware structures, then heating them to a smoldering 2,000 degrees creates the perfect condition for extreme surface tension. In its heated state the red-hot silica that is the glaze is subjected to blasts of cold water. Cracks shoot down the surfaces, obtaining black pigmentation after being placed  in cans of burning newspaper. The process itself is reminiscent of the Industrial Revolution’s workers handling tongs and smelting equipment, moving the lifeblood of the Midwest through its paces. The crackled and aged-looking surfaces of the work serves as a reminder of the industry’s fading relevance in the face of cheap steel and goods production taking place in China and other low-wage counties. 


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