Photos and reporting by Robert Kokenyesi, Ceramic Artist, Beachfront Pottery, Godfrey, IL, 62035, USA. If you enjoyed this post, then like the post, and also like my Facebook page. Check out Beachfront Pottery posts on Instagram @beachfrontpottery. There is additional information about Beachfront Pottery on my web site.
The Venue
The Creatures II multimedia exhibit was on display from September 26 through October 22, 2020 in the gallery of ArtStLouis in St Louis, Missouri.
The picture on the left looking down the entire length of the gallery. The yellow tape on the couch is to prevent people from sitting down, as that was a safety requirement during the COVID restrictions in the City of St Louis. The picture on the right is the right half of the gallery space.
The Call for Entry
The call for entry read like this: This juried exhibition will be our follow-up to two successful and enjoyable animal-themed exhibits: 2016’s “Creatures” and 2018’s “Menagerie” exhibitions. Original artworks about animals, critters, pets, beasts, creatures—real or imagined. All explorations & interpretations of the theme are invited. All media, styles and techniques encouraged.
The Ceramic Art Pieces
His general statement reads: The heart of my work has always been centered on the human condition and, more specifically, my own condition. As viewers, we can identify with what it means to be human and the everyday chaos that comes with our daily lives. The creation process is a source of therapy. Through this process of making and self-discovery, I try to connect with the frustration, amusement, disgust, happiness and pain that I feel internally and that is present in our society/popular culture. I use the human form while also substituting such objects as dolls, tools, furniture and toys to make a medley with which the viewer can engage. Such issues as innocence, mortality and the potency of humanity are constant filaments within my design process. My work can be very dark and surreal. I am greatly influenced by the California Funk Art Movement which was anti-establishment and reacted to nonobjective art in the 1960s. Funk artists took everyday objects and placed them in irrational arrangements as a protest to the slick forms of the abstract movement. That absurdity has also carried over into my work, which tends to have a whimsical playfulness to its composition. For more of his art visit his web site.
Her statement for this piece reads: I am an emerging artist exploring a variety of media. The theme of this piece was inspired after a dive trip to the Philippines. I am endlessly fascinated by the creatures in the sea, and the strange and surreal forms they take. I attempted to put a lot of texture detail in the forms, so I chose just to stained the critters, so that the detail wouldn’t be filled with glaze. The I glazed the “water” around and in between them to give a wet appearance. I couldn’t find a dedicated online presence for her.
Her statement for this exhibit reads: This piece is a chimera of toads, frogs, and the Ozark Hellbender, a salamander endemic to a small area of the United States. It has to do with the loss of habitat, and with the precious nature of these creatures. The salamander’s unconventional beauty inspired me to make this work. For more of her art visit her web site.