Conversing in Clay: Ceramics from the LACMA Collection

This exhibition at the Los Angeles County of Museum of Art (until 21 May 2023) considers the history of ceramic art by placing contemporary artworks in dialogue with historical works in clay. Comprising 14 pairings drawn from LACMA’s collections, the exhibition reveals how the artists of today often refer to traditional ceramic practices. Nicholas Galanin’s large-scale installation I Dreamt I Could Fly (2013) – a comment on the persecution of Indigenous peoples in North America, made up of 60 suspended porcelain arrows – is juxtaposed with an 18th-century Dutch tobacco jar showing depictions of Indigenous North American stereotypes. Additional highlights include Steven Young Lee’s Jar with Tiger and Clouds (2019), a contemporary take on 18th-century Korean ceremonial vases that bears an illustration of the cereal mascot Tony the Tiger in place of the traditional dragon motif. Find out more on LACMA’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

LA: A Century of Gangsta (2018), Roberto Lugo. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Gift of Wexler Gallery and Roberto Lugo. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA; © Roberto Lugo

Century Vase (c. 1876), Karl Müller for Union Porcelain Works. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Decorative Arts Acquisitions Fund and Museum Acquisition Fund (M.87.3). Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA

Posset Pot with Crown Cover (c. 1685), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Decorative Arts Council Fund. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA

Trophy Wife (2019), Elyse Pignolet. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Gift of Debbie and Mark Attanasio and Kelly and Steve McLeod. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA; © Elyse Pignolet

Jar with Tiger and Clouds (2019), Steven Young Lee. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Gift of Debbie and Mark Attanasio and Kelly and Steve McLeod. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA; © Steven Young Lee