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Baylor Museum to Exhibit SFA Ceramicist's Work
Sylvia Bierschenk - October 16, 2007
NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Works by ceramicist Piero Fenci, professor of art at Stephen F. Austin State University, will be exhibited at the Martin Museum of Art of Baylor University Thursday, Oct. 25, through Thursday, Nov. 29.
The show, titled "Piero Fenci: Contemporary Ceramics," will include sculptural earthenware vessels plus ink on paper drawings which refer to the ceramic pieces.
On Monday, Nov. 5, Fenci will visit the Baylor campus to deliver a public lecture, "Chasing Beauty," in which he will discuss the strategies he employs in the development of his art. He will then remain on campus through Tuesday, Nov. 6, to construct a vessel from start to finish, demonstrating his techniques to Baylor art students.
Fenci said he looks at past culture's utilitarian objects that were not originally made from clay--perhaps a Shaker hatbox from New York state made in 1920, and a suit of armor from Japan made in 1820--and intuitively connects them.
"I then reinvent these influences out of clay, fusing their disparate styles in a personal idiom which is contemporary and poetic," Fenci explained.
The drawings included in the exhibition are spin offs of the ceramicist's process.
"Unfettered by the physics of gravity, ceramic engineering and the limits of the medium of fired clay, (the drawings) are flights of fancy," said Fenci. "The images can float in midair, split in half, turn somersaults, and morph into organic entities."
Fenci has been a member of the SFA faculty since 1975. His ceramic vessels have been featured in magazines and books such as Ceramics Monthly, American Ceramics, The Contemporary Potter, and Clay and Glazes for the Potter.
He has exhibited his work from coast to coast, earning a national reputation as a ceramicist. His work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and in the Tyler Museum of Art.
The Martin Museum of Art is located in the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Art Center of Baylor University. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free.
For more information about the Martin Museum of Art, please call (254) 710-6390.