POMONA, CALIF (PNAN) – On view through Sunday, March 12, 2023, “Breaking Ground: Women in California Clay” at the American Museum of Ceramic Art is an exhibition celebrating 44 artists who have defined and redefined ceramics over the past 100 years were women who faced adversity due to gender inequality and were often ignored or overlooked in favor of their male counterparts. These incredibly determined women pushed forward, driven by creativity and tenacity.
The show places the spotlight on the significant shifts in California ceramics over several generations of women artists with the story told in three sections, using the artist’s “breaking ground period” (rather than their date of birth) to determine their place in history.
The story begins with trailblazers, Laura Andreson, Betty Davenport Ford, Stefani Gruenberg, Vivika Heino, Elaine Katzer, Mary Lindheim, Martha Longenecker, Gertrud Natzler, Susan Peterson, Ruth Rippon, Susi Singer, Helen Ritcher Watson, Marguerite Wildenhain and Beatrice Wood who laid the groundwork for the field and inspired successive generations of artists.
A film by Eric Minh Swenson. EMS Legacy Films is a continuing series of short films produced by EMS on artists and exhibitions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24BNf9RWEjg
The second section includes a disparate group of artists who explored or are exploring the female figure, feminism and the creation of the perfect form. Works by Judy Chicago, Dora De Larios, Roseline Delisle, Viola Frey, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, Phyllis Green, Margaret Keelan, Karen Koblitz, Marilyn Levine, Elsa Rady, Lisa Reinertson, Nancy Selvin, Anna Silver, and Sandy Simon mark a substantial break in artmaking from their predecessors.
The final section represents a younger generation of artists working to shift the perspective who are: Ashwini Bhat, Christina Erives, Keiko Fukazawa, Jenny Hata Blumenfield, Julia Haft-Candell, Anabel Juarez, Cathy Lu, Brittany Mojo, Crystal Morey, Kristen Morgin, Annabeth Rosen, Erika Sanada, Joan Takayama Ogawa, Kim Tucker, Anna Valdez, and Bari Ziperstein. In many ways, their works continues the conversation of the artists featured in the second chapter to traverse the themes of politics, identity, the environment and other prevailing issues of globalization, colonialism and reclaiming histories that have become increasingly important in the lives of practicing women artists.
For more information, www.amoca.org about this exhibition and other programming. Breaking Ground is viewing the Armstrong Gallery, Gallery B and The Vault through March 12, 2023. Note: An In-person Members Tour is scheduled for Wednesday, December 14, 2022 from 12:00-1:00 pm.