November 2005

Archetypes and Angels at DAC:
The Potter’s Eye at NCMA

The Durham Arts Council will feature two new exhibits both exploring icons and artistic symbolism in the Allenton and Semans Galleries through January 1, 2006. Susan Fecho will display her works in mixed media and digital book art in the Allenton Gallery on the Main Level, while Wasef Matias will display his Coptic Icon panels in the Semans Gallery on the Upper Level of the Durham Arts Council building There will be a special ArtsAlive! Reception held Saturday, November 12th from 5-7 p.m. ArtsAlive! Receptions are free and open to the public.

Barton College Professor of Visual Arts, Susan Fecho will exhibit Assembling the Disparate, a collection of work devoted to cultural semiotics and research. The exhibition images pair dissimilar cultural archetypes, and their distinct qualities, with text analogies to explore the concept of double-articulation and historic anachronisms. Trained as a traditional printmaker, Susan is intrigued by the richness and variety inherent in various techniques Wadesboro, NC resident, Wasef Matias will exhibit his work in the Coptic Icon tradition. Under the tutelage of Coptic Studies in Cairo, Egypt, Wasef continues to create these cultural icons through traditional techniques, using egg tempera and gold leaf that are as old as the art form itself. Egg tempera is a time-consuming process that creates a depth and durability that no other medium has been able to duplicate. This is the only surviving technique that iconographers have used since the early centuries of the Christian era. Wasef is a noted mosaic artists and iconographer and has installed his work in churches and monasteries throughout Egypt, England, Canada, Africa and the United States since 1991. He is one of the very few qualified iconographers working in the Coptic tradition.

The galleries of the Durham Arts Council are open 9am-9pm, Monday- Saturday, and 1-6pm Sunday. They are located at 120 Morris Street, in Durham. Contact information is 919-560-ARTS or online at www.durhamarts.org

The Potter’s Eye: Art and Tradition in North Carolina Pottery, a landmark exhibition highlighting the state’s most distinguished traditional potters, opened at the North Carolina Museum of Art on October 30, 2005. The show will run through March 19, 2006.           

The Potter’s Eye features the work of six living North Carolina potters in addition to masterpieces from the 19th century, highlighting contemporary work and demonstrating historic and aesthetic linkages with early work from Europe, Asia and America.

Co-curated by potters Mark Hewitt and Nancy Sweezy and Museum staff member George Holt, The Potter’s Eye considers important connections between old and new pots and the artistic importance of the North Carolina pottery tradition. It’s roots trace back to the mid-18th century and continues through to the present where folk potters still use local clays; ash, salt and alkaline glazes; and wood-fired kilns.

Examples of 19th-century works by master potters are included in The Potter’s Eye. The exhibition features pots by Daniel Seagle, David Hartzog, Solomon Loy, Timothy Boggs, Nicholas and Himer Fox, Kim Ellington, Mark Hewitt, Ben Owen III, Pam Owens, Vernon Owens and David Stuempfle, members of the Webster and Craven families, and many others.

Nineteenth-century pottery from North Carolina merits comparison with earlier pots found in England, Germany, New England, South Carolina, China, Korea and Japan. The exhibition includes pertinent examples from each of these regions to demonstrate the connections and variations among traditions.

The Potter’s Eye is accompanied by the exhibition catalogue The Potter's Eye: Art and Tradition in North Carolina Pottery, by Mark Hewitt and Nancy Sweezy, published for the Museum by UNC Press.

This exhibition is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts Folk and Traditional Arts Program. Admission is $5 for individuals and $3 for seniors, students and groups of 10 or more. For additional information visit www.ncartmuseum.org or call (919) 839-6262.