“Paula Winokur: Geological Sites”
A
survey of work in porcelain
November 1 - December 17, 2006
OPENING EVENT
Tuesday, November 14 at 6:30 p.m.
Stiteler Auditorium, Murphy Hall
Conversation between the artist and Helen W. Drutt English, founder/director
Helen Drutt: Philadelphia
Opening reception
to follow in the gallery, 7:30-9 p.m.
About the Show
"Paula Winokur: Geological Sites" is a compact
survey of sculpture in porcelain by this internationally recognized,
Philadelphia-based artist. Opening with a selection of intimately scaled
boxes and panoramas from the early 1970s, this exhibition delineates
her evolution toward increasingly large-scale, wall-mounted shelves,
shrine-like ledges, and fireplace surrounds. In addition to showcasing
a new monumental, floor-based work made expressly for this exhibition,
the show will feature a selection of recent monoprints made with wet
clay that suggest precisely rendered, photographic landscapes. Porcelain—traditionally
associated with cups, saucers, and fragile figurines—in Winokur's hands,
becomes a volatile substance that yields a wealth of readings that arise
from an organic fusion of material and subject. Both embodying and describing
the geological phenomena that inspire her, these works evoke the timeless
silence and awe for the sensual skin of the earth.
Paula Winokur (born 1935) has received international acclaim for her
contributions to the field of ceramics. Examples of her porcelain sculpture
can be found in permanent collections across the United States as well
as notable collections abroad. Since the early 1970s she has exhibited
her work at venues worldwide. In 1986, her practice was distinguished
by her inclusion in "Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical," the
inaugural exhibition for the American Craft Museum (now the Museum of
Arts and Design) in New York. A graduate of Tyler School of Art (Elkins
Park, Pennsylvania), Winokur has been recognized with two fellowships
from the National Endowment for the Arts (in 1976 and 1988) as well as
numerous grants, including two from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
(the most recent in 2004). In 2002 she was appointed a fellow with the
American Crafts Council. Winokur served as professor of ceramics at Arcadia
University (formerly Beaver College) from 1973 to her retirement in 2003.
Brochure with text by Sandra Firmin, Curator, University of Buffalo Art
Gallery, available.
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