Winding Way
Lauren Mabry: Winding Way
Plinth Gallery
3520 Brighton Boulevard, Denver, CO 80216
April 2-May 29, 2021
Admission: Free
Review by Marsha Mack
It seems like ceramic objects are suddenly appearing everywhere in contemporary art spaces. To the delight and curiosity of audiences, utilitarian and sculptural clay objects are popping up here and there like lumpy mushrooms. [1] They allude to the tactility and gestural responsiveness that professional ceramicists have been hooked on since civilization’s start.
In the wake of social distance and isolation as well as an increasingly digitized reality, the allure of this material shaped by human touch has reached a new apex and ushered in a modern “ceramics renaissance.” But as the newest wave of artists and makers embrace ceramics, it is also important to recognize those who have mastered their craft. Located in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of RiNo, Denver’s Plinth Gallery is an established outpost of the national contemporary ceramics conversation. The current exhibition, Winding Way, is a solo exhibition by Lauren Mabry. It is a visual feast and technical marvel for ceramic newcomers and seasoned ceramicists alike.
On view at Plinth Gallery: in the foreground, Lauren Mabry, Glazescape (pink), 2021, 20.5 x 12 x 2.75 inches, and in the background: Lauren Mabry, Curved Plane (blue), 22.5 x 21 x 3 inches. Both works are part of Lauren Mabry’s solo exhibition Winding Way. Image by Marsha Mack.
Owned and operated by Jonathan Kaplan, Plinth has presented ceramic-centric exhibitions for the past 14 years. Kaplan is also a well-respected figure in the all-too-often parallel art universe of contemporary ceramics. What may seem like a hidden gem to many, this gallery (as well as studio and retail space) serves as a beacon for the national ceramics community, with Kaplan bringing the highest level of professional ceramic objects into the heart of Denver.
The recent popularity of ceramics might increase the legitimacy of a medium that is historically tethered to the war-torn conversation about what is art versus craft. Kaplan invites the newest wave of artists discovering clay to participate in the contemporary ceramics conversation. And how might one bridge the invisible rift between fine art and ceramics? The first step is visiting Plinth Gallery.
Lauren Mabry, Glazescape (lavender), 2021, 13.7 x 15.5 x 5 inches. Image courtesy of Plinth Gallery and the artist.
Currently on view through May 29th, Winding Way offers visitors a peek through drippy columns of opaque, candy-colored glazes into the world of an artist’s rare niche skills. Lauren Mabry harnesses a specialized area of the field of ceramics: the dazzlingly technical and materially grounded. Formulated with scientific fervor and refined with measured precision, the glaze results seen in the pieces in Winding Way are truly uncommon. The works highlight playful material revelations, and the thickness and behavior of these glazes are unprecedented. Mabry’s ceramic sculptures, composed of earth minerals combined in exact proportions and applied with painterly skill, equate to modern alchemy.
A detail image of Lauren Mabry, Glazescape (lavender), 2021, 13.7 x 15.5 x 5 inches. Image by Marsha Mack.
In addition to technical wizardry, Winding Way features elaborate surfaces and angular, closed vessels bursting with energy. Reminiscent of modernist sculpture, Mabry’s complex surfaces of layered glazes reveal her adept eye for color and composition. Through her use of unmuddied tones of velvety lavender, wheat yellow, and deep chartreuse, punctuated by stark lines of black or punches of candy apple red, we can see that color theory is at the heart of Mabry’s practice. She applies these colors permanently onto a “canvas” formed by her own hand into the void of three dimensional space. Harmoniously balancing serendipity and years of experience, Mabry utilizes the elemental force of gravity in her self-contained sculptures which expand traditional ceramic objects.
Lauren Mabry, Curved Plane (green shade), 2021, 21.5 x 22 x 4.5 inches. Image courtesy of Plinth Gallery and the artist.
Over the decades, ceramics has long been siloed from broader art conversations and as a result, it has developed a unique richness. Magic is still possible every time a kiln door opens, and anyone who has worked in clay knows the pure bliss of a successful piece as intimately as the stinging heartache of unexplained failure. In Winding Way, Lauren Mabry offers a glimpse into a deliciously technicolor artistic vision backed by technical rigor, and as a true master of her craft, makes it seem easy.
Marsha Mack is a visual artist living and working in Denver, CO. She holds an MFA in ceramics and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Women's and Gender Studies from Syracuse University, and a BFA in ceramics from San Francisco State University. She is the Associate Director of David B. Smith Gallery in Denver, CO, and is a ceramics instructor at the Washington Heights Art center in Lakewood, CO and Foothills Park & Recreation District in Littleton, CO.
[1] In an article titled “The New Zeitgeist of Contemporary Ceramics” from 2017, Courtenay Moon argues that “Today we are seeing more and more artists taking on clay and raising the bar of the medium’s artistic limits.” https://www.sothebysinstitute.com/news-and-events/news/new-zeitgeist-of-contemporary-ceramics
