12 53SA

Danville Chadbourne: Retrospective Part 3 – Ceramic Vessels 1970-2013
December 4, 2015 – January 16, 2016
Closing Reception: Saturday, January 16, 2015, 3-5pm | Artist Talk at 4pm

SAY Sí is pleased to announce the opening of Danville Chadbourne: Retrospective Part 3 – Ceramic Vessels 1970-2013. Comprised of nearly 75 works, this exhibition explores the San Antonio sculptor’s creative use and adaptation of ceramic vessel forms over the course of his career, from 1970 to recent times. Drawn primarily from works in the artist’s collection, the show also includes select work from private and museum collections to present a comprehensive view of Chadbourne’s work in this format.

The exhibition is part of an ongoing series of retrospectives that began in 2009 to focus on various aspects of Chadbourne’s diverse body of work. Originally presented at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts – an institution with a long and respected engagement with ceramics – the show was presented in conjunction with Chadbourne’s tenure as the featured artist for the 2013 West Texas Triangle exhibitions. In reprising the show, SAY Sí is pleased to present these masterful ceramic works to San Antonio audiences.

The 75 ceramic works on display range from some of Chadbourne’s earliest works in the 1970s to pieces created within the last few years. From smoke-fired earthenware and elegant high-fire glazed stoneware, to the rich, complex, painterly surfaces of Chadbourne’s use of acrylic on earthenware, the exhibition explores a range of technique, form and philosophical engagement with the elemental vessel format. Elaborating the artist’s long-term investigation of interrelated formal and conceptual ideas, the exhibition also includes a small number of paintings and wood panel works related to the vessels. The accompanying 48-page exhibition catalogue includes statements by the artist; from Howard Taylor, Executive Director of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts; and an insightful essay by Paul McCoy, Professor, Ceramist-in-Residence, and Director of the Allbritton Art Institute at Baylor University.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Known for his craftsmanship and use of primal materials such as wood and clay, Chadbourne’s work is often likened to a body of cultural artifacts. The visual and ritual impact of these beautiful objects is made more complex by their provocative, poetic and often paradoxical titles. They are, in essence, monuments to irrational ideas and human impulses.

Danville Chadbourne was born in Bryan, Texas in 1949. A resident of San Antonio since 1979, Chadbourne taught at the college level for 17 years until he devoted himself in 1989 to working full-time on his artwork. Chadbourne has been featured in over 100 one-person shows and numerous group exhibitions. His works are included in many public and private collections across the nation.