MashUp: Objects In Dialogue

Reception: September 1st @5–7pm

Gallery Hours
M-F, 11:30am–2:30pm
Sat, 12–5pm

“MashUp: Objects in Dialogue” is a group exhibition featuring the contemporary porcelain works by Liz Alexander (Salem, NC), Molly Hatch (Northampton, MA), and Christina Pitsch (Manchester, NH). Curated by Gallery Director Leonie Bradbury, the exhibition showcases how each artist explores and challenges the references of pattern, culture, and class that are inscribed within porcelain objects. All three artists are innovatively crossing perceived boundaries between decorative arts, design, and fine art. Described traditionally as “white gold,” porcelain for many centuries was reserved only for the elite and powerful: emperors, kings, and moguls. It wasn’t until the 19th century, that porcelain was produced in the United States and not until the 20th century that ordinary people gained access to porcelain tableware, although “fine china” was and still is a symbol of status and wealth. The artists in this exhibition are fully aware of the complex, politically charged history of their material and explore it to the fullest.

Liz Alexander’s hand cut, found porcelain and bone china (teacups, saucers, and pitchers) are delicate deconstructed icons of domesticity. A self proclaimed “domestic archaeologist,” the artist reworks these antiquated symbols of femininity, class, and the decorative arts to subvert and probe the traditional understanding of the decorated surface and how it is intertwined with gender. Alexander begins by selecting objects containing elaborate decorative or floral surface design. Next, using a refined cutting tool the artist carefully cuts into the porcelain, completely removing all decorative embellishments from the object. Laden with irregular holes and cuts, the once functional ware is now a defunct artifact that takes on a new identity as a culturally critical, yet ethereal sculpture. The absence of pattern transforms the ubiquitous forms of everyday objects from ordinary to fine art.

Molly Hatch explores the relationship between historic and contemporary decorative art, design, and fine art. She is deeply interested in the historical significance, surface design, and pattern of an object, using it as an entry point for re-interpretation within her own practice. Hatch is “fascinated by how we live with objects, how and why we acquire objects, and what happens to them throughout history.” The artist’s “plate paintings” treat the functional surface of ceramic tableware as canvas for painting. After Rigaud: Versailles Orangerie (2014) is comprised of seventy-eight hand-thrown and hand-painted porcelain plates installed in a grid-like pattern. The image is sourced from the Museum of Fine Art Boston, a print by Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV’s court painter. Each plate re-works a portion of the original historical image that collectively coalesce as the artists re-interpretation. The image is neither a traditional plate nor a painting, yet is both at the same time.

Christina Pitsch’s work draws on hybridity of materials, techniques, and subject matter to question cultural iconography and the presumed meanings of decorative objects. She frequently uses flora and fauna in her objects and addresses the dynamic between humans and nature. She combines contrasting vocabularies such as a hunting and trophy aesthetic with porcelain and gold, or cast cardboard with delicate porcelain floral elements. Each object presents a cultural clash between multiple dichotomies. For example: 17th century french chinoiserie is juxtaposed with American hunting culture; slick gold surfaces of a chandelier are contrasted with porcelain deer hooves. Additional contradictions contained within the work are: fancy vs. lowbrow, dirty vs. clean, contemporary vs. historical, and elegance vs. kitsch. Pitsch states, “A tension results when things cannot be cataloged into tidy compartments; it is this tension that I explore.”