Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics: The Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection March 4–June 3, 2012
Aoki Katsuyo, Predictive Dream, 2005, porcelain, the MFAH, Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection, gift of Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio. © 2006 Aoki Katsuyo
Kukuli Velarde, We, the Colonized Ones, from the series Isichapuitu, 1997–2001, ceramic and twine, the MFAH, Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection, museum purchase with funds provided by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © Kukuli Velarde
Adrian Saxe, Parisienne Chainsaw Massacre, 1982, stoneware, porcelain, and Raku, the MFAH, Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection, gift of Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio. © Adrian Saxe
Marek Cecula, The Porcelain Carpet, 2002, porcelain and digital decals, the MFAH, Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection, museum purchase with funds provided by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. © Marek Cecula
Jean-Pierre Larocque, Untitled Head, 1996, stoneware, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection, gift of Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio. © J.P. Larocque
Ron Nagle, Cardworthy, 2001, earthenware, the MFAH, Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection, gift of Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio. © Ron Nagle
Beatrice Wood, Chalice, 1984, gold-lustered earthenware, the MFAH, Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection, gift of Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio. © Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts & Happy Valley Foundation
New York-based scholars and gallerists Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio have been leaders in the ceramics field for three decades, assembling one of the most important private collections of contemporary ceramics in the world. In 2007, the MFAH acquired the Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection of some 475 artworks, as well as the accompanying library and artist archive.
Shifting Paradigms presents nearly 160 objects—ceramics and works on paper—from this richly diverse collection, which includes major international figures such as Kenjiro Kawai, Jean-Pierre Laroque, Adrian Saxe, Peter Voulkos, and Beatrice Wood, many of whom are represented in depth, as well as examples by Anthony Caro, Lucio Fontana, Claes Oldenburg, and Grayson Perry.
The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue, copublished by the MFAH and Yale University Press.
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Generous funding is provided by:
Sara and Bill Morgan
Friends of Contemporary Ceramics
Michael W. Dale
The Schissler Foundation
The Susan Vaughan Foundation
Supporters of Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio