 |
|---|
Current Exhibitions
Opening Reception Friday, May 24, 6 – 8 pm
Four McKnight Artists will feature the work of the 2012 McKnight Fellowship recipients Brian Boldon (Minneapolis) and Ursula Hargens (Minneapolis), as well as the 2011 McKnight Resident Artists Edith Garcia (London, UK) and Janet Williams (Charlotte, NC). This annual exhibition provides the artists who are generously supported by the McKnight Foundation with the opportunity to showcase the successes of their residency or fellowship.
Brian Boldon received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence and his BS in art from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He maintains a very active exhibitions schedule, with such recent shows as the 2012 invitational, Push Play, at the 46th annual NCECA conference, Bellevue Arts Museum, WA; The New Materiality: Digital Dialogues at the Boundaries of Contemporary Craft, Asheville Art Museum, NC; and Craft Meets Technology, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville. Over the past four years, Boldon has completed ten public art commissions across the country. He relocated to the Twin Cities in 2008, where he currently maintains In Plain Sight Studios, “an experimental collaborative space that integrates digital media with ceramics, glass, sculpture, architecture, and public spaces.” Boldon spent his McKnight year developing large-scale, freestanding sculptures that integrate digital ceramic printing into three-dimensional spaces. 
Edith Garcia holds an MPhil from the Royal College of Art, School of Applied Arts, London, UK. She received her MFA from the California College of Arts in San Francisco, CA, and her BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Her experience-driven sculptures have been exhibited worldwide, including exhibitions such as Naughty and Nice, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, IL; the 2011 Royal College of Art Research Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK; Made at the Clay Studio, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA; and Contemporary Monsters, Northern Clay Center, which she guest curated. Most recently, Garcia authored the book, Ceramics and the Human Figure that was released in the US in late June 2012. Garcia’s work is a constant depiction of her everyday observations and experiences. Her content is driven by personal life changes and contemporary issues specific to the human condition.
Ursula Hargens is a two-time McKnight Ceramic Artist Fellowship recipient; she received her first in 2009. She earned her MFA in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY; her MA in art and art education from Columbia University Teachers College in New York City; and her BA in Russian Language and Literature, also from Columbia University in the City of New York. Her recent exhibition activity has included Ide la Fleur, Mudfire Gallery, Decatur, GA; La Mesa, 2012 NCECA Conference, Seattle WA; and Cups and Coffee, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA. Hargens has taught extensively throughout the Twin Cities at universities and community colleges, as well as with NCC's adult ClayToGo programs. She has worked during her fellowship year to gain a better understanding of the market for large-scale tile installations, to refine the materials and techniques she employs for the tile installations, and to further develop her surface decoration in response to her research and interests.
Janet Williams is currently assistant professor of ceramics at University of North Carolina–Charlotte. She holds two BAs in Fine Art, one from Middlesex Polytechnic in London, England, and one from École des Beaux Arts in Aixen-Provence, France. She also received an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Her sculptural work has been featured in exhibitions and installations worldwide, most recently at the Tampa International Airport in Florida; in the 6th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale 2011 Competition, in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea; as well as the 2012 exhibition at Northern Clay Center, Repetitive Nature. Much of Williams' work is connected to “place” and explores the geography of the United States (her adopted home) as well as the transition from “tourist” to “inhabitant.”The McKnight Ceramic Artist program is supported by The McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis, Minnesota.