Extended to July 12, 2015
Curatorial Statement
To commemorate its founding, emergence, and imprint on the global map of cultural institutions, AMOCA is unveiling a select group of treasures in the exhibition Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future. This exhibition features art from the permanent collection in a celebration of AMOCA’s 10 year Anniversary. These masterworks represent the high points in the history of ceramics, with a focus on the nineteenth century to the present. This showcase will include the big, bold, and daring conjoined with the intimate, refined, and pristine; the handcrafted opposed with the industrial; the abstract counterpoised with the figurative; and the vessel juxtaposed with the sculptural.
The exhibition will give a view to the aesthetic horizon of the ceramics landscape, revealing the achievements of the past and positing possibilities for the future. Visitors will experience the fascinating story of three centuries of ceramic production, narrated through exemplar objects that connect the traditional with the contemporary, transverse borders and civilizations, embrace experimentation, and intersect, reflect, and interpret diverse cultures. This visual feast will be told in thematic groupings that include monumental figures, over-the-top baroque vessels, a parade of cups and teapots, and a circus of animalia sculptures, among other delights.
During the past decade, AMOCA’s core collection has grown, developed, and “come of age” through devoted philanthropy and strategic acquisition. First and foremost, the museum’s progress and success have been the result of the resolute efforts of founder David Armstrong. Working in partnership with dedicated staff and a guiding Board of Trustees, Armstrong has engendered a productive collaboration, bringing depth and breath to the institution and nurturing the expansion of the collection.
On view will be exceptional examples of ceramics drawn from the donations of the large, singular collections of David and Julie Armstrong, Frieda Bradshear, Bill Burke, Spencer Davis, Bob and Colette Wilson, James and Jackie Voel, Gail M. and Robert A. Brown, and Enrique Serrato, all major donors. Complementing this arrangement will be outstanding pieces from individuals who have gifted key works to AMOCA since its inception.
On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, AMOCA swings wide its vault doors and shares its splendors with the viewing public. We invite you to journey through this vast ceramic wonderland and become enlightened, intrigued, and inspired.
—Jo Lauria, Guest Curator