High Resolution Images • Press Release
| On View: | March 29–September 28, 2025 |
| Public Reception: | Saturday, March 29, 2025, 4:00–6:00 PM |
Hot! & Ready to Serve: Celebrating Functional Ceramics – Exhibition Overview
Hot! & Ready to Serve explores the rich tradition of functional ceramics—objects created for the rituals of daily life. Throughout history, these objects have connected us through the universal experiences of gathering, preparing, and sharing food and drink.
This exhibition celebrates ceramic objects’ dual roles as utilitarian tools and expressions of cultural and personal identity. From humble tea bowls to elaborate dinnerware, functional ceramic pieces fulfill our practical needs while bringing beauty, good design, and well-crafted objects into our lives.
The works displayed here—some handmade by artists, others designed for factory production—reveal intimate connections between maker and user, form and function, tradition and innovation. Both narrative and functional, each piece carries a story of cultural exchange, technological advancement, and artistic expression. Through decoration, illustration, or impressions of human touch, each work conveys a narrative, written in clay and preserved through heat and fire.
Consider how these objects, designed for touch and use, create meaning through interaction. How might the curve of a cup transform your experience of a favorite beverage? How does a plate’s weight influence your perception of a meal? These vessels shape our sensory experiences and social connections in subtle yet profound ways.
In our digital age, functional ceramics offer a tactile counterpoint to ground us in material reality. They remind us of our connection to earth and fire, human ingenuity, and shared ceremonies of nourishment that unite us across time and place.
Exhibiting Artists
James Aarons
Jerome Ackerman
Laura Andreson
Natalia Arbelaez
Arcadia Ceramics
Victor Babu
Ralph Bacerra
Posey Bacopoulos
Mary Barringer
Billy Al Bengston
Kate Bingaman-Burt
Molly Anne Bishop
Jill Bonovitz
Birdie Boone
Jessica Brandl
Brock of California Pottery
Klai Brown
Brumbeloe Family
Robin Campo
Sophie Cangelosi
Ben Carter
Adam Chau
Sam Chung
Tom Coleman
Phil Cornelius
Michael Corney
Malcolm Davis
Dora De Larios
Rupert Deese
Kim Dickey
Marc Digeros
Eddie Dominguez
East Fork Pottery
Joel Edwards
John Fassbinder
Gene Friley
David Furman
Lauren Gallospy
Bruce Gholson
John Gill
Gladding, McBean
John Glick
Horace Goodwin & Mark C. Webster
David Gordon
Ryan Greenheck
Martha Grover
Bianka Groves
Adam Gruetzmacher
Chris Gustin
Julia Haft Candell
Hall China, Eva Zeisel
Shinsaku Hamada
Shoji Hamada
Jane Hamlyn
Steve Hansen
Sam Harvey
Otto & Vivika Heino
Doug Herren
Steven Hill
Homer Laughlin China Company
Ayumi Horie
Mary Humboldt
Yoshiro Ikeda
Interpace Corporation
Jaru Ceramics
Mel Jacobson
Tove B. Johansen
Daniel Johnston
Karen Karnes
Kristin Keefer
Walter Keeler
Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.
Bernard Kester
James Klein
Kathy King
Knox China, Beatrice Wood
Mary Law
Les Lawrence
Gina Lawson
Stephen Young Lee
Jim Leedy
Scott Lenhart
Forrest Lesch Middleton
Jennifer Lind
Suze Lindsey
Beth Lo
Matt Long
Rene LoPresti
Roberta Lugo
Warren MacKenzie
James Makins
Marc Bellaire Pottery
Tim Mather
Carol McFarlan
Harrison McIntosh
Jim & Nan McKinnell
Ira M. Mead
Alleghany Meadows
Matthew Metz
Kristina Micotti
Rose Misanchuk
Nikki Mizak
Nick Moen
Manuel Morales
Kristin Morgin
Ron Nagle
Scott Nash
Jeff Oestreich
Onda Yaki
Orchardware
Ben Owen, III
Vijay Paniker
Joan Pearson Watkins
Doug Peltzman
Mark Pharis
Ron Philbeck
Pablo Picasso Edition
Don Pilcher
Peter Pincus
Unknown, Pond Farm Student
Myrton Purkiss
Liz Quackenbush
Kari Radasch
Alex Reid
KleinReid
Don Reitz
Steven Roberts
Joellyn Rock
Mary Roehm
lona Romule
Jerry Rothman
Justin Rothshank
Mat Rude
Ben Ryterband
Peter Saenger
Porntip Sangvanich
Akira Satake
Adrian Saxe
Brad Schweiger
Mark Shapiro
Ann Shiesel-Harris
Peter Shire
Esther Shirley
Norman Shulman
Yoshimoto Shuho
Jose Sierra
Michael Simon
Ann Smith
Paul Soldner
Shawn Spangler
Tom Spleth
Suman Pottery
Michelle Summers
Mara Superior
Jeffrey Swindell
Akio Takamori
Shoko Teruyama
Dodie Thayer
Kent Tool
Shannon Tovey
Sandra Trujillo
Tom Turner
Vernon Kilns
Rimas Visgirda
Peter Voulkos
Baba Wagué Diakité
Michaeline Walsh
Weil Ware
Tara Wilson
Winfield Ware
Betty Woodman
Selected Images
Exhibition Acknowledgments
This exhibition is funded, in part, by a grant from the Dew Foundation and by support from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture.
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