Patsy Cox: Mouthpiece

On View:	January 13–April 29, 2018
Opening Reception:	Saturday, January 13, 6–9 PM
Artist Presentation:	Saturday, January 13, 7 PM

Mouthpiece is quite literally a collective assembly of mouths biting their lips without voice or sound in frustration and angst. They are either shrinking or growing and it’s not clear where one mouth ends and one begins. This work can be seen as private moments of anger, resistance, and disillusionment as an attempt to negotiate and navigate current affairs that stream through our daily intake of important decisions that have impacts on everyday lives.

This exhibition features artwork made since the inauguration of our current president. Cox attempts to capture a personal reaction in the work that is all-encompassing and visceral. It comes from a place of shock, confusion and contradiction. She feels that this body of work is a retort to the changes in our long-held ideals of freedom and liberty as generated and postured by those that express the opinions and beliefs of our new governmental leadership. Mouthpiece represents spokespersons, officials, media, or other entities that convey the challenging sentiments of a new time.

About the Artist

Patsy Cox received her BFA from Missouri State University and her MFA from the University of Delaware. She is Professor of Visual Art and Head of Ceramics at California State University, Northridge where she has taught since 2000. Cox is a Fellow of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) and served as President from 2010-2016. She participated in the Annenberg Alchemy and Alchemy+ programs for non-profit excellence. She has been a Getty Scholar for the Linking Service Learning and the Visual Arts program and has coordinated courses for the CSU Summer Arts program.