The Idea of Feeling Brown
Exhibition dates: January 27 through April 7, 2024
Opening reception: January 27 | 7-9 pm
The Scripps College Ceramic Annual, the longest continuous exhibition of contemporary ceramics in the nation, enters its 79th year with The Idea of Feeling Brown. Curated by Jasmine Baetz, Lincoln Visiting Artist in Ceramics at Scripps, the exhibition features new and recent ceramic works by 13 artists from the United States and Canada: Lucero Aguirre, Karla Ekatherine Canseco, Reniel Del Rosario, Magdolene Dykstra, Habiba El-Sayed, Raheleh Filsoofi, Joanna Keane Lopez, Heidi McKenzie, noé olivas, Claudia V. Solórzano, Christian Vistan, Patrice Renee Washington, and Xia Zhang.
Looking to the work of queer performance theorist José Esteban Muñoz for inspiration, Baetz has selected artworks that engage with his writings on brownness and identity. “I invited artists with a range of approaches to ceramics whose work speaks to Muñoz’s,” notes Baetz. “Their work conveys historical consciousness, situated understanding, feeling, and emotion.”
Many of the pieces demonstrate innovative approaches to ceramics, incorporating digital media, performance, or immersive installations.The Idea of Feeling Brown is accompanied by a full-color publication featuring an essay entitled “Feeling Brown, Together” by Kristie Soares, Assistant Professor of Women & Gender Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Limited-edition zines co-published by Christian Vistan and Claremont Colleges students that feature interviews with the exhibiting artists will also be available. In conjunction with the exhibition, join us for these free, exciting programs:
Artist Talk and Exhibition Sneak Preview with Magdolene Dykstra
Friday, January 19 | 4–5 pm
Using sculpture, installation, and mark-making, Magdolene Dykstra explores the tensions between individuality and collectivity, visibility and anonymity, impermanence and transformation. Get a sneak preview of the Ceramic Annual and learn more about the artist’s work. Supported by the Harper Lecture Funds.
Artist Talk and Exhibition Sneak Preview with Habiba El-Sayed
Friday, January 26 | 4–5 pm
Focused on the themes of human fragility, empathy, and perception, Habiba El-Sayed parallels mythology with contemporary experience to re-imagine historical references using a combination of both old and new technologies. Get a sneak preview of the Ceramic Annual and learn more about the artist’s work. Supported by the O’Brien Lecture Funds.
Opening Reception
Saturday, January 27 | 7–9 pm
Celebrate the opening of the 79th Ceramic Annual with food, drink, a vinyl DJ set by dj diA (Radio Realness and Synthdactyl Program, KSPC), and an in-gallery performance by Reniel Del Rosario.
In-Gallery Performance by Reniel Del Rosario
Sunday, February 18 | 10 am–12 pm (during Family Weekend Reception)
Reniel Del Rosario and students from the Claremont Colleges activate his installation ‘Round These Here Parts (Gnihton Market/Jen+Friar Gallery). Supported by the Holmes Performing Arts fund.
79th Ceramic Annual Lecture, Conversation, Performance:
Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, Jasmine Baetz, and Lynne Thompson
Thursday, March 28 | 6–8 pm
Balch Auditorium and Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery
Scripps Presents, in collaboration with the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, is excited to celebrate the 79th Scripps College Ceramic Annual, the longest continuous exhibition of contemporary ceramics in the United States.
Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and co-director of the Asian American Art Initiative at Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center, will speak about the embodied possibilities of clay and its simultaneously overt and elusive relationship to race. A conversation between Alexander and Scripps College Lincoln Visiting Artist in Ceramics Jasmine Baetz will follow.
Audience members will then be invited to view the Ceramic Annual during a reception at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery. Curated by Jasmine Baetz, the exhibition features thirteen artists from the United States and Canada whose work engages with the writing of queer performance theorist José Esteban Muñoz. The reception will also feature Lynne Thompson, former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles and Chair of the Board of Trustees at Scripps College, reading new work from her forthcoming book Blue on a Blue Palette: Poems.
The lecture, conversation, and reception are free and open to the public. Reserve your space today!
Artist Talk with Lucero Aguirre
Friday, April 5 | 4–5 pm
Lucero Aguirre combines storytelling and a variety of media to examine the effects of colonialism on the children of first-generation immigrants living in the United States. Join for an in-depth discussion of their practice. Supported by the Clark Lecture Funds.
In-Gallery Performances by Reniel Del Rosario
Sunday, March 3, and Sunday, April 7 | 12–4 pm
Reniel Del Rosario and students from the Claremont Colleges activate his installation ‘Round These Here Parts (Gnihton Market/Jen+Friar Gallery). Supported by the Holmes Performing Arts fund.