January 17–March 29, 2009

In the winter of 2009, Blaffer Gallery, is pleased to present Electric Mud, guest-curated by David Pagel, art critic for the Los Angeles Times and Associate Professor of Art Theory and History at Claremont Graduate University. Featuring the work of Californians Brian Calvin, Ron Nagle, Michael Reafsnyder, James Richards, Anna Sew Hoy and Patrick Wilson, the exhibition explores visual art that confounds the boundaries between clay, traditionally used for its functionality, and paint, conventionally used for aesthetics.

Electric Mud explores the physical similarities and fluid boundaries between clay and paint. It highlights the basic properties of these crude, gooey substances to turn conventional ideas on their ears, confounding preconceived differences between art and craft, painting and ceramics, form and function, leisure and labor, still life and real
life. The six artists in this exhibition suggest that the history of art in California is the history of misfits, renegade artists whose ideas about how things work in the world are so far out of step with the status quo that they make their own poetic sense—and they do it so well so that you can’t help but agree with their propositions about how things should be, right here and right now.

With the show at Blaffer Gallery, “mud” alludes to the simplicity of the media that literally make up the works. Devoid of complex or precious materials, the pieces on display are predominantly made of clay, paint and a few other substances that can be likened to dirt. “Electric” emphasizes the energy that is embodied by the works, specifically as if a radical transformation has taken place in the studio when each of the artists turned earthly matter into objects of beauty.

“The sizzling, scintillating juice that flows between viewers and the works in this show may seem to be magic because none of them has to be plugged in. But it is even more low-tech than that and far more honest than the smoke-and-mirrors stuff of installation-scale festival art,” explains Pagel in the exhibition catalogue. “Although you can’t see this energy, you certainly can feel its effects.” Pagel states that he curated this exhibition in an attempt to reintroduce the mystery in art and present a show that “dazzles and delights” viewers with something new and unseen, yet somewhat incomprehensible.

Related Programs:

Friday, January 16, 6 – 8 p.m.
Opening Reception

Saturday, January 17, 12 p.m.
Curator’s Talk and Luncheon

Wednesday, February 25, 12 p.m.
Brown Bag Gallery Tour

Further Reading:

Douglas Britt in Gloss Magazine (February 2009)

Electric Mud is on view concurrently at Blaffer Gallery with the Center for Land Use Interpretation’s exhibition Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry.

Electric Mud is organized for Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston, by David Pagel, Associate Professor of Art Theory and History at Claremont Graduate University. The exhibition and publication are made possible, in part, by The Cecil Amelia Blaffer von Furstenberg Endowment for Exhibitions and Programs and Houston Endowment, Inc.