Mark Chatterley: Beings:Clay Musings on the Human Condition June 25, 2009

Exhibit runs 6/25-8/29; artist reception Thur, 6/25, 5:30-7:30pm; artist visit Sat, 6/27, 11am-1pm

Beings:Clay Musings on the Human Condition, a solo exhibition by internationally known sculptor Mark Chatterley, continuing his exploration of the human figure and relationships in his latest body of work. With Cryptic figures that often seem to relate to one another but not to the viewing world, Chatterley's creations appear to be our primordial counterparts transcending time and geography.

In "New Idea Slipping In", one of several large-scale groupings Chatterley has created by stacking seven female figures in a rhythmic composition, the physical communication explores in depth the attributes of tribal relationships, including: belonging/exclusion, leading/following, connection/solitude, couple/group, insider/outsider and possibly, for the first time, issues of race, as two of the figures that are oriented to face the other five are in a different color glaze. Yet, at first glance, the viewer may only see the compelling composition with its undulating female forms and well balanced negative spaces.

Like ancient Greek sculptures, which have influenced the artist, the works have much to do with the unique physicality of the human body. It is also steeped in the artist's own brand of all-inclusive mysticism. "My work is about traveling in the dream world", Chatterley says, "the place that exists between wakefulness and sleep." Indeed the unusual poses and otherworldly texture of his figures attest to an imagination born of that place.

Chatterley has received over twenty awards from both national and international exhibitions including the Fletcher Challenge Ceramics Award in Auckland, New Zealand, the Taiwan Golden Ceramics Awards in Taipei. He was a participant in the JINRO International Ceramic Art (JICA) Workshop Invitational at the Hong-ik Ceramic Research Institute in Seoul, Korea. Chatterley received an MFA from the Michigan State University in East Lansing, where he continues to maintain his studio.

Tuesday through Saturday, 12pm to 5pm

Official Website: http://www.sculpturesitegallery.com