Ten Below
Mindy Solomon Gallery is proud to present “Ten Below”, an exhibition curated by Brian Rochefort and Kiyoshi Kaneshiro. Colleagues and friends, Rochefort and Kaneshiro push the envelope artistically- moving away from the traditional notion of functionality into the realm of expressive abstraction. Selecting artists that reflect their creative sensibilities, as well as including their own work, their presentation is a survey of what is most currently emulated in their ceramic worldview.
“In the face of challenges within a conservative community that upholds the value of tradition above all in both craft and skill, we look to evolve beyond this notion by choosing artists based on ethics and radical thought process, and disregarding the old guard institutional inculcation.
Seemingly incongruous and offset from what we have learned, this is the foundation of our show: a group of artists capable of demonstrating expertise while rejecting the confines of institutionalization. An enigmatic abstraction of works which are rooted in skill and integrity, yet absent of the stagnant conservatism and gatekeeping inherent to our medium.
Every artist working in ceramics for this show maintains reverence for the craft, while also understanding the need to diverge from a movement that has been created and upheld by archaic institutions, and one which no longer serves our medium. This separation is critical and necessary to move forward and develop a higher standard for the future of ceramics.”
About the Artists
Adam Knoche is a ceramic artist living in Dallas, Texas USA. He obtained his MFA degree from Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville in 2014. Adam’s ceramic sculptures are exhibited both nationally and internationally. Adam’s artwork pushes the boundaries of ceramic material through the use of techniques that were developed and researched during his academic studies and travels abroad. In 2019, Adam represented the United States at the Korean International Ceramic Biennale and at the Annual exhibition at the National Council of Educators on the Ceramic Arts Conference. In 2012, Adam completed a residency at Strathnairn Art Association in Canberra, Australia. Publications include Art Ascent Magazine, Ceramics Monthly, Ceramics NOW, Studio Potter, Architecture Digest, Journal of Australian Ceramics, and in 2018 he was awarded Emerging artist in Ceramics Monthly.
Adam Shiverdecker (b. 1980, Arcanum, Ohio) is an artist and educator living in Berkeley, California. He has held multiple artist residencies, including The Archie Bray Foundation, Greenwich House Pottery, and the Tyler School of Art. His work has been shown widely, including recent exhibitions at Museum of Craft and Design, Everson Museum of Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. Adam is currently Associate Professor of Spatial Art at San José State University.
Alex Zablocki is an American Ceramic Artist whose work takes apart the ceramic vessel and re-animates its constituent parts, incorporating vestiges of utilitarian ceramics which slip along saturations of colored glaze. In 2008, Alex received his Bachelor in Fine Arts from Finlandia University and has since then pursued two Post-Baccalaureate programs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Colorado State University and a residency at the Anderson Ranch Art Center in Aspen Colorado. In 2017 he received his Master of Fine Arts from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Alex currently works as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics and Sculpture at Alma College. His work has been shown both nationally and internationally at a wide range of galleries and art centers including; The Red Lodge Clay Center in Red Lodge Montana, The Archie Bray Foundation in Helena Montana, The CC Gallery in Taiwan and ALCOVA Design Week, Milan Italy, Galerie Italienne Paris France. His work is currently hosted at Culture Object in New York City, The Galleria Luisa Delle Piane in Milan Italy, the M.F.A. Collection of Alfred’s Ceramic Arts Museum ACAM in Alfred, New York along with other private collections.
Ashwini Bhat, an artist born in southern India, currently lives and works in the Bay Area, California. Coming from a background in literature and classical Indian dance, she now works at the intersection of sculpture, ceramics, installation, and performance. She often introduces radical but somehow familiar forms to suggest complex interplay between the landscape, the human, and the non-human. Bhat was awarded a McKnight Foundation Residency Fellowship for 2021 and she was a recipient of Howard Foundation Award for Sculpture. Her work has been exhibited nationally & internationally and can be seen in collections at the Newport Art Museum, USA; Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan; FuLe International Ceramic Art Museum, China; the Watson Institute at Brown University, USA; New Bedford Historical Society, USA; Daugavpils Mark Rothko Centre, Latvia, and in many private collections. Her sculpture also has been widely reviewed and featured in Los Angeles Review of Books (USA), Alta Journal (USA), Brooklyn Rail (USA), Lana Turner: a Journal of Poetry and Opinion (USA), Riot Material (USA), Ceramic Art and Perception (USA/Australia),, Ceramics Ireland (Ireland), New Ceramics (Germany), Caliban (USA), Crafts Arts International (Australia), The Studio Potter (USA), Logbook (Ireland), and Ceramics Monthly (USA). Bhat is the guest curator for the 77th Scripps Annual, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Claremont, CA, 2022. Her work will be shown in Objects USA 2020, NY and at American Museum of Ceramic Art, CA in 2022.
Brian Rochefort (b. 1985) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. He holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (2007) and participated in the Lillian Fellowship Residency at the Archie Bray Foundation (2009). Rochefort has participated in group exhibitions, at The Cabin (Los Angeles, CA), Sorry We’re Closed (Brussels, BLG), Retrospective Gallery, (Hudson, NY), and Steve Turner Gallery (Los Angeles, CA). He was awarded the Lillian Fellowship from the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts in Montana, 2007-2008. Rochefort is currently included in the museum exhibitions Regarding George Ohr at Boca Raton Museum of Art, FL and From Funk to Punk at Everson Museum of Art, NY, both 2017.
Jenny Hata Blumenfield, b. 1988 in Los Angeles, CA, is a ceramic artist living and working in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated with Honors from The Rhode Island School of Design (2010) with a BFA in Ceramics. Jenny’s work subverts existing tropes of the feminine identity, craft and liminality through the lens of playful symbolism. Previously seen at venues including The Hole in New York City; Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, New Jersey; The Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles, CA; and Fisher Parrish Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. She recently was invited to speak as a panelist for the Asia Society in Tokyo, Japan and was a recipient of the Anderson Ranch Artist in Residence Ceramic program.
Kiyoshi Kaneshiro (b. 1996, New York) received a BFA from Alfred University (2018). His work has been included in group exhibitions at Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami (2018 & 2019); Anonymous Gallery, Paris (2019) and Steve Turner, Los Angeles (2019). He lives and works in Alfred, New York.
Liu Xi was born in 1986 in Shandong province. After graduating from the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2010, Liu Xi moved to Shanghai and set up her studio there. Constantly experimenting with the technical and aesthetic boundaries of ceramics and the material possibilities of clay and glazes, Liu explores themes of sexuality and gender, self-discovery, identity and freedom. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in China and abroad including in Portugal, Norway, Spain, Korea and the United Kingdom. Her works have been included in various international Ceramics Biennales, receiving prizes and awards. She actively participates in residency programs, including in Bali, Taiwan, Indian ,Mexico and YiXing. Liu Xi lives and works in between Shanghai and Jingdezhen.
Stephen Creech (USA, b. 1983) received a BA (2006) from the University of Morehead, Kentucky and an MA in (2008) from the University of Morehead, Kentucky. He has worked in Los Angeles as a studio assistant for Peter Gernz and managed four ceramic studios over the years. In 2012, he began working at American Art Clay, a ceramic materials manufacturer, where he currently holds the title of Director of Marketing and Development. Among other accomplishments, Stephen co-founded Clay Week, an organization that celebrates ceramics globally, and Indy Clay Coop, a ceramics gallery in Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition to leading these organizations, Stephen maintains a home studio in Indianapolis where he lives with his wife and cat.
YehRim Lee was born into clay. Raised in Cheong ju Korea by two ceramic artist parents, she earned her B.F.A in ceramics from Korea National University of Cultural Heritage (2013) where she traveled as an exchange student to Jingdezhen China, the porcelain capital of the world. Thoroughly steeped in the rich traditions of traditional East Asian ceramics, she yearned to explore more contemporary aesthetics and her own selfexpression. So, she came to California State University Long Beach as a Post-Baccalaureate in Ceramic Arts (2014-2015). There she found the sculptural voice that led her to the MFA in Ceramic Art at Alfred University (2017). Since then, she has shown work nationally and internationally at shows like the The Shifting Reverence (NCECA), and the Korean International Ceramic Biennale. She has been a visiting resident artist at the University of Georgia in the ceramics department (2017-2018), The University of the Arts (2019), and the Clay Studio in Philadelphia (2019-2020). She is currently a long-term resident at the Archie Bray Foundation, in Helena, Montana. Born into clay, she hopes that clay will continue to shape her future.
