June 20th - September 17th , 2008

We are pleased to announce our upcoming group show of “Trompe L’Oeil” ceramics.  These 6 artists use the medium of clay to represent objects from everyday life in the artist’s studio and they truly “fool the eye”.  One is first amazed by the skilled craftsmanship and ability to depict these objects so convincingly – it is hard to believe they are made of clay, fired and glazed – they look so “real”.  The awe of the artistry engages the viewer and draws one into studying the piece, then the content of the sculpture begins to reveal itself. Each of these artists’ work uses our visual sense to trigger another sensation; seeing a painting, hearing music, feeling the heat of a fire or smelling a flower.

David Furman’s exquisite collection of artist’s supplies brings us right into the studio. A dented soup can full of paint brushes, pencils, watercolors, charcoal sticks and erasers conjures up the imagined painted work on paper these materials were used to make. Victor Spinski’s cans of colorful and liquid paint are ready to be dipped into by the paintbrushes in Furman’s clay sculptures and used on Michelle Rigg’s clay easel. 

DC artist Lilianne Milgrom, a self described bibliophile, was moved to create her porcelain books after the disturbing news of the bombing of the Iraqi National Library and Baghdad’s famous bookseller’s street.  Milgrom’s books are burned at the corners as if saved from the inferno and covered with text in Arabic and English poetry.  Paper thin, her porcelain pages only look like they could be turned.

At age 93, Sylvia Hyman continues to work her magic in clay.  Her baskets of rolled up music paper and household objects are legendary in their ability to fool the eye.  She is a master of her medium and an inspiration to all for her longtime commitment to and achievement in her field of art. The clay antique radio, created by John Brickel seems to fill the artist’s studio with music and Linda van der Linde sculpts her porcelain orchids so convincingly, one can smell them.