'Ceramica: Contemporary Clay' open at GOCA 121

The UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art (GOCA) announce a new exhibit surveying the practices of contemporary ceramic art and artists primarily working in our region . “CERAMICA: Contemporary Clay” opens in our downtown Colorado Springs gallery, GOCA121, on Friday, February 8, 5 - 9 pm. Featuring five artists - Corie Cole, Del Harrow, Jerry Morris, Elaine K. Ng and Mark Wong - a public reception includes artist talks starting at 6 pm. The exhibit will be on display through April 12, 2013 - regular gallery hours are Wednesday - Saturday, 12 - 5 pm or by appointment.

GOCA is a contemporary arts organization with two galleries - one founded on the UCCS
campus in 1982 and a satellite opened in 2010 in the Plaza of the Rockies building.

About the artists:

Corie Cole employs humor, cognitive dissonance and the absurd to jar the viewer out of
customary ways of thinking about politics, and to critique the power of the individual and the
figurehead. Cole completed her MFA at Arizona State University in 2008 where her thesis work focused on the social and political implications of globalization and outsourcing. Cole works out of a back-yard ceramics studio in Colorado Springs, Colorado. www.coriecole.com

Del Harrow is a sculptor who works with a wide range of materials - including ceramics - as a
way of investigating objects through "successive experiments with strategies for placement,
arrangement, and organization." Harrow's installations reference both "art historical
compositions and vernacular spaces: game fields, farms, domestic interiors, forests. These
spaces share abstract forms: planes, mesh-works, surfaces, and hierarchies." Del Harrow was
featured in the recent "Overthrown" ceramics-focused exhibit at the Denver Art Museum and
has exhibited and been awarded residencies worldwide. Harrow currently teaches at Colorado
State University in Fort Collins, CO. www.delharrow.net

Jerry Morris creates complex installations involving multiple clay and mixed-media
components which when combined have tremendous impact on the viewer. Morris is creating
an entirely new site-specific work for this exhibit. Morris received his BFA from CU -Boulder
and was recently awarded a residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, where he created the
installation for the CERAMICA exhibit. www.jerrywaynemorris.com

Elaine K. Ng's work "explores ideas of impermanence, transition, and the uncomfortable
space between destinations-those moments after leaving what once was, before arriving at
what will be." Ng's site-specific installations employ a spare but lush visual lexicon,
communicating incredibly evocative ideas using simple clay, string and fibers. Ng is currently
completing her MFA at Cranbrook Institute in Michigan. www.elainekng.com

Mark Wong's conceptual "1,000 Crane Platters" project highlights the artists penchant for
dimensional and output challenges with clay, a twist on his own cultural tradition of folding and dispersing 1,000 origami cranes. An installation of 1,000 hand-thrown clay platters will cover the walls from floor to ceiling and even wrap around into the adjoining Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region space. At the close of the exhibit, the 1,000 ceramic platters will be
dispersed to collectors all over the world. Platters can be purchased in advance of the exhibit
at www.wongwares.com