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Dauer Ceramic Art Collection showcases international creativity

Contemporary ceramic works of European and Japanese artists collected by Sharon and Paul Dauer will be displayed in the Library Gallery in December through February.

“This is a large collection of work that is not readily available to students, faculty and staff and people in this region,” says Phil Hitchcock, director of the Library Galleries. “A lot of it is European and Japanese ceramics, and this is a rare opportunity to see it. That was one of the main reasons for having the exhibitions.”

The collection will be hosted in the gallery from Dec. 5 until Feb. 28. Gallery viewing hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The exhibition will allow Sacramento State students to see ceramic art from the last half of the 20th century and see what new directions artists are taking, says Hitchcock.

The Dauer collection focuses on English artists such as Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, who were driven by a functional esthetic, creating vessels that were meant to be practical. The collection also contains works by American ceramists as well as Japanese works, collections that were more recently acquired by the Dauers.

While the Dauers focused on more traditional vessel forms of art in the European pieces, their Japanese works define the current direction of international innovation and creativity. Pieces range from mingei, or folk, traditional ceramics to more modern works of fine art.

“The term mingei applies to all craft; it’s essentially peasant pottery, functional in nature. That’s what people think of when thinking of the Japanese ceramics,” Paul Dauer says.

Contemporary Japanese ceramic art, however, includes sculptural pieces, while respecting the mingei traditions.

This exhibit is only the beginning for ceramic art at Sacramento State. “We’re in process of working on an international conference and exhibition that will be on campus in 2012,” says Hitchcock. Sacramento State students will not only have the ability to view ceramic art collections from all over the world, but hear from art collectors and the artists themselves.

A CD catalogue will be available for the public as well.

For more information about the gallery, call 278-4189.