Should I clay or should I go: Works by Jeffrey Mitchell and Robert Arneson are featured in this sculptural show.

Ridin’ Dirty

The ICA’s spring show features a collection of works that pay tribute to clay.

by Roberta Fallon

From earthly delights in clay to pithy word art, the Institute for Contemporary Art’s spring shows are bonbons of creamy goodness, crunchy ideas and beautiful packaging.

The big downstairs show “Dirt on Delight: Impulses That Form Clay” demands attention for the sheer number of pieces on display. The survey of sculptural clay brings together 22 artists breaking new ground in the traditional craft material. While some may consider clay to be a woman’s art, this show—almost evenly divided between men and women—demonstrates how clay draws artists of all kinds to its primordial squish and its promise of magical transformation from dirt to beauty.

What ICA curators brought together—in a show that travels to the Walker Art Center this summer—ranges from fussy to brute, from Ann Agee’s delicate porcelain updates of Royal Doulton collectibles to Sterling Ruby’s Giacometti-like skeletal forms in tantric poses. Ken Price’s biomorphic blobs are heavily painted and sanded to reveal deep pockets of color and mystery. Price’s work is placed near Kathy Butterly’s pinch pot-like sculptures. Butterly’s sensuous, blush pots have definite ladylike touches—Cenote wears a string of pearls—and they’re the beauty to Price’s beast.

Or perhaps Robert Arneson is the beast. The California clay funk-master’s works broadcast pleasure and an untamed life force. The tiny and tortured self-portrait busts—reminiscent of Old Master heroic busts—are both ego-mocking and life-questioning. The pieces are full of energy. Arneson’s lusty and lumpy Gold Lustred Rose and his John Figure, a life-sized stoneware “john” with a female torso on top—are the 3-D equivalent of R. Crumb’s sexy and primal cartoons.

Local artists Jane Irish and Paul Swenbeck are also included in the exhibit. Irish makes dreamy gold-trimmed vases that parody the Rococo age with scenes of political turmoil, injustice and human rights violations—speaking truth to power in sly packaging.

Swenbeck’s Salem witchcraft-inspired sculptures have been appropriately sited next to outsider artist Eugene Von Bruenchenhein’s homemade crowns and vessels. Like the other groupings of objects in this show, the pairing of these unique works makes sense. This big show raises issues about beauty, craftsmanship, decoration and the importance of clay in art’s future. It’s truly a delight.

For more on the Philadelphia art scene go to fallonandrosof.blogspot.com.