NEW Exhibitions Opening on First Friday Art Walk!
Intergalactica, Out of the Fire
Opening, March 7th, 6 – 9pm
Artist Talk, March 15th, 11am
Arts Warehouse Delray
Back Room Gallery
313 NE 3rd Street
Delray Beach, FL 33444
(561) 330-9614
Free admission
Intergalactica, Out of the Fire, an installation of dozens of hand-built ceramic sculptures by artist Jeff Whyman. The significant number of work exhibited collectively gives an air of ceremony and sacredness, activating the room with mysterious energy.
Whyman’s ceramics are inspired by earth found nature as well as intergalactic rock formations, while being made up of everyday vessels such as cups, plates, and vases. The sculptures are made up of recognizable utilitarian forms fused together to create other worldly vessels. While recognizable, the elements are altered with sagging, stretching, and misshapen areas.
Inspired by the clay, Whyman creates a piece all in one session while the clay is still wet. In the assembly process he often adds materials such as sea glass, Chinese crystals, mineral oxides, metal nails, and wood ash. The combined shapes and materials create new vessels that call to mind stalagmites and space rock. Using both wood and soda fire processes in the kiln, the works are marked with unique colorations not revealed until extracted from their firing place.
Jeff Whyman is a south Florida based multi-disciplinary artist working in ceramics, steel sculpture, and oil painting. Born in St. Louis in 1953, he studied ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute and has been exhibiting his work since 1976. He fell under the influence of his prolific teachers and of Peter Voulkos, an artist known for abstract expressionist ceramic sculptures. He and Voulkos had in common their first art expression being painting, their discovery of a feeling for clay, and their move to metal sculpture as a means to larger scale. It was Voulkos who urged Whyman to return to clay after years of concentrating on steel.
Whyman’s south Florida based home studio houses hundreds of ceramic works, with more being created each day. This consistent act of creation by the artist is a calling. Meditative in nature, Whyman creates what the clay inspires. He has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows around the United States, and has work in many public and private collections. He attended the University of California, Berkeley for his M.A. and M.F.A., after attending Kansas City Art Institute for his B.F.A. Whyman has also participated in dozens of residencies and workshops both as instructor and participant.
