Ehrlich to present ceramics exhibit at Reed Art Gallery

Manhattan artist Risa Hirsch Ehrlich will be in the County on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m. for the opening reception of her solo ceramics exhibition “Consider a Moment of Stillness” at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Fine Art Gallery.During the Oct. 19 reception, Ehrlich will give a brief talk and answer questions about her work. Ehrlich’s show will feature the single medium in which she works: clay. However, she works within the many forms of the medium, according to Reed Fine Art Gallery Director Sandra Huck.

“She is intrigued by the thought that the surface is the content,” Huck said. “It’s wonderful to have an artist with the proficiency in ceramic techniques that have not been taught here for a number of years. She will introduce uses of underglazes and different forms of hand building.”Huck explained that some of Ehrlich’s ceramics work is inspired by artists who work in other mediums, such as the cut canvases of Frank Stella and the art attachments of Robert Rauschenberg.

Says Ehrlich of her work: “Ceramics is a fragile medium. I like its accidents. I invite them… I like clay beginning frail and ending powerful. I like challenging clay to be beautiful despite my efforts to disdain beauty. The dialectic is to turn destruction upon itself and thence into art.”

During her two-day visit, Ehrlich will conduct a ceramics workshop with ceramics students at the University.

“It’s wonderful to bring her up here as an artist and a friend,” said Huck, who met Ehrlich years ago when she spent a semester in New York City studying at the Teachers College, Columbia University. “I think she’s going to have some fascinating things to say to the greater community about ceramics work that they may not already know about.”

The public is invited to attend Ehrlich’s reception. Light refreshments will be served. Ehrlich’s show will be on display through Nov. 26. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The gallery is closed Sundays and university holidays. For more information, call 768-9611.