The Santa Monica College Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery will present “Pyrometrics – A Retrospective in Ceramics,” an exhibition of original works by professional studio artist, ceramic sculptor, and ceramic painter Franklyn Phillips.
The show will be open to the public from Tuesday, Oct. 28, to Saturday, Dec. 6, with an opening reception on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Phillips says his earlier large-scale sculptures were influenced by studies in biology and comparative anatomy, while later ceramic paintings and sculptures evolved as expressions of his growing involvement with the mysteries of meditation, metamorphosis, and nature’s hidden drama revealed through the primary elements of earth, water, fire, and atmosphere.
“Over the past 50 years of working in Ceramics, I have developed a wide range of artwork that struggles to connect our global environmental experience, both positive and negative, to the enchantment of a more transcendent universe,” said Phillips. “This collection of work presents a roadmap that records over time a dialog between painterly surfaces and 3-dimensional form, between earthly gravity and weightlessness, between the forces of Nature and the forces of Culture, between Earth’s degradation and its effort to dynamically balance, and lastly, between a process both controlled and spontaneous.”
Phillips, who has been head of the SMC Ceramics Department since 2006, has also served as a faculty member teaching Ceramics and Ceramics Sculpture at LA Pierce College, LA Mission College, Cerritos College, and Otis Art Institute. His work has been shown in numerous galleries and museums – including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art – and published in Artweek and California magazine.
His work in Ceramics has taken him to an apprenticeship in Spain, a factory in Southern Sweden, and a workshop in Sifnos, Greece. Phillips has also designed and built three homes and a Ceramic Art studio at the tip of Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, where he offers “Sustainable” Ceramics workshops every January.
SMC’s Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery is located at the SMC Performing Arts Center on Santa Monica Boulevard at 11th Street, Santa Monica. Due to construction in progress, please enter from 11th Street. Exhibits and opening receptions are FREE.
Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The gallery will be closed for Veterans Day (Nov. 11) and Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 27-30).
For more information, call 310.434.3434.
