Art spotlights: 'Constructions in Concert' and 'Functional Redesign'

MAREN KLOPPMAN AND ELLEN RICHMAN

Over the past decade Minneapolis ceramist Maren Kloppman has explored the sculptural possibilities of porcelain. Although four of her signature vases are on view, this show features wall-mounted works that combine her same intellectual precision of abstract form, surface and edge with a disciplined palette of black, white and a maize-like yellow, on which Kloppman has made her reputation. Composed of multiple elements configured in horizontal and vertical arrangements with titles such as "Pillow Stack" and "Shadow Pillows Horizon," the works are refined and, somehow, both ethereal and monumental. She has visually grounded two of the works by painting a geometric passage directly on the wall, a strategy that potentially undermines the strength of her elegant, reductive forms. Ellen Richman's non-objective paintings are sophisticated studies in color and layered geometric form. A confident, gestural brushstroke and unconventional color sense imbue the work with a visceral pulse. The oil on canvas paintings would settle nicely into a midcentury modernist home.

CONSTRUCTIONS IN CONCERT

Forging an unconventional textile practice, Minnesota native Joyce Melander-Dayton constructs mixed-media freestanding sculptures and wall-mounted reliefs from multiple elements. The Santa Fe-based artist employs a range of materials to build organic, ovoid forms from Styrofoam and Gatorboard to which she applies wood veneers, salvaged fabric from kimonos and other clothing sources; hand-woven borders from various threads; trimmings and yarns, and glass beads. A former painter who professes a love affair with process, she taught herself to weave, felt, bead and embroider. As does her earlier two-dimensional work, Melander-Dayton's sculptures convey a keen eye for color and the decorative patterning of abstract form. While some pieces appear over-designed or self-conscious, the most compelling of her labor-intensive work are the more simplified, serial wall installations such as "Lingering on Blue."

FUNCTIONAL REDESIGN

Northern Clay Center's smart and stylish new show explores the high-design work of six ceramists who make functional, often mold-made dinnerware, vases and other daily tools and vessels, bringing to the fore issues of the mass-produced vs. artist-made object. Hiroe Hanazono's condiment tray is simple, appealing and powerful. More decorative, evoking a retro feel, are Andrew Gilliatt's mugs. Nicholas Bivins, Ryan Fletcher, Jason Miller and Lenneke Wispelwey also contribute high-design objects. Also on view is "Minnesota Potters: Sharing the Fire," a show that explores how ceramic traditions are passed from one artist to the next generation. The teacher-protégé pairings include Richard Bresnahan and Steven Lemke, Robert Briscoe and Jason Trebs, Linda Christianson and Jil Franke, and Warren MacKenzie and Guillermo Cuellar.