Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1542302
B laffer Art Museum's s e a s o n o p e n e r revolves around clay: A quintet of contemporary Korean artists who embrace the world's oldest medium — all currently based in the U.S., where four of five are professors of ceramics — offer a nuanced look at bicultural identity through the lens of craft. "'The Uncanny In- Between' is a jewel-box show, at once intimate in scale and expansive in its ideas," says Blaffer director/chief curator Dr. Laura Augusta. Guest curator Sso-Rha Kang organizes this unique presentation that bridges traditional Korean ceramic forms with personal histories, then brings in high-tech digital components to afford the viewer glimpses into the interiors of the clay creations. It's hard not to be captivated by Philadelphia-based Audrey An's over-sized stoneware pear and apple lounging in a beach chair. Also notable: Angelo State University's Hayun Surl, the sole Texan in the lineup, whose tableau of guardian figures ambiguously speaks to displacement. January 10 – March 14, blafferartmuseum.org. Catherine D. Anspon OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. A new chapter for Texas painter Marcelyn McNeil opens at David Shelton Gallery this month. McNeil's solo, her first at DSG, brings classic color field front and center in quiet and sublime works that hover between painting and sculpture. Limpid pools of ink and oil paint soak into the surfaces of the artist's raw canvases, evoking transitory moments from the natural world. McNeil says, "The pouring and staining drive the content of the work … There's a lot of unpredictability in my process, which I love because the unpredictability gets at things that are much better than I could imagine." Why collect: McNeil, whose contemplative canvases are the subject of a 2022 monograph from Radius Books, is akin to the late great Dorothy Hood in her commitment to her practice and ability to wrest the profound from pools of paint. January 9 – February 14, davidsheltongallery.com. Catherine D. Anspon at David Shelton Gallery Fresh Color Field Marcelyn McNeil's Sienna Sky, 2025, at David Shelton Gallery Clay Mates: Koreans Take Blaffer Audrey An's Pear Here Pear There, 2021, at Blaffer Art Museum R A C H E L S O L A R - R E A L T O R ® | 7 1 3 . 4 1 6 . 1 6 0 0 | R A C H E L . S O L A R @ S I R . C O M | R A C H E L S O L A R . C O M Superior service shouldn't be a luxury. 14