This two-day symposium gathers artists, curators, collectors, and others for a series of conversations about the role of ceramics within the wider realm of art in the late twentieth century. Artists John Mason, Jim Melchert, and Robert Hudson join former Ferus Gallery owner Irving Blum and others to discuss questions of artistic exchange, the expanding art world of the 1950s and 1960s, and the modes of expression using clay that emerged at that time and later. Sessions with curators in the accompanying exhibition The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art: Selections from the Linda Leonard Schlenger Collection and the Yale University Art Gallery consider works by Peter Voulkos, Ken Price, Lucie Rie, Toshiko Takaezu, and others in relation to works by artists such as Mark Rothko, Phillip Guston, Martin Puryear, and Joan Mitchell. The symposium also considers the role of museums, publications, and artists in shaping the discourse around ceramics from this period.



Keynote lectures are open to the public; space is limited. Registration is required for Friday’s panels, conversations, and gallery sessions. For a full program or to register, visit artgallery.yale.edu/programs. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art. Generously sponsored by the Friends of Contemporary Ceramics.