Installation view of Archeology of Memory. Courtesy of Bakehouse Art Complex.
Archeology of Memory: The site and sound of ceramics brings together ten artists working in and experimenting with clay, glass, metal, and cement. The play with texture, color, and form allows for the possibility of expressing their subjective preoccupations through the material – whether it is environmental degradation or racial and gendered implications of beauty. The use of material becomes a mechanism to prompt viewers to consider the works beyond their decorative language and through their engagement as objects with the material culture, utilitarian tradition, and social memory.
Doucet, assuming a role similar to that of an archeologist, assembles an exhibition from findings of his personal investigations and “excavations”. The exhibition celebrates the inherent beauty of his offerings, putting works with diverse aesthetic preoccupations in conversation with each other. In this way, he explores the deeper meanings expressed through the works. Doucet demonstrates the multifaceted ways we can conceive of our world through the constructed imaginings of an artist’s mind.
The participating artists are Judith Berk-King, Beatriz Chachamovits, Xavier Cortada, Morel Doucet, Jenna Efrein, Sharon Norwood, Lauren Shapiro, Troy Simmons, Kira Tippenhauer, and Valeria Yamamoto
Morel Doucet (born in Pilate, Haiti; lives and works in Miami, FL) is a multidisciplinary artist and arts educator whose work explores the cultural disparity of self-realization, assimilation, and transnational identity. Doucet received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Ceramics. Doucet’s work has been featured and reviewed in numerous publications including Hyperallergic and The Miami Herald. His most recent exhibitions include More Than That: Diversity within Diversity (Flaten Art Museum, Northfield, MN) curated by Roberto Lugo and Building Bridges II: The Politics of Love, Identity, and Race, XIII Havana Biennial (Galería Carmen Montilla, Havana), curated by Myrtis Bedolla. Doucet is a resident artist at the Bakehouse Art Complex and the Curriculum and Tour Coordinator at the Institute of Contemporary - Miami.
Special thanks to Laguna Clay Company for their support