Nicole Cherubini

Opening Reception Friday, January 19, 6-8pm

Nicole Cherubini (b. 1970, Boston, Massachusetts, lives New York) declassifies her artforms by responding to a range of qualities inherent in her medium. Her ceramics reflect on both history and popular culture. The constant attention to affluence and the importance of material wealth that is endemic to American culture is reflected in the size, surface and color of her ceramic pieces. Featuring four new works, Nicole Cherubini's work will be on view in ICA's Project Space January 20 through March 25, 2007.

Hand-built from flat little clumps, use-free (they are full of holes), and over-scaled vessels, these G-Pots as they are called, are glazed repeatedly to create a seductive richness of hue. They are built in layers, from the bottom-up, then glazed with different colors, sometimes carefully applied, other times dripping and messy. The sculptures are then festooned with all manner of baroque appliqué or "bling": garishly dyed furs, fake gold rings and silver chains, and other surprise, and surprising, elements making them willfully exotic in their array of materials and are relentlessly inventive. Some pots are barnacled with ceramic gem shapes that spout in all directions.

The pedestals on which the pots sit are very much a part of the work. Where the pots are over-the-top decorative, the pedestals are mucked-up minimalism. Made from materials such as steel rod, plywood, plexiglass, and painted foam, the pedestals sing with honed balance. The balance of elements in Cherubini's work pushes the lines of taste and tradition nearly over the top.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a pamphlet publication with a text by Jenelle Porter, Associate Curator.

Nicole Cherubini