Adaptive Objects / or / Terms for Living
an exhibition of ceramic works by Benjamin Teague
@ 1578 Belvidere St., Detroit
Public Viewing Hours
Sept 14-Oct 19: Every Fri/Sat 12-5pm
As part of our Fall 2024 program, we are pleased to present a three-part exhibition of ceramic works by Benjamin Teague. From September 13th through October 19th, our showroom at 1578 Belvidere St. becomes the stage for Teague to share objects from distinct periods in his work, creating three installations expressing the shifts in his emotional, observational and philosophical relationship with the objects over time.
With inspiration ranging from emotional loss to references of film and art history to the visual inspiration of daily life, Teague’s vessels show us how seemingly disparate occurrences, people, and things are all connected and ever-evolving.
Each object is both a striking example of Teague’s mastery of his craft, and a humble testament to the beauty of simply enduring the vicissitudes of time.
ACT I | September 13-21
Setting the stage for observation. Teague transforms the showroom into an interpretation of his studio, with objects that have become the backdrop of his practice - vessels and other ceramic objects created five or more years ago line many shelves and functional objects such as a chair and stool have become distinct personalities cohabiting Teague’s creative space.
ACT II | September 27-October 5
The influence of time and observation. Teague’s second installation is a presentation of Offering Vases created by Teague over the past two years as an emotional and philosophical response. As Teague confronted, coped, healed, and embraced emotions over time he observed the familiar objects around him, sensing a deep shift in their meaning, some losing meaning altogether. And so, the act of creating each new vessel became an exploration of the adaptive nature of the objects in our lives.
Suiban Vessel + Ikebana Experience
ACT III | October 11-19
Renewal. Teague’s final installation presents his latest body of work. Taking fully realized objects, once beautiful and complete in surface and form, Teague transforms vessels that seem to have lost themselves over time. Through a cycle of slip dipping, drying, firing and glazing (repeated in no set pattern), Teague both obfuscates and rejuvenates the objects, to create ‘new’ vessels that feel, once again, complete.
Benjamin Teague is a Pontiac-based/ itinerant ceramicist who has studied extensively under both European and Japanese masters.
Over the past two decades, the on-going evolution of Teague’s practice has been influenced by the dichotomous yet fluid relationship between these two worlds. With great attention to the technical and formal aspects of his craft, Teague’s process is also shaped by his quiet observation of the world around him and the physical and emotional boundaries of the objects he creates.