Opening reception for "Stacked"

Our annual holiday ceramic exhibition opens Saturday, November 25 from noon to 5 p.m. at Portrait Society Gallery, 207 E. Buffalo St., Third Ward (Marshall Building, FIFTH Floor).  This year's theme is "Stacked," meaning that all of the artists somehow address the notion of verticality. 

We are stacking the odds that our more than 20 individual artists have fearlessly explored the compositional challenges of the vertical realm with both functional and sculptural works in piled up formations. Solid and teetering, repetitive and reaching toward the sky, “stacking” is one of the first things a toddler does around 18 months of age as motor skills develop. This most deeply engrained primal motion of the human hand continues to reverberate through our lives. The urge to build from the ground up is powerful, as evidenced in the earliest form of architecture, the Mesopotamian ziggurat, one layer on top of another.

In addition to the ceramic artists, the walls will be equally abundant with stacks of two-dimensional work and special projects. Fun, boisterous and packed with amazing deals, Portrait Society’s annual holiday show is the place to find unusual, hand-made gifts. 

Ceramic artists include: Jill Sebastian, Michael Ware, Ian Connors, Joann Daley, Karen Gunderman, Ethan Kastner, Christopher Davies-Benevides, Kathy Corbin, Nicholas Frank, Debbie Kupinsky and Craig Clifford, Darlene Wesenberg Rzezotarski, Lisa Marie Barber, Marc Travanti, Meghan Sullivan, Todd Mrozinski, Renee Bebeau, Olivia Rehm, Jessica Laub, Saskia de Rooy. And more.

Two-dimensional artists include: Pat Hidson, Tom Bamberger, Steve Burnham, Cassie Marie Edwards, Melissa Johnson, Dan Herro and Ariana Huggett.

The exhibition runs through December 30. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, or by appointment, 414 870-9930.