Clay Art Center's 'Anat Shiftan: The Garden' And 'Object/Image' Open

PORT CHESTER, NY — The Clay Art Center has always offered the space for creative minds to soar and the dynamic Hudson Valley institution isn't afraid to break free of the bounds of its impressive studios and learning space in Port Chester to accomplish this mission.

The Clay Art Center held concurrent opening receptions for its "Anat Shiftan: The Garden" and “Object / Image” exhibitions on Saturday, April 2. It was a fun event for the whole family where attendees were able to meet the artists, enjoy outdoor light refreshments and sweet treats while kids were able to get creative at a garden-themed clay activity table.

The Clay Art Center said it is delighted to present "Anat Shiftan: The Garden" in their gallery and online. The Flora and Orchard series examines the ways we understand our world through the mechanical aspects of nature. Anat Shiftan is an Israeli artist who has been a faculty member at SUNY New Paltz since 2003 and has received several awards and recognitions. The exhibit can be viewed online here.

At the same time, the Clay Art Center has a gallery and online exhibition “Object / Image” from the students and faculty of the SUNY New Paltz ceramics program. This exhibition examines the dynamics between ideas, images and objects and how those dynamics are essential to the ways in which we navigate the world. This exhibit can also be viewed online.

If you couldn't make it to the opening receptions, you still have the chance to visit both exhibitions in the gallery and online until May 9. Works on display will be available for sale online and in the gallery.

From the Clay Art Center:

"Anat Shiftan: The Garden" Exhibit:

Anat Shiftan: The Garden is a solo exhibition with themes of the garden expressed in three-dimensional still life and centerpieces. Historically, still life depicts arranged elements from nature, life in the outdoors of the domestic world, and leans on the symbolic agency of these items to suggest a critique of the human condition. Inspired by the power of still life and the role of the centerpiece in domestic life, Anat creates arrangements that echo this history. She asks the viewer to question the legacy of nature, the botanical, and our material culture.

Artist Statement

The still life series examines the history of ceramics and world trade. The vignettes tell stories of various production methods, materials (porcelain stone ware etc.), and process of production (slip casting, wheel throwing, hand building and industrial artifacts). The juxtaposition of objects made in various ways and depicting distant moments in history and geography tell the story as a world of trade and travel since early days. The vignettes of Lekythos, Lotus Bowl, Wreath and Apple, brings into display Greek, Chinese and European heritage. This exchange prevalent since ancient time is a beautiful condition of humanity which I bring to light as positive aspects of cultural connections and exchange.

The Flora and Flora and Orchard series examine the ways we understand our world. Humanity and nature are often understood romantically in terms of growth and improvement. Yet, it is not always so. I shift the unbearable gaze onto the history of man: his wars and destruction and find that in nature too ambivalence prevails. The piles depict growth and decay, the organic and the mechanical aspects of nature, analogous to the human condition. Additionally, the natural world I create is imaginary versus realistic. This is a reflection of my condition where nature is an invented, unreachable, corrupted in time and by time, and exists only as an idea.

Artist Bio

Anat Shiftan is an Israeli artist who works in clay and print. In her work, she explores the subject of ambivalence in floral and zoological imagery, the representation of nature in art: the texture of sexuality, life and death, and power and subversion, all which ultimately reflect complex political and social attitudes. Currently, she also adds a layer of content that relates to issues of the environment and its preservation. Her printed images reflect on the dialectic relations between man and nature, focusing on the ambivalence reflected in the heroic yet destructive aspect of human intervention in nature, nature's response, and the resulting glorification of both. Shiftan received her BA in English Literature and Philosophy from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel and received her MFA in Ceramics from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Design in West Bloomfield, Michigan. She has taught at Bezalel Academy for Art and Design in Israel and the University of Michigan before joining the faculty at SUNY New Paltz in the fall of 2003. Shiftan has twice received the Michigan Grant for Individual Artists and has exhibited her work extensively in both the United States and Israel. She is represented by Hostler Burrows gallery NY/LA.

Related Programming

Anat Shiftan Virtual Gallery Tour & Talk
Friday, April 22 at 12pm
Join Anat for a virtual tour of her exhibition “The Garden” in our gallery along with a talk about her ceramic work and process.

Handbuilt Vases & Planters (Ages 17+)
Saturday, April 2 at 2:30pm
Celebrate the start of spring by creating your own functional vases and planters. Suitable for total beginners and makers of all levels.

Patterned Plates – Mother’s Day Weekend (Ages 17+)
Saturday, May 7 at 2pm
Learn to make basic plates or bring your own leather-hard pieces to decorate with botanical motifs. Suitable for total beginners and makers of all levels.

Saturday Clay – Garden Themed Projects (Ages 6+)
Saturday, April 9 at 2pm
Plan a great afternoon with friends or family in this fun and messy introduction to clay! Our professional ceramic artists will guide you through a garden themed handbuilding project that will be glazed and fired.

“Object / Image” Exhibition

The dynamics between ideas, images, and objects are essential to the way we navigate the world. This exhibition of work by SUNY New Paltz Ceramics Program students and faculty is a reflection on the generative potential between internal and external space. This play between fictive objects and embodied images is guided by a range of questions: What are the shapes and textures of ideas? What richness is hidden in the flatness of images? How can we give form to invisible embodiments of emotions and experiences? How do we control memory through images and screens? And how can our experience navigating back and forth through these spaces be joyful and generative?
Participating Artists: Taussen Brewer, Bryan Czibesz, Ibrahim Khazzaka, Erika Port, Avery Wells, and Hee Joo Yang

Clay Art Center is a nationally recognized non-profit center for the advancement and practice of ceramic arts offering exhibitions, clay classes for adults and children, studio spaces for clay artists and outreach programs in the community. It is located in the heart of Port Chester at 40 Beech Street, Port Chester, NY 10573. Join Clay Art Center for virtual & in-person classes, exhibitions and shop at www.clayartcenter.org.