Ruth Duckworth: Modernist Sculptor

July 30 - October 23, 2005 Free Admission

Ms. Duckworth, 86, is one of the world’s foremost and influential living ceramic sculptors. The exhibition Ruth Duckworth, Modernist Sculptor will explore the full range of Duckworth’s creative life, featuring about 83 small- and large-scale works, along with original artist’s maquettes and photographs of monumental site-specific sculptures.

Ms. Duckworth is internationally known for her visionary work, and is one of the leading figures in the field of ceramic arts. She still works full time in her studio. Ruth Duckworth, Modernist Sculptor will examine almost 50 years of the artist’s achievements in all media, including recent bronze sculptures and ceramic wall murals, and early bronze castings and stone carvings that have never before been exhibited.

Ms. Duckworth has worked with a wide range of materials and techniques, including stone carving, metal fabrication and bronze casting, but her most important output has been in clay. In one body of work she sets smooth and open shapes against sharp taut lines, deriving a dramatic poetry from a confrontation of flux and substance. In another, she creates massive undulating vessels with rough textures and earthy tones whose delicate sensuality belies their size and strength. Both bodies of work are well represented in the exhibition.