Is it Real ... ... or is it Clay? T
he John Natsoulas Center for the Arts in Davis, California recently hosted its first annual Trompe L’Oeil Ceramic Artists Exhibition featuring a wide variety of works by some of the nation’s foremost clay artists including Richard Shaw, Victor Spinski, and Sylvia Hyman.
The French term Trompe L’Oeil literally means “deception of the eye.” It is painting that utilizes the knowledge of perspective and games of light and dark to create, if only for a moment, the illusion of something that in reality does not exist. These illusions, whether serious or playful, allow the viewer to perceive art and nature through a different perspective. In the 1960s, distinguished ceramic artists such as Marilyn Levine, Richard Shaw, and Victor Spinski began further experimenting with Trompe L’Oeil in ceramics by transforming clay into leather, metal, wood, plastic, glass, or steel and creating found objects, banal if by themselves but gaining significance and intrigue when combined with other clay-created found objects. The Trompe L’Oeil movement has recently been escalating in popularity throughout the country as new breeds of artists mentored by Richard Shaw and Victor Spinski are gaining recognition through their artwork. For more information about this or future exhibitions, contact Nancy Resler at 530.756.3938. The John Natsoulas Gallery is located at 521 1st Street, Davis, CA 95616. [
Above: Paint Tray by Victor Spinski. 11" x 14½" x 9". Ceramic. At left: 100% Pure by Richard Shaw. 37" x 14" x 18". Porcelain. 19