Jurors - Kelly and Kyle Phelps
Identical twin brothers Kelly and Kyle Phelps are Professors at private Catholic universities in Ohio. Kelly Phelps is a Professor at Xavier University (Cincinnati), and Kyle is a Professor at the University of Dayton (Dayton) where they head the sculpture and ceramic departments.
Before entering the world of academia and becoming professors, the twins experienced firsthand what the struggles of the working class were really about! The twins grew up in a blue-collar/factory environment in a “company town” in Indiana, where they were inspired by family members and friends who worked and lived in various manufacturing plants, steel mills, foundries, coal mines, and railroads of the American mid-west, rustbelt, and Appalachian regions of the United States. These everyday people became working class heroes that have inspired nearly three decades of working-class and art and social activism that continues to this very day.
Much of the twins' ceramic relief-based work is about the blue-collar working-class, race relations, and the everyday struggles of the common man and woman. Ceramic figurative reliefs are used as the primary vehicle of communication to help narrate difficult topics such as racism/race relations, police brutality, gun violence, poverty, homelessness, and the plight of the blue-collar working class. Each figurative narrative relief created by the twins becomes an “altar” or “shrine” when finished. The twins are dedicated to the day-to-day challenges of everyday people…those everyday people who often struggle to make ends meet, face discrimination, harassment, marginalization, or are flat-out overlooked (invisible) in society’s eyes.
The twins continue to work collaboratively to create their artwork and share a studio in Centerville (OH). The twins share numerous grants, regional, national, and international exhibitions and commissions. Their work is also included in many permanent museum collections across the United States. The twins’ work has been featured in numerous publications and major reviews in the world-acclaimed Ceramics Monthly, Sculpture Magazine, and American Craft Magazine.
Instagram: @kyle_and_kelly_phelps
Jurors' Statement:
We feel privileged to be asked to serve as the jurors of the national juried exhibition entitled ISMS: Narratives, Issues, and Difficult Topics of Our Time. We want to exclusively thank the Baltimore Clayworks for supporting our personal journey of social political expressions in clay throughout the years.
For our jurying process, which will involve evaluating digital images from an online platform, we draw upon our professional as visual artist as well as our experiences working in the academic sector (universities). One of the things, we enjoy the most about our careers as professors in the ceramic medium is having the opportunity to analyze art created by student artists, as well as professional artists working in the contemporary art scene today.
When selecting art for this exciting exhibition, we will consider the formal, conceptual, and aesthetic qualities of the work presented. We will also focus on the connections and importance of craftmanship, the ability to transform space/volume, and the understanding of culture, and life experiences. The understanding of culture, and life experiences is a vita/key element that will be central to “Isms” that will be explored in this exhibition. We will be looking at the many ideologies of "isms" that may include, but not limited to the current socio- political climate, environmental and cultural issues, racism, religious freedom, war, sexism, gender identity, classism, poverty, substance abuse, gun violence, etc. that impact our modern society today.
The physical work will be a variety of ideological expressions demonstrated in a variety of ways. Ceramic works of art will be a selected range from hand built abstract forms and figurative sculptures, to wheel thrown works (both functional and non-functional). Once again, “Isms” in clay will be the central theme to each composition.