New Collectors is pleased to announce Panoply, a group show featuring the work of four, New York-based ceramicists: Laura Donohue, Ryan Rennie, Gustav Hamilton, and Sarah Allwine.

The exhibition showcases four wall hanging ceramics, one vessel, and two modular sculptures. Ryan Rennie and Gustav Hamilton make wall hanging ceramics. Rennie uses a plaster press mold and sprays glaze to create work that shadows objects inherent to the history of ceramics. Hamilton instead treats the clay as a painting, intricately detailed and framed to perfectly fit hand built ceramic tiles.

Similar to Hamilton, Sarah Allwine also has a painterly approach to her work, often taking on themes of pop culture and niche references to the 90s and early 2000s. Laura Donohue, on the other hand, has developed a “system” of holes and pegs that enable her to make modular, unglazed, sculptures.

While “panoply” is often understood as “an impressive array,” the title of this show refers to the older, original definition of the word: “a full suit of armor,” drawn from the Greek panoplia, which refers to the full suit of armor worn by heavily armed infantry of ancient Greece.

The full suit of armor, meant to protect someone, contrasts with the fragility of ceramics––while one is meant to be worn in battle, the other sits perched on pedestals, secured with museum putty to make sure the slightest wobble doesn’t send it crashing to the floor.

Despite being seemingly antithetical, a set of armor and a ceramic vessel do have their similarities; each has been used and adapted for centuries while also being a tool to showcase intricate and distinct styles, characteristic to the peoples or specific craftsman that made it. They are something that can provide a purpose, or can be displayed purely for their artistic and historical significance.

In this exhibition, four masterful artists display their unique and bold styles––while they do not always relate to each other, viewing them together certainly is “an impressive array.”