Art pottery

A visitor to Christopher Powell's exhibition "Continuing the Ohio Art Pottery Tradition" at The Clay Place, Shadyside, might think he'd wandered into an antiques show. But the works displayed only recently underwent their fiery transformation.

Powell, who lives near Columbus, holds a bachelor's degree in ceramics from Edinboro University, where he was first exposed to and attracted by Arts and Crafts period pottery. The purity of form, harmonious glaze palette and emphasis on craftsmanship favored by that movement is reflected in his work. Surpassing mere reproduction, his is a later-generation expression that continues to evolve as he develops new glazes and tweaks form.

The nearly 90 objects displayed, most of them vases with some plates, show fine-tuned control in throwing, glazing and firing. Forms are classic, moderated with incising, and carving and brought to life by ocean blue, moss green and earth brown glazes that give the surfaces a tactile, buttery warmth.

The exhibition continues through March 31 at 5416 Walnut St. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday; closed March 16-20. Information: 412-682-3737.

PCA exhibitions

At the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Patricia Barefoot continues her representations of the figure in an admirable solo exhibition, "Anatomy/Autonomy."

She combines honed representational skills with conceptual underpinnings to explore the various ways women are perceived and presented, physically and attitudinally. One could read a discord between those notions generated from within and those superimposed by the larger society. Groupings of smaller works suggest a narrative with spiritual overtones. Particularly effective is a large drawing that pairs fleshy voluptuousness with skeletal parts.

Also at the center, The Pittsburgh Print Group breaks new ground in subject matter in "Witticisms/Criticisms/Cynicisms." Giving an edge to the exhibition are such works as Terri Perpich's politically incorrect obese woman of "Moonstruck Meal" or the sarcastic cast of Elaine Morris' "He Searched for a Good Head to Put on Her Shoulders." Christie Strub revives 1970s feminist activist taunts in "The Pope's Plan" series, which suggests the pontiff might change his stance on abortion were men capable of experiencing pregnancy. Technique is diverse, including digital works and three-dimensional mixed media.

The exhibitions continue through tomorrow at 6300 Fifth Ave. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. today and noon to 5 p.m. tomorrow. For information, call 412-361-0873.

Highway numbers

More than 400 people attended last Saturday's reception for "Along the Lincoln Highway" at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, the largest opening crowd in more than seven years. The exhibition continues through May 30. For information or events schedule, call 724-837-1500.

This lush portrayal of the "Vale of St. Thomas, Jamaica," was painted in 1867 by American Frederic Edwin Church, the preeminent landscape painter of his time. It's part of the "Hudson River School: Masterworks from the Wadworth Atheneum Museum of Art." Click photo for larger image.

Hudson River panelists

A robust panel of speakers last weekend brought English and American 19th-century landscape painting to the present at Carnegie Museum of Art, where "Hudson River School: Masterworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art" is exhibited through May 9 (412-622-3131).

Yale professor Timothy Barringer said the questions raised by Hudson River School artists like Thomas Cole about whether wilderness should prevail or America should become a great industrial nation are the same ones raised today when talking about oil drilling in Alaska.

Barringer, co-author of the exceptional "American Sublime: American Landscape Painting, 1820-1880" (catalog for the highly acclaimed exhibition of the same name, available at the Carnegie shop), also argued that the setting of Cole's monumental, allegorical series "The Course of Empire" is Old World London and not New York City as has been presumed, shifting the emphasis of the artist's warning.

Gillian Forrester, Yale Center for British Art curator, said contemporary Romanticism may be found in the expressions of British artists Richard Long and Hamish Fulton. Their conceptual-based walks across Britain are "direct physical engagements with the landscape" that illustrate that man's association with national identity is "still highly significant," she said.

Completing the day, University of Illinois English professor Robin Grey detailed the connection between the writings of transcendentalist thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and the symbolic representations in Hudson River School landscapes.

Asian stereotypes

Silver Eye Center for Photography, South Side, will screen "Slaying the Dragon," a 1991 documentary about how media stereotypes affect Asian-American women, in conjunction with the current exhibition. Introduction by Ellen Bishop, University of Pittsburgh film studies lecturer. Thursday, 7 p.m.; $5, $3 for students and members. For information, reservations, 412-431-1810.

Artist lecture

Lynne Yamamoto, currently exhibiting at the Mattress Factory museum, will speak on "Narrative: Women and Memory" and discuss her creative process at 7:30 p.m. March 27 in the Eddy Theatre, Chatham College. Reservations required; $5, free to museum members and Chatham students and staff; 412-231-3169.