Art Beat

Big-time local ceramics talent Rodger Lang is currently the subject of Lines & Space & Time at Artists on Santa Fe, 747 Santa Fe Drive. Though it's economical for a solo exhibit, with only a few groupings of pieces, the show does lay out examples of each of the major...

By Michael Paglia

August 19, 1999

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Big-time local ceramics talent Rodger Lang is currently the subject of Lines & Space & Time at Artists on Santa Fe, 747 Santa Fe Drive. Though it's economical for a solo exhibit, with only a few groupings of pieces, the show does lay out examples of each of the major types of things cuurently produced by Lang. These range from gestural vessels, some quite modest in size, to larger sculptures based on the vessel form, some of which are cast in bronze.

Some of Lang's vessels suggest ancient artifacts of either Chinese or Mediterranean origin, including the gorgeous stoneware vase that's pictured above. In this piece, and in many others like it, Lang has altered and combined freely thrown shapes to form the classic profile. Other works, especially the cylinder vases, are more contemporary in inspiration.

Among the sculptures are examples of Lang's "Guardian" series. Some of them are clay or bronze and basically mushroom-shaped, while others take the form of coiled snakes. The snakes are made of clay.

Artists on Santa Fe contains, in addition to the gallery, ten large studios and an impressive ceramics workshop and kiln shed. It has been at the same address for more than seventeen years, although it was known for a long time as Santa Fe Pottery. The name change occurred when Denver ceramic artist Macy Dorf bought the building a couple of years ago. Dorf has just remodeled the small storefront gallery; Lines & Space & Time is its inaugural show. -- Michael Paglia

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Michael Paglia is an art historian and writer whose columns have appeared in Westword since 1995; his essays on the visual arts have also been published in national periodicals including Art News, Architecture, Art Ltd., Modernism, Art & Auction and Sculpture Magazine. He taught art history at the University of Colorado Denver.

Contact: Michael Paglia