Sharif Bey: Autoethnography

Sharif Bey moves through clay with rare ease, as comfortable making pots as he is conjuring poetic figures, commanding wall works, and the gargantuan necklaces of his Adornment series. His work can be read at many levels — as an exploration of layered experience; as an investigation of how meanings can shift according to context; as a ceramic practice that refuses to remain fixed in any one category, celebrating instead the endless possibilities of the medium. This show presents the diversity of Bey’s work, which nevertheless retains a united and utterly unique style, with an emphasis on the transitional space between vessels and sculptures.