UTAH MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART (UMOCA)
20 S W Temple St., Salt Lake City
801-328-4201
UTAHMOCA.ORG
Monday–Saturday, 10:00AM–6:00PM (Friday open until 10:00 PM)
Reception: Friday, Mar 28, 6:00PM–9:00PM

2025 NCECA ANNUAL: TRUE AND REAL
Curated by Judith S. Schwartz, PhD 
On view: Mar 7–May 31

The NCECA Annual blends the influential attributes of invitational and open juried exhibition development models. Exhibition curator Judith S. Schwartz's organizing concept is brought to life through the work of five invited artists and 35 juried artists responding to an open call for submissions.

Schwartz shares the following about her vision for the exhibition: People living in the 21st century have witnessed enormous social change. Although each generation perceives increments of change, this century, propelled by technological advances, is generally recognized as one of the most destabilizing and disorienting. Robotics, artificial intelligence, demographic population shifts, population growth (negative and positive), environmental challenges, social media, self-driving cars, and medical advances, to name but a few, have all contributed to this emotional upheaval.

For millennia, the medium of clay has chronicled the human condition and has often borne witness to ethnic, national, gender, and cultural identities. Seen in this light, ceramics’ place in contemporary art is increasingly valued as a transformative medium intimately human, unassuming, and distinctively expressive. 

As new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, blur the distinction between artifice and reality, people of imagination are seeking – no – demanding that which is True and Real. This quest has never been more urgent.

The artworks in True and Real highlight issues that resonate with the complexities of the current condition – the concerns, fears, and issues that create a common ground. The art might reveal an empathic voice that responds to who I am, what I value, and how I can be seen, heard, and understood. It invites narrative content, representation, and figuration in ceramic form in all its variations.  

Invited Artists: Syd Carpenter, Simone Leigh, Roberto Lugo, Tip Toland, Steven Young Lee

Juried Artists: Eugene Ofori Agyei, Constant Albertson, Ivan Albreht, Japheth Asiedu-Kwarteng, Ron Baron, Jason Briggs, Du Chau, Chris Gustin, Brian Harper, David Hollander, em irvin, Lauren Kalman, Margaret Keelan, Marina Kuchinski, Curt LaCross, Beverly Mayeri, Kelly McLaughlin, Sarah Merola, Steven Montgomery, Megumi Naitoh, Danielle O'Malley, Kyle and Kelly Phelps, Lindsay Pichaske, Paolo Porelli, Lisa Reinertson, Patricia Sannit, Jim Shrosbree, Kate Strachan, Linda Swanson, Lydia C. Thompson, Jacqueline Tse, Shalene Valenzuela, Judit Varga, Jason Walker, Kirstin Willders