Centering
March 1 - 31
Opening reception: March 1, 5-9 pm
Artists: Ava Carney | Michelle Chun | Tong Pan | Will Schaeuble | Emily Schroeder Willis
“An act of the self, that’s what one must make. An act of the self, from me to you. From center to center.”
— M.C. Richards
Old Friends is pleased to present Centering, a selection of artists aligned with the artistic philosophy outlined by M.C. Richards in her 1964 book of the same name. The exhibition includes work by: Ava Carney, Michelle Chun, Tong Pan, Will Schaeuble, and Emily Schroeder Willis. Each demonstrates a frank sincerity, charged with poetic perception.
M.C. Richards, a self-described “poet potter,” seminary Black Mountain artist, and lifelong educator, defined the experience of artistic spiritual presence through the metaphor of centering in pottery. Richards’ philosophy is an ethos of authenticity - the maker, the material, and the work aligning to project the artist’s psyche. The artist is made tactile in the surface of clay, and weave of canvas.
Centering reflects internal landscapes in works which at times serve as a protective shield or protracted meditation. In Circus (2023) Schaeuble conjures a surreal vignette humming with rhythmic breath, each subject a tender impression of pigment. Chun orchestrates a collision of motion and color in Year of the Rabid, (2022), a kaleidoscopic abstraction that beams with fractals of light. Willis’ Shields (2024), reference angels and battle axes, serene figures equipped with a warning edge.
In Richards’ words, a pot “bears the future well within it.” Centering presents work that is timeless and truthful. The artists embrace a sublime intelligence, translated through revelatory expressions of self.
Please email office@oldfriendsgallery.com for inquiries.
Above: Michelle Chun, Edenic Exile, 2023, soft pastel, gouache, acrylic on raw canvas, 30 x 35 inches
Ava Carney
Ava Carney explores how distortions of the figure influence emotional and psychological responses to the human form. She received a BFA from Alfred University in 2017 and is currently pursuing an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Carney has held solo and two person exhibitions at ADDS DONNA, Chicago, IL; Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL; and Robert C. Turner Gallery, Alfred, NY, and has been included in exhibitions at The South Shore Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; The Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL; PULSE Contemporary Art Fair, Miami, FL; and many others. She has been awarded residencies at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine, the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France, and the Chicago Park District. Carney currently develops youth arts programming for the Chicago Public Libraries.
Michelle Chun
Michelle Chun (b. 1993) is a painter living and working in Chicago, IL. Chun received a BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016 and a MAR (Master of Arts in Religion) in Visual and Material Culture from Yale Divinity School in 2020. Chun recently held a solo exhibition at Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, IL, and has been included in exhibitions at Helen J Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; The Yard: Williamsburg, New York, NY; Ice Cream Social, Port Chester, NY; and Gelman Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island among others. She has been awarded residencies at HATCH Chicago Arts Coalition (2023-24), Lillstreet Art Center (2023-24), Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist’s Residency (Longform Scholarship), and the Black Arts Movement School Modality.
Tong Pan
Tong Pan (b. 1998) is a Chinese-American interdisciplinary artist based in Chicago, who migrated from Guangzhou, China to the Bay Area of California in the fall of 2011. He received a Bachelor of Fine Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021. Though primarily a painter, Pan has additionally worked in glass, new media, sound design, and installation. He doubles as a musician and composer, playing in the bands Kuleshov, High-Speed Death Cult, and Tunnel, and produced a solo project dubbed Studio Practice in 2023. Pan has exhibited at Mana Contemporary, Chicago, IL; Povos, Chicago, IL; and Soft System, Chicago, IL.
Will Schaeuble
William Schaeuble (b. 1999) earned a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2022. Schaeuble observes and records distinct personal moments, altering those memories through humor and intimate reference. He was featured in a solo exhibition at Povos, Chicago, IL in 2022, and has participated in group exhibitions at Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York City, NY; Platform (in collaboration with David Zwirner), New York City, NY/Online; and Povos, Chicago, IL.
Emily Schroeder Willis
Emily Schroeder Willis grew up in Minnesota, where she was strongly influenced by Japanese mingei traditions, as well as her mother’s upbringing in a Mennonite community. Presently, she is using the history and language of historical vessels to reevaluate the roles and spaces that women occupy. Willis received a BFA from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and a MFA from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is an Associate Professor, Adjunct at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Willis has been featured in exhibitions at the Dubai Design Fair, UAE; the Kansas City Museum, Kansas City, MO; the Ohio Craft Museum, Wooster, OH; Ralph Arnold Gallery, Chicago, IL; and many others. She is the recipient of a Jerome Fellowship from the Northern Clay Center and the Sage Fellowship from the Archie Bray Foundation. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Archie Bray Foundation, the Zentrum für Keramik in Berlin, Germany, the Alberta University of the Arts in Canada, and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine.
