LOUISVILLE, KY.- The Speed Art Museum is proud to present From Vessel to Sculpture: Ceramics at the Speed on display through June 24, 2007. Admission is free to this exhibition. An international survey of 20th- and 21st- century ceramics, objects presented in From Vessel to Sculpture range from production pieces to important contemporary sculptural works selected from the Speed’s permanent collection.

Highlights of the exhibition include Awakened Man by Viola Frey and an iconoclastic 1954 Jim Leedy piece, Colorful Vessel. In the late 1970s, Frey was among a contingent of California ceramists who began dramatically expanding the scale of their work. Frey’s monumental—but rarely heroic—figures came to define her work. Awakened Man shares the detached gaze typical of Frey’s sculptures.

Colorful Vessel, one of the first examples of Abstract Expressionist ceramics. Jim Leedy began his career as a painter, spending time in New York City during the 1950s. There, he absorbed the iconoclastic, visceral abstraction practiced by so-called Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. Leedy brought this sensibility both to his paintings and to clay objects such as Colorful Vessel. Its chaotic composition and seemingly random patches of color capture the emotive energy that went into its creation.

This exhibition was organized in honor of the National Council On Education For the Ceramic Arts. A national leader in arts education, serving over 30,000 children each year, the Speed Art Museum has repeatedly been voted Kentucky’s best museum and is considered one of the top ten sites each Kentuckian should visit. The Speed honors its mission to bring great art to our communities through its distinguished collections and as the Commonwealth’s number one venue for international art exhibitions.

Rated one of the top ten audio guides in the country by MSNBC.COM, “Passport to the Speed,” offers insight into selected works in the collection, and is available for free at the Museum’s Welcome Center.

The Speed Art Museum is located at 2035 South Third Street in Louisville. Other features of the museum include a hands-on Art Learning Center for families, a café and gift shop. Gallery hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and Sunday 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays. For general information, call (502) 634-2700 or visit www.speedmuseum.org.