The ICA presents a solo presentation of new work by Durham, NC based artist Kevin McNamee-Tweed featuring over forty new 'ceramic paintings', as well as new vessels and drawings comprising monotypes, pencil, paint and mixed media works on paper, canvas, muslin and cardboard.

The accumulation of mythologies and historical narratives, including Southern traditions such as craft, storytelling, and music, are of keen interest to McNamee-Tweed and his practice. His ruminations oscillate between the personal, the mundane, the absurd, and the grandiose. The title of the show, When the World's on Fire, takes its name from the traditional Southern song reckoning with the notion of End Times. And, linking with the artist’s focus on regional ceramic traditions, the title makes reference as well to the creative and destructive power of a kiln. With both pathos and humor, his intimately-scaled works offer glimpses of subjects from the human to the animal to the inanimate.

McNamee-Tweed’s practice investigates the mechanics of meaning-making and storytelling, and embraces broad material exploration to create images and objects that narrate, measure, or express nuances of human experience and material reality. While much of his work may be naturally situated within the context of image-making, painting, and drawing, McNamee-Tweed works extensively with clay. Incorporating native clays and regional traditions, the artist relies on time-honored as well as idiosyncratic uses of clay and glaze materials. He makes intimate, utilitarian objects and many things which situate themselves between categories, such as function-resistant objects, ceramic books, and wall-hanging pictorial ceramics, which have become his primary focus in recent years. His pictorial ceramics or ‘ceramic paintings’, employ meticulous techniques, controlled processes, and tempered experimentation to achieve image-based corporeality featuring exaggerated surfaces, textures and visual effects. Relating intimately to the hand and the eye, these book-sized objects carry a strong element of storytelling.

'When the World's On Fire'
Kevin McNamee-Tweed (American, b. 1984)
Institute of Contemporary Art, Chattanooga, TN
August 24-October 21, 2023

Institute of Contemporary Art, Chattanooga Kevin McNamee-Tweed'When The World's On Fire'

Institute of Contemporary Art, Chattanooga
Kevin McNamee-Tweed
'When The World's On Fire'