Sharif Bey
{{Short description|African American artist, ceramicist and professor}}
{{Infobox artist
| image = Louie Bones- Omega.jpg
| caption = With bead-inspired sculpture "Louie Bones: Omega"
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1974}}
| birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| education = {{ubl|Slippery Rock University (BFA)|University of North Carolina (MFA)|Pennsylvania State University (PhD)}}
| known_for = Ceramics
| website = {{URL|sharifbeyceramics.com}}
}}
Sharif Bey (born 1974, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.) is an African American artist, ceramicist, and professor. He produces functional pottery as well as ceramic and mixed-media sculptures using various forms and textures. His body of work reflects his interest in the visual heritage of Africa and Oceania and contemporary African American culture. With his colorful large-scale bead sculptures, Bey explores the cultural and political significance of ornamentation and adornment.{{Cite journal|title=Open Studio|url=https://craftcouncil.org/magazine/article/open-studio|journal=Craft Council|access-date=23 August 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/invitational-2018/sharif-bey|title=Smithsonian American Art Museum|website=Americanart.si.edu|access-date=23 August 2018}}
Education
As a high school student, Bey completed a ceramics apprenticeship at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. The Manchester Craftsmen's Guild played a formative role for Bey throughout his teens, giving him a foundation of skills, extensive ceramics-world connections, and exposure to various visiting masters – including Jun Kaneko, Karen Karnes, Judy Moonelis, Paul Soldner, and Akio Takamori. Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Bey studied sculpture at The Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava (Slovak Republic). Later, he earned his BFA in ceramics from Slippery Rock University, his MFA in studio art from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and PhD in art education from Pennsylvania State University.{{Cite web|url=https://craftcouncil.org/magazine/article/open-studio|title = Open Studio}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.pittsburghglasscenter.org/pages/sharif-bey-dialogues-in-clay-and-glass|title=Pittsburgh Glass Center|website=Pittsburghglasscenter.org|access-date=23 August 2018}}{{Cite web|url=http://vpa.syr.edu/faculty-staff/sharif-bey|title=Syracuse University|website=Vpa.syr.edu|access-date=23 August 2018}}
Career
Bey's teaching experience includes appointments at: Winston Salem State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Syracuse University. He has held artist residencies at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Pittsburgh Glass Center,{{cite web |url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/invitational-2018/sharif-bey |title=Sharif Bey {{!}} Smithsonian American Art Museum |website=americanart.si.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822182904/https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/invitational-2018/sharif-bey |archive-date=2018-08-22}} and Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts.
Art career
Since being featured at the Renwick Gallery Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2018, The Carnegie Museum of Art, Everson Museum of Art, Belger Arts Center and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto have all held solo exhibitions of Bey's Work. His ceramic, glass, and mixed-media sculptures can be found in public collections, including: Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery, Hirshhorn Museum,
New Orleans Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, Everson Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Mint Museum,
Columbus Museum of Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gardiner Museum, and John Michael Kohler Arts Center,{{Cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/louie-bones-omega-113524|title = Louie Bones---Omega | Smithsonian American Art Museum}}{{Cite web|url=https://collection.cmoa.org/objects/f5e0c390-4e98-4ebd-bed3-23f26a47c33c|title=CMOA Collection}}{{Cite web|url=https://art.state.gov/personnel/sharif_bey/|title = Sharif Bey – U.S. Department of State}}
His work has been exhibited at:
- Sharif Bey: Colonial Ruptures (2022) Gardiner Museum{{Cite web|url=https://www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/event/sharif-bey-colonial-ruptures/|title=Sharif Bey: Colonial Ruptures - Gardiner Museum }}
- Sharif Bey: Facets (2022) Everson Museum of Art{{Cite web|url=https://www.everson.org/explore/current-exhibitions/sharif-bey-facets/|title=Sharif Bey: Facets }}<
- Sharif Bey: Excavations (2021–2022) Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh{{Cite web|url=https://www.cmoa.org/exhibition/sharif-bey/|title =Sharif Bey: Excavations}}{{cite web|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-architecture/2021/10/01/Sharif-Bey-Excavations-Carnegie-Museum-Art-sculpture-Pittsburgh/stories/202110010005?fbclid=IwAR3KrzwFZ6NxhA_eGLuauxcOzElJBCiTqedr4YeFHMbquoz4kOCue9zqPs/|title =Sharif Bey: Excavations}}
- Objects USA 2020 (2020) R & Company{{Cite web|url=https://objectsusa.r-and-company.com/sharif-bey|title=Sharif Bey }}
- Adorned (2020) McColl Center for Art and Innovation{{cite web|url=https://mccollcenter.org/portfolio/adorned/|title = Adorned}}
- Pittsburgh Anthology (2019–2020) Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh{{Cite web|url=https://cmoa.org/exhibition/pittsburgh-anthology/|title = A Pittsburgh Anthology}}
- Disrupting Craft: Renwick Invitational (2018–2019){{Cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/invitational-2018|title=Smithsonian American Art Museum|website=Americanart.si.edu|access-date=23 August 2018}} at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery
- Sharif Bey: Dialogues in Clay and Glass (2018) at the Pittsburgh Glass Center
References
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Category:21st-century American ceramists
Category:Artists from Pittsburgh
Category:African-American ceramists
Category:21st-century African-American artists
Category:20th-century African-American people
Category:21st-century African-American academics