A rose by any other name is still a rose…unless it’s a pipe. While Shakespeare implied that the name of a thing does not affect what it really is, René Magritte knew that context is important to identify the meaning of an object. With his 1929 painting The Treachery of Images (Ceci n’est pas une pipe), he pointed out that, in fact, you can’t smoke a painting. It is just a representation. And while you can never smoke it, you can get the joke. The Treachery of Objects brings together eight artists working in a variety of mediums tied tenuously together by the material of clay. In each work in the exhibition, clay, with its mythic alchemical powers, holds the potential for both energy and action.

Artists include Brian Bress, William Cobbing, Jennifer Ling-Datchuk, Julia Haft-Candell, Brian R. Jones, Kristen Morgin, Michael Jones McKean and Thomas Müller. 

Brian Bress, Creative Ideas for Every Season, 2010. HD Video, 19:57 minutes. Courtesy of Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles

Kristen Morgin, Magritte McGrape, 2013. Unfired clay, paint, ink, marker, wire and roofing tacks. 11.5 x 4.5 x 5 in. Image credit: Kevin Todora

William Cobbing, The Kiss, 2004. Single channel video, 3:33 minutes. Image Credit: Peter White. Courtesy of Matt's Gallery, London

Julia Haft-Candell, Blob Being Hugged, 2015. Ceramic, silk, lentils, ink, Ikea LACK tabletops. 30 x 22 x 22 in. Image credit: Jeff McLane

Michael Jones McKean, Mass, 2015. Monocrystalline solar panels, epoxy clay. 65 x 65 x 2 in. Courtesy of Inman Gallery, Houston

Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Blue and White: Bold Beauty, 2014. Digital photograph, porcelain, blue and white pattern transfer from Jingdezhen, China. Three photos: 11 x 14 in. (each) and three sculptures: 8 x 4 x 1.5 in. (each). Image credit: Mark Menjivar

Thomas Muller, This is a Magical Space, 2015. Unfired clay. 44 x 44 x 12 in.

Brian R. Jones, I , 2013. Earthenware, plywood, acrylic, milk paint, and pencil. 18 x 18 x 3 in.