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8 Fluid Ounces Could Be A Cup Of Coffee, Subtle subversion or just a fun show at Glaspell Gallery.

A cup is personal.

You know how it feels in your hands, along with the anticipated energy that surges through your psyche the moment it's filled with 8 fluid ounces of your morning coffee.

Or tea.

"And if you have to switch cups, it isn't the same," said Kristin Malia Krolak, director of the LSU College of Art + Design's Glassell Gallery. "It's somehow different. It always tastes better in your own cup."

A look at artist Kristy Moreno's cups in the LSU College of Art + Design's Glassell Gallery's exhibit, '8 Fluid Ounces 22: A National Ceramic Cup Exhibition' curated by Paul S. Briggs. Staff video by Robin Miller

But no matter how familiar that cup may be, it could also be an artistic object of form, shape and, yes, even subversion.

Well, make that subtle subversion, something you may have to look closely to find "8 Fluid Ounces 2022," running through March 9 in Glassell Gallery in the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. 

The biennial national invitational ceramic cup exhibit celebrates its 10th showing this year, featuring work by 13 artists, including LSU alumni Adam Meistrell, of Naples, Florida; and Joe Nivens and Melodie Reay, both of Baton Rouge; along with Peter Smith, who teaches art at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond.

Each artist was asked to create 10 cups and one pouring vessel, which were installed in Glassell with the help of students in LSU's Ceramic Art Students Association.

Rich Brown's cup collection in the biennial exhibit, '8 Fluid Ounces,' at the LSU College of Art + Design's Glassell Gallery in the Shaw Center for the Arts. 

STAFF PHOTO BY ROIBN MILLER.

The students also chose Paul S. Briggs as the show's curator. Briggs is an associate professor at The Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston and also has work in the show.

Though all the artists' pieces are utilitarian in nature, Michaelene Walsh noticed a few underground messages surfacing along the way.

Walsh is an associate professor of art in the LSU School of Art's Ceramics Area. Her advanced students are members of the ceramics association, and she accompanied them to the gallery during the installation.

Glassell Gallery's biennial examination of the art of the cup is back.

"We had a discussion at the gallery about having a curatorial eye," she said. "We were looking at the work in there based on Paul Briggs' viewpoint, and who he selected out of hundreds and hundreds of artists, and I think they picked up on how a lot of the work has a level of precision to it."

Walsh's ceramics colleague, associate professor Andy Shaw, also worked with the students to bring in Briggs as curator.

"The students invite the curator for a workshop, and they're able to see a real difference in the styles of cups by the artists," he said. "They get an idea of what cups can be, who the artist is and where the ideas come from." 

But when taking a closer look at the exhibition, Walsh realized the exhibit was more than an amiable gathering of cups.

Some artists were sending out quiet messages, their work creating a sense of unrest bubbling below the surface, beginning with the faces painted by artist Kristy Moreno, of Helena, Montana.

Kristy Moreno's cup collection in the biennial exhibit, '8 Fluid Ounces,' at the LSU College of Art + Design's Glassell Gallery in the Shaw Center for the Arts. 

STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER

Each of her cups has a face, and the faces' eyes shift, as if they know something's about to change. And maybe that change will be brought about by the singular words splashed on the opposite sides of the cups.

The words could be random. Or they could allude to such political issues as immigration.

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Of course, Moreno, in her artist's statement, explains that the words do, indeed, have political meanings, which captured Walsh's interest.

Ashlyn Pope's cup collection in the biennial exhibit, '8 Fluid Ounces,' at the LSU College of Art + Design's Glassell Gallery in the Shaw Center for the Arts. 

STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER

"It seemed out of character at first, but it also helped me see that some of the other artists were also being subversive in subtle ways," she said.

She's right. The idea of subversion, or an undercurrent of rebellion, does make you look at "8 Fluid Ounces" differently.

What if, for instance, the cathedral windows Horacio Casillas carved into his cups and jugs are more than an homage to beauty? Could the Gatlinburg, Tennessee, artist be commenting on organized religion? Or maybe not. 

Horacio Casillas' cup collection in the biennial exhibit, '8 Fluid Ounces,' at the LSU College of Art + Design's Glassell Gallery in the Shaw Center for the Arts. 

STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER

Or what if Baton Rouge artist Melodie Reay's repetition of the word, "Words," on her cups are a commentary on how there's meaning in all of the words we choose? Then again, they may be just words.

In the end, it's up to the cup bearer to decide.

"A cup is usually straightforward and comfortable, and I like it that the artists are challenging us through something we use every day," Walsh said. "It's sort of like wearing a T-shirt with an everyday message that might have another meaning. We see the T-shirt every day, but the message challenges us, as do these cups."

Adero Willard's cup collection in the biennial exhibit, '8 Fluid Ounces,' at the LSU College of Art + Design's Glassell Gallery in the Shaw Center for the Arts. 

STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER

Still, no matter the intended message — or if there's no message at all — the cups and pouring vessels in this show are meant to be used, which is why they're for sale.

"Hundreds of visitors come in and handle, peruse and even take them home as treasures," Krolak said. "Since we put on this show every other year, we didn't have to skip a year because of the pandemic. Our last show in 2020 ended right before the lockdown."

Paul S. Briggs' cup collection in the biennial exhibit, '8 Fluid Ounces,' at the LSU College of Art + Design's Glassell Gallery in the Shaw Center for the Arts. 

STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER

And maybe those same visitors will walk away with a new cup to hold their 8 fluid ounces of morning coffee with a subtle spoonful of subversion stirred into the mix.

8 Fluid Ounces 2022

WHAT: A national invitational ceramic cup exhibition.

WHEN: Through March 9. Hours are noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

WHERE: LSU College of Art + Design's Glassell Gallery, Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St.

ADMISSION: Free.

INFORMATION: Call (225) 389-7180, email or visit glassellgallery.org artgallery@lsu.edu.   

ALSO: The gallery will host an artist reception featuring curator Paul S. Briggs from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 6. Admission is free.