Beth Lo and Jennifer Datchuk

Lucy Lacoste Gallery is pleased to announce our upcoming exhibition Beth Lo and Jennifer Datchuk:  In the Year of Uncertainty, March 20 to April 20, 2021 in Concord MA.  Both artists use the lens of their cultural identity as first-generation daughters of Chinese parents magnified by this year of pandemic and political unrest.  Though separated by several decades of age, these two artists share the angst of being perceived as culturally different from most Americans, an effect amplified by their being of Chinese heritage at a time when China is in the news, not always positively.

Beth Lo, (b 1949, Lafayette, Indiana), is known for her figurative ceramic sculpture and pottery in which she blends her identity as first-generation Chinese (both parents born in China) with her experience of living in the US.  Her work is centered around her interest in cultural diversity and the dual nature of her American Chinese heritage which she depicts with irony.  Family is central to her themes and the work in this exhibition can be read like a diary of her response to the pandemic, political turmoil and the passing of her mother. This is her second major exhibition at Lucy Lacoste Gallery who has represented her since 2018.  

Beth Lo received her MFA at the University of Montana under the renowned Rudy Autio, whom she went on to succeed upon his retirement as head of the ceramics department. She has received many accolades, from being Montana’s Potter Laureate to the prestigious USA Hai Award for $50,000.  Now herself retired, lives and focuses on her studio practice in Missoula, Montana.  Beth Lo is also represented by Natsoulas Gallery in California who published the Beth Lo Monograph.  Her work can be found in the collections of the Alfred Ceramic Museum, the Tweed, Duluth MN and Microsoft, among others.  

Jennifer Ling Datchuk (b. 1980, Warren Ohio), whose mother was born in China and whose father is first generation American born to Russian and Irish immigrants, reveals what it is like to be a woman today, always seen as Asian or other than typically American. Her work is very much about issues of race, gender and identity. This is her first exhibition with Lucy Lacoste.

Jennifer Datchuk holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth and is currently Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Texas State University.  Living and maintaining a studio practice in San Antonio, Texas, she is represented by Ruiz Healy Art, Texas and New York, New York.  Her work can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts Houston as well as numerous private collections.  The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is giving her a solo exhibition in 2021.  She too was awarded the prestigious USA Fellowship for $50,000

As Beth Ann Gerstein, Director of AMOCA, the American Museum of Ceramic Art and curator of the exhibition Making in Between—Contemporary Chinese American art writes:

"Beth Lo and Jennifer Ling Datchuk represent two generations of Chinese American ceramic artists. Beth Lo has been a quiet powerhouse for more than three decades as an artist, educator, and a children’s book illustrator. For more than 10 years, Jennifer Ling Datchuk has created compelling installations, videos, and object-based work. Both of these artists mine their cultural heritage for artistic content and uniquely explore the connections and disjunctions between two or more cultures with themes of heritage, identity, otherness, and isolation."