The Alfred Ceramic Art Museum will present "Autoethnography," a solo exhibition by artist Sharif Bey, from February 12 to July 19. The show features a comprehensive range of Bey's work, from functional pottery to figurative sculptures, shields, and large-scale necklaces, tracing the evolution of his practice.
The exhibition highlights how Bey's artistic foundation was shaped by early encounters at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum, particularly with a Kongo power figure (nkisi n'kondi). His work explores identity within the African diaspora and synthesizes diverse cultural influences, positioning ceramics as vessels of ancestral power and spiritual energy, rather than mere representations.