Hard-core ceramicism
By Saunthy Nicolson-Singh, Sacramento News & Review

An untitled work in clay by Scott Parady

If you know anything about contemporary ceramics, walking into B. Sakata Garo gallery, at 923 20th Street, will immediately remind you of Peter Voulkos. Scott Parady’s wood-fired clay works, displayed through July 1, reveal Voulkos’ marked influence as a major player, who, in the late ’50s, ripped and tore through wheel-thrown clay pieces, rendering them useless as vessels and craft and reclassifying them into a distinct genre of fine art. Parady’s “Solomon’s House” is a massive, earthy-looking vessel 2 inches thick, ripped and speared by thick clay tubes to offer an impressive dynamic. “Nuclerarosis” is thick and heavy, with a patina of iron oxide and copper that makes its smooth bottom look like an old metal engine part--right down to the perfectly spaced holes that could have housed pistons. But then it spins up powerfully into an amorphic, twisted life all its own. For more information, call (916) 447-4276.