Stages for Flowers – 2020

Bari Ziperstein

Stages for Flowers, 2020
Stoneware, underglaze, and glaze
96″ x 25″

UCR, University of CA at Riverside, Public Art around Campus, Riverside, CA

Bari Ziperstein is pleased to share a new outdoor sculpture commissioned for the University of California, Riverside, on view at the campus for the next two years, Stages for Flowers, a project curated by Corrina Peipon. Ziperstein’s largest and most elaborately engineered work to date, Stages for Flowers is composed of four ceramic bulbs stacked as a pillar. Each bulb is elaborately carved to feature boldly colorful  floral patterns as well as scenes of protest and symbols of unity.

Stages for Flowers, a research and fabrication project, builds upon Ziperstein’s past bodies of work that involve researching the concepts and uses of political propaganda. Ziperstein uses her work to conflate historical moments, taking imagery and ideas from various contexts and transposing them into our current moment. By processing elements from the past through her art practice, she reveals the complex cultural histories that built our present and, ultimately, build toward our future.  Ziperstein’s research includes texts, publications, and, most recently, the archives of The Wende Museum of the Cold War in Culver City, California. For this newest work Ziperstein looked to Soviet textile and poster designs, amongst a range of historical protest posters. Stages for Flowers considers the innate power of the institution, and the potential impact a public art piece may have on a university campus.