CAMMIE STAROS United States, b. 1983
Looking specifically to the shapely vessels of Classical Greece, the artist’s hand-built objects marry ancient ceramic techniques with modern industrial materials such as milled and turned woods and machined metals. The resulting sculptures are rooted in history, yet disarmingly present.
Staros often mines images and artifacts from the Greco-Roman period that aestheticizes eroticism, violence, and victory. The artist anthropomorphizes her sculptures through references to armor and dress—often a gendered divide—as traditionally depicted on Greek figure vases.
Staros’ fascination with classical antiquities lies both in the objects themselves, and with how those objects have come to represent an origin story of Western art history. Her works remind us that historical narratives are told through visual languages as much as written ones. Staros contributes her own symbology to a constellation of references from far-flung regions and eras, and entices her audiences to reexamine the role of historical objects.
Through her ceramic sculptures, the artist considers the representation of desire, violence, gender codes, and institutional tropes of display, all embedded in the materials and images of antiquity.
Cammie Staros (b. 1983, Nashville, TN) received her BA from Brown, Providence, in 2006 and her MFA from California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles, in 2011. Staros has had solo exhibitions at Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, Lefebvre & Fils, Paris, and Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles. The artist was included in the Craft Contemporary’s second clay biennial in Los Angeles. Staros’ work is featured in 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow, a survey of contemporary sculpture, authored by Kurt Beers and published by Thames & Hudson. Staros was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship award in 2020.
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CAMMIE STAROSFiglinum aquaticum, 2021Ceramic, acrylic, wood, laminate, water, aquatic filtration system, programmed grow light, river rock (pebbles), Volcanic Rock, Honeycomb Rock, Zebra Stone18 x 30 x 12 inches
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CAMMIE STAROSFuturum fluidum, 2021Ceramic, acrylic, wood, laminate, powder-coated steel, water, aquatic filtration system, programmed grow light, river rock (pebbles), Volcanic Rock, Honeycomb Rock, Zebra Stone77 x 25 x 25 inches
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CAMMIE STAROSSculptura liquefacta, 2021Ceramic, acrylic, wood, laminate, water, aquatic filtration system, programmed grow light, river rock (pebbles), Japanese ohko stone, Java Fern, moss, Bucephalandra, Mini Bolbitis Fern, Java Fern Windelov, Java Moss, Marimo Moss, Anubias Nana, Anubias Nana Golden61 x 49 x 25 inches
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CAMMIE STAROSConcha clavata, 2021Earthenware and porcelain27 x 46 x 32.5 inches
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CAMMIE STAROSScaphium evolutum, 2020Ceramic, plexiglas52.5 x 12.5 x 12.5 inches
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CAMMIE STAROSOnyches fornices, 2020Onyx16 x 26 x 6 inches
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CAMMIE STAROSCoaxed Into and Out of It, 2020Ceramic and walnut53.5 x 16 x 17.5 inches
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Cammie StarosHistory is a secretive lover, 2017Ceramic, cement, steel
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Cammie StarosUntitled, 2013Ceramic, walnut, foam17 x 17 inches, variable width
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Cammie StarosThe Weight of Medusa's Head, 2017Ceramic and steel69 x 28 x 22 inches
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Cammie StarosDeep Sea, 2019Ceramic and acrylic47 x 13 x 13 inches
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Cammie StarosEye of Aiaia, 2019Ceramic, neon, and acrylic54 x 12 x 12 inches
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Cammie Starosshe is full of holes to put snakes into to blow smoke out of, 2017Ceramic
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Cammie StarosReclining Nude, 2015Ceramic, wood, paint44 x 26 x 38 inches
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Cammie StarosNight Swim, 2015Ceramic, slip49 x 30 x 18 inches
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Cammie StarosAll Quiver and Shake, 2017Ceramic and Brass27.5 x 15 x 15 inches
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Cammie StarosS, 2017Ceramic, neon, MDF, paint66 x 22 x 22 inches
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Cammie StarosArtemis, 201719.5 x 15.25 x 1 inches
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Cammie StarosThe Double Beast Coupled, 2017Ceramic, wood, paint63 x 31 x 59 inches
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Cammie StarosDrinking my left eye between her lips, 2017Ceramic, wood, paint, water, flowers23 x 36 x 31 inches
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Cammie Starosa word you roll around in her mouth, 2017Walnut, shell
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Cammie StarosColumn, 2014Ceramic, steel, cement14 x 13 x 116 inches
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Cammie StarosSshhh, 2015Walnut, steel, and magnets90.5 x 46 x 46 inches
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Cammie StarosLeda and the Swan, 2016Ceramic, brass, walnut, and hole52 x 12.5 x 10 inches
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Cammie Staros
What Will Have Being 16 Jan - 6 Mar 2021Shulamit Nazarian is pleased to present ​What Will Have Being​, a series of new sculptures by Los Angeles-based artist Cammie Staros. This will be the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery.Read more
The artworks in ​What Will Have Being ​draw the relics of fallen empires into discourse with contemporary political and environmental instabilities, considering the legacy of our species on this planet. Creating a throughline between ancient past and possible future, the works suggest a museological exhibition of antiquities that has been forgotten and reclaimed by nature. Through twists on Greco-Roman works in ceramic and stone, and gestures that upend traditional display tactics – such as melting light fixtures, architectural interventions, and submerged vessels – the artist asks us to consider how we understand both the objects and ourselves along an unfixed or perhaps unmoored timeline. -
Hold on Tight
11 Jul - 22 Aug 2020Shulamit Nazarian is pleased to present Hold on Tight, an exhibition of works by Annie Lapin, Mark McKnight, Naudline Pierre, Fay Ray, Michael Stamm, Cammie Staros, Summer Wheat and Wendy White. Our current moment is filled with uncertainty. Much of our daily life is now encompassed by a sense of...Read more -
The Procession
Shulamit Nazarian at Vacation, NY 11 - 27 Oct 2019Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles is pleased to present The Procession, a group exhibition on view at the gallery time-share VACATION in New York’s Lower East Side. This will be Shulamit Nazarian’s first pop-up presentation in New York City. The exhibition features new and recent works by gallery artists Trenton Doyle...Read more -
Cammie Staros
les vases communicants 11 Nov - 27 Dec 2017Shulamit Nazarian is pleased to present Los Angeles-based artist Cammie Staros’ first exhibition with the gallery, les vases communicants. The exhibition’s title references surrealist André Breton’s 1932 essay by the same name, which in turn borrows it from the scientific principle of “communicating vessels.” Looking specifically to the shapely vessels of Classical Greece, the artist’s hand-built objects marry ancient ceramic techniques with modern industrial materials such as neon and machined metals. The resulting sculptures are rooted in history, yet disarmingly present.Read more
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Cammie Staros' LUX Residency and augmented reality exhibition
July 11, 2020'Encinitas, CA–Lux Art Institute is pleased to announce How neat the fold of time, How easily the crease forgotten , an interactive, app-based exhibition of...Read more -
Cammie Staros awarded a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship for Fine Arts
April 15, 2020Shulamit Nazarian congratulates Cammie Staros on receiving a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship for Fine Arts On April 8, 2020, the Board of Trustees of the John...Read more -
Cammie Staros included in the Craft Contemporary's Second Clay Biennial
January 25, 2020 – January 10, 2021 at the Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles January 1, 2020Congratulations to Cammie Staros on her inclusion in the Craft Contemporary's second clay biennial. The Body, The Object, The Other is on view from January...Read more -
Cammie Staros featured in "100 sculptors of tomorrow' by Kurt Beers
November 1, 2019Congratulations to Cammie Staros for her inclusion in 100 SCULPTORS OF TOMORROW by Kurt Beers. '100 SCULPTORS OF TOMORROW is an insightful, diverse, and inspiring...Read more
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X-TRA: La vita nuova. the body, the object, the other
Georgia Lassner, X-TRA Magazine, March 1, 2021 -
Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles: cammie staros at shulamit nazarian
India Mandelkern, Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles, February 18, 2021 -
ArtnowLA: what will have being; bridges between past and present
Jody Zellen, ArtNowLA, February 15, 2021 -
KCRW Art insider: neon aquariums that blend the ancient past with an apocalyptic future
Lindsay Preston Zappas, KCRW Art Insider, February 2, 2021 -
Variable West: Editor's Pick
Variable West, January 20, 2021 -
Hyperallergic: Your Concise Los Angeles Art Guide for January 2021
Elisa Wouk Almino, Hyperallergic, January 13, 2021 -
The art newspaper: Cammie Staros
The Art Newspaper's XR Panel, The Art Newspaper, September 18, 2020 -
this is tomorrow: Cammie Staros - Becoming whilst dissolving
Gabriella Sonabend, this is tomorrow, July 6, 2020 -
Artforum: Sanford biggers and zoe leonard among 2020 guggenheim fellows
Artforum, April 9, 2020 -
artforum: all hands on deck at ben maltz gallery
Jeanne Dreskin, Artforum, May 1, 2018 -
Galerie Magazine: 8 young artists not to miss at the armory show
Sara Roffino, Galerie Magazine, March 5, 2018 -
hyperallergic: Five Outstanding Shows Closing in Los Angeles This Month
Matt Stromberg, Hyperallergic, December 20, 2017 -
ignant: cammie staros
Alice Finney, Ignant, October 25, 2017 -
Los Angeles times: the sculptures of cammie staros contain beautiful wit
Leah Ollman, Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2015