Metal From Clay: Pittsburgh's Aluminum Stories Exhibition Catalogue

Client: University Art Gallery, University of Pittsburgh
Year: 2019
Scope: Graphic Design, Editing
Press: The University of Pittsburgh University Times, The Pittsburgh 100

From the early production of aluminum on Pittsburgh’s Smallman Street to its midcentury uses across avant-garde art and design, Metal from Clay: Pittsburgh’s Aluminum Stories reflects on the histories of aluminum through a selection of objects and original materials drawn from local collections. 

The exhibition catalogue accompanying Metal from Clay features a foreword by Barbara McCloskey, Kirk Savage, and Terry Smith and writing by Alex J. Taylor, Emi Finkelstein, Paulina Pardo Gaviria, Atticus Adams in conversation with Isaiah Bertagnolli, Dawn R. Brean, Ron Baraff, Jake Eisensmith, Leslie Przybylek, Alan London, Lugene Bruno, Christina Hansen, Janet McCall, Rebecca Giordano, Rachel Delphia, María del Carmen Barrios Giordano, and José Carlos Diaz. Point Line Projects oversaw the editing and design of the catalogue.

The exhibition features loans from the Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Heinz History Center, Rivers of Steel, University Library System and other collections, and is the culminating program for a major grant received by the History of Art and Architecture department to work with local museums and archives to share information and expertise, and foster collaboration in research, teaching and public engagement.

The UAG is directed and curated by Sylvia Rhor. Metal from Clay is presented by the Department of History of Art and Architecture, and was developed in close collaboration with Alex J. Taylor and Ana Rodríguez Castillo.