Opening Reception: Saturday January 17, 4-6 pm
Artist Talk: Sunday January 18, 2 pm
Lucy Lacoste Gallery is pleased to present ceramist Ann Van Hoey: Clay, Color, and Form opening January 17 through February 14, 2026. This exhibition will be Van Hoey’s third solo with the gallery since her debut US solo show in 2021.
Van Hoey is internationally known for meticulous construction of vessels. Her objects, as she calls them, are bold and singular, each coated in vibrant glaze. Rather than the high gloss finish of her previous work, this new collection emphasizes the “purity and raw presence” of red stoneware clay, leaving the piece interiors unglazed and glowing against their vivid outer shells. The idea for this body of work emerged last summer when Van Hoey was invited to exhibit at the Landcommanderij Alden Biesen, the UNESCO World Heritage site. The medieval castle is defined by its powerful architecture and interiors entirely built in red brick. These works echo the structure’s signature red facade.
This tension between inner and outer, historic and contemporary, restraint and expression is essential to Van Hoey’s practice. These contradictions imbue her work with a taut elegance, enhanced by careful construction. Van Hoey’s precise cutting and folding technique treats clay like an origami pattern, allowing “color, form, and material [to] become inseparable — color is not applied as decoration, but lives within the structure of the object itself.”
This fusion of color and form is particularly notable in 62(St.Eng.25), a blazing royal blue vessel whose crisp exterior contrasts with its russet clay body on the interior. The color and texture juxtaposition creates new form: a sharp “V” incision, cracking opening the works’ blue surface. This “V” is mirrored by the piece’s sloping outer walls that meet at a rounded base. By working in both positive and negative Van Hoey poses another tension, deepening the mystery and singularity of her objects.
The work’s exacting sensibility is informed by Van Hoey’s previous career in commercial engineering. Her mathematical prowess and technical skills are on full display in 71(St.Eng.25) a blushing pink shell of simultaneous volumes and corners. Its crisp seams and unblemished surface are a testament to her mastery.
Van Hoey has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards including the rank of Commander in the Order of the Crown by King Philippe of Belgium, a finalist for the Loewe Craft Prize, Honorable Mentions in the Taiwan Ceramics Biannale (2012, 2016), and first prize at the International Biannale in Austria. Her work is in the collections of Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Alfred Ceramic Art Museum; Yingge Ceramics Museum; Everson Museum of Art; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon; American of Ceramic of Ceramic Art; and KMKG Royal Museum of Art and History Brussels, Belgium among many others.
Clay, Color, and Form opens at Lucy Lacoste Gallery January 17, 2026, with a reception at 4:00 PM and is on view through February 14, 2026. The Artist Talk will be at the Gallery on January 18 at 2PM. This event is free and open to the public.
Gallery hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 12–5 PM and by appointment. For high-resolution images and press inquiries, please contact info@lucylacoste.com.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The works presented in this exhibition are made in red stoneware clay and finished with sintered engobes. The idea for this body of work emerged last summer, when I was invited to exhibit at the Landcommanderij Alden Biesen, a prestigious UNESCO World Heritage site. The medieval castle is defined by its powerful architecture and interiors entirely built in red brick.
In response to this context, I wanted to create works that preserve the purity and raw presence of red clay on the inside, while revealing my characteristic vivid and joyful colors on the exterior. This contrast reflects an ongoing dialogue between restraint and expression, history and contemporaneity.
The forms are developed using my long-standing technique of cutting and folding the clay. Through this process, color, form, and material become inseparable — color is not applied as decoration, but lives within the structure of the object itself.