Ordinary Extraordinary at OCMA

A paper bag that glitters in 24-karat gold. A giant Pink Pearl eraser. A landscape sculpted from sponges, scrubbers, scouring pads, and mopheads. Reframing the objects and environments of everyday life, OCMA’s exhibition Ordinary Extraordinary brings together a constellation of works that make the commonplace seem unfamiliar, uncanny, mysterious, and even magical. Embracing the personal and domestic, the popular and vernacular, the lost and forgotten, the artists in Ordinary Extraordinary humbly remind us of the extra embedded in the ordinary. No longer just a slice of cake, a refrigerator, or a traffic light, the works in this exhibition ask us to rethink the world we know, revealing a space of secret dreams, stories, and myths.

Artists include Lynn Aldrich, Martha Alf, Matthew Booth, Joan Brown, Vija Celmins, Alice Channer, Masaya Chiba, Sean Duffy, Joe Goode, Joseph Grigely, Jim Lambie, Joan Linder, Tom Marioni, Narsiso Martinez, Jerry McMillan, Rodney McMillian, Shota Nakamura, Kori Newkirk, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Olsen, Roland Reiss, Elias Sime, Linda Stark, Cammie Staros, George Stoll, Ricky Swallow, and De Wain Valentine, among others.

Ordinary Extraordinary is organized by Courtenay Finn, Chief Curator & Director of Programs, with Ziying Duan, Assistant Curator, Albert Lopez, Installation Director, Philipp Hube, Head Preparator, and with support from the entire OCMA staff.