Sharif Bey

Sharif Bey (born 1974, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.) is an African American artist, ceramicist, and professor. He produces functional pottery as well as ceramic and mixed-media sculptures using various forms and textures. His body of work reflects his interest in the visual heritage of Africa and Oceania and contemporary African American culture. With his colorful large-scale bead sculptures, Bey explores the cultural and political significance of ornamentation and adornment.

Education As a high school student, Bey completed a ceramics apprenticeship at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. The Manchester Craftsmen's Guild played a formative role for Bey throughout his teens, giving him a foundation of skills, extensive ceramics-world connections, and exposure to various visiting masters – including Jun Kaneko, Karen Karnes, Judy Moonelis, Paul Soldner, and Akio Takamori. Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Bey studied sculpture with Jozef Jankovič and Juraj Meliš at The Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava (Slovak Republic). Later, he earned his BFA in ceramics from Slippery Rock University, his MFA in studio art from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and PhD in art education from Pennsylvania State University. and Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts.

Art career Since being featured at the Renwick Gallery Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2018, The Carnegie Museum of Art, Everson Museum of Art, Belger Arts Center and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto have all held solo exhibitions of Bey's Work. His ceramic, glass, and mixed-media sculptures can be found in public collections, including: Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery, Hirshhorn Museum, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, New Orleans Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, Everson Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Mint Museum, Columbus Museum of Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gardiner Museum, and John Michael Kohler Arts Center,

His work has been exhibited at:

Sharif Bey: Colonial Ruptures (2022) Gardiner Museum Sharif Bey: Facets (2022) Everson Museum of Art < Sharif Bey: Excavations (2021–2022) Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Objects USA 2020 (2020) R & Company Adorned (2020) McColl Center for Art and Innovation Pittsburgh Anthology (2019–2020) Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Disrupting Craft: Renwick Invitational (2018–2019) at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery Sharif Bey: Dialogues in Clay and Glass (2018) at the Pittsburgh Glass Center