Meissen Inside Out at the Fogg

Arlene Shechet explores Meissen porcelain and manufacturing in “Inside Out“

This small exhibit is, above all, an opportunity to show off the Fogg’s delectable collection of Meissen plates and dinnerware, figurines and other small pieces. I’m not sure what Sechet’s work adds to the Meissen on display, or even whether it illuminates the manufacturing process, despite incorporating objects like molds used in manufacturing. Her pieces that reference Black culture (“Gangsta Girl on the Block“) fall flat, their hoped-for edginess misses the mark. Likewise, the stated intent to “recontextualize…the larger history of labor, class and global trade” is not reflected in the work itself, despite every effort to display Shechet’s work in handsome vitrines. Her new work, cheek by jowl with masterpieces of Meissen porcelain, only proves that the Meissen wins every time. On view through July 6, 2025.

Pictured: “Tumbling Vases” Arlene Shechet, 2012. Photo by Carolyn Wirth.