#42 – A strange exhibition in clay

Ceramics Now Weekly #42 features an exhibition in London, the week's news in the ceramics world, and new featured artists.

Nov 01, 2022

Hello! Welcome to the 42nd edition of Ceramics Now Weekly. This is Vasi Hirdo, the founding editor of Ceramics Now.

I hope you are doing well today 👋 Let’s see what's new.

A ‘strange’ exhibition in clay

The Hayward Gallery (London) recently opened a large-scale group exhibition that explores how artists are using clay in unexpected ways. Strange Clay offers a timely reflection on ceramics, featuring 23 international and multi-generational artists, from ceramic art legends such as Betty Woodman, Beate Kuhn, Ron Nagle and Ken Price, to a new generation of artists pushing the boundaries of ceramics today.

Read more about the show and view an extensive photo gallery with over 40 installation views.

New featured artists in Ceramics Now

Sponsored by the Hayward Gallery

Strange Clay exhibition at the Hayward Gallery

Book now to see Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art, the five-star exhibition, described as 'a garden of weird and wonderful delights’ (The Telegraph). The exhibition features 23 international artists working across recent decades, exploring the plasticity and the possibilities of ceramics. Until Sunday 8 January 2023.

The week’s news in the ceramic world

🔥 I thoroughly enjoyed reading Yuliya Makliuk's Instagram posts about her first firing with a traditional Anagama kiln at the Gudenky Ceramic Residence in Kyiv, Ukraine. "Large uprooted oak stumps were placed between piles of ceramics and the front wall. This will help with holding the temperature and providing extra ash. Around midnight our hosts and teachers led an opening ceremony to ‘please the kiln gods’. They made an offering with dried plants from their garden and said good wishes for the firing. So solemn!" Read parts 1, part 2, and part 3. Yuliya Makliuk is the artist who originally shared this message with the Ceramics Now audience, at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Gudenky is run by Tatyana Maksimchuk and Vyacheslav Gudenok.

🍀 Banff Centre (Alberta, Canada) announced a call for submission to their Artist in Residence program, designed for visual artists to focus on their practice in a supportive learning environment. Within this residency, you are encouraged to self-direct your research and time, as well as cultivate new directions in your work. Applications are due November 30, 2022.

👌 The Hunterdon Art Museum (Clinton, NJ) is now accepting applications to its first triennial juried ceramics exhibition, Claybash. Applications are due February 1, 2023. Open only to US-based artists. Entry fee: $40.

💬 Later today, the Northern Clay Center will host a virtual artist talk with Janina Myronova, the current McKnight resident artist. Learn more about her work and life, and get a chance to ask her questions.

🏷️ Maak Contemporary Ceramics presents Pioneer Potters | Modern + Contemporary Ceramics, an auction that showcases over 100 years of the British Studio Ceramics movement from its earliest origins to the leading makers of today. Pioneer Potters includes a significant selection from the collection of the late Dr John P Driscoll. Bidding will open on November 14.

🎓 The School of Art in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University seeks to hire a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Ceramics program, based in Tempe/Phoenix, Arizona.

⭐ We published Doug Navarra's review of Masaomi Yasunaga's exhibition at Lisson Gallery, New York: "The visceral characterization is also a “visceral” of its own kind. Not to be compared with the visceral approach of an early Peter Voulkos Ab Ex revolutionary style, nor the bombastic visceral of the 1980’s plate paintings of Julian Schnabel. Rather,…these works originate from the flip side of the coin, and possess a “tender visceral”, as symbol of the Spirit."

📍 The Australian Ceramics Open Studios will be held on November 12-13. Over 200 ceramics studios around Australia will open their doors to offer a peek into their making, practical demonstrations, and the chance to take home a handmade piece. See the map here.

📍 Petr Weigl Ceramic Studios (Wood Green, London) will host their annual open studio weekend on November 11-13. Over 25 makers will show their work, offering a unique opportunity to explore a diverse range of contemporary ceramics, sculptures, and artworks.

👏 The Royal College of Art (RCA) just announced a significant new scholarship endowment that will award six annual scholarships of £35,000 each year over the next two decades - the Märit Rausing Scholarships in Ceramics & Glass. The scholarships have been made possible by a generous donation of £6.1m, the largest single scholarship gift in the RCA’s history, from Julia and Hans Rausing. The donation was made in honor of Hans' mother Märit. The scholarships will be open in the next academic year for suitably qualified UK students who apply to study MA Ceramics & Glass at the RCA.

🔍 What’s On View: Karine Giboulo: Housewarming is on view at Gardiner Museum, Toronto / Eun-Ha Paek: Amalgam is on view at HB381 Gallery, New York / Jessica Harrison: Copies (V&A) at Kunstforum Solothurn, Solothurn / RIPPON is on view at MAKE Southwest, Devon / Christie Brown: Icons of Uncertainty is on view at Messums Wiltshire, Salisbury / Zhivago Duncan: Measuring Consciousness is on view at CULT Aimee Friberg, San Francisco / Eloisa Gobbo: Contemporary ceramic inserts is on view at Chini Museo, Borgo San Lorenzo / Xingrui Xu: Removing Mountains is on view at SITE's Sharp Gallery, Chicago / Kay Aplin: Shetland Flora is on view at Kaolin, Stockholm / Jiha Moon: Nocturnal is on view at Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami