Ai Weiwei, Coloured Vases, 2006, 51 Neolithic vases, (5,000–3,000 BCE), industrial paint, variable dimensons. Picture credit: Courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio
Clay is getting a bit of a moment of late, using ceramics very much being on the original purpose. In the last several decades, clay has molded back into the realm of contemporary art as new generations of artists reshape this tactile moderate in exciting directions.
In response, Phaidon will publish Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramic in Contemporary Art, the first extensive survey of artists now working with these materials. The most recent addition to the ‘Vitamin’ series, the book
Tapping into the tendency towards creating, exhibiting and collecting art made of clay, readers can enjoy the work of over one hundred artists — by Ai Weiwei to Grayson Perry, from Edmund de Waal to Sterling Ruby and Gabriel Orozco into Thomas Schütte — which have “pushed the boundaries of the visceral material.”
Marlene Steyn, Bad Hair Day Trinal, 2016, oil on ceramic, wood, 75 × 31 × 17 cm (29 ½ × 12 ¼ × 2 ⁵/₈ in). Picture credit: Courtesy of SMAC Gallery. Photo: Shona van der MerweMai-Thu Perret, Les guérillères X, 2016, glazed ceramic, steel, epoxy, synthetic hair, cotton and polyester fabric, polyester resin, and steel base, 166.4 × 81.3 × 64.8 cm (65 ½ × 32 × 25 ½ in). Picture credit: Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA / Photo: Fredrik NilsenRose Eken, Remain in Light [detail], 2014, glazed paperclay, variable dimensions. Picture credit: Courtesy The Hole Gallery, New YorkJessica Harrison, Painted Lady (14), 2015, found ceramic, enamel paint, 21.5 × 16 × 14.5 cm (8 ½ × 6 ½ × 5 ½ in). Picture credit: Courtesy of the artist. Made at the European Ceramic Workcentre at Sundaymorning@ekwc. Photo: Chris Park. University of Edinburgh
Vitamin C: Clay + Ceramic in Contemporary Art, Phaidon
Archie Hayes
