Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art
Hayward Gallery, London
26 October 2022 - 8 January 2023
Glasbaum, 2001
Stoneware, porcelain, thrown, assembled
24 x 40 x 37 cm
Courtesy the Estate of the Artist.
Photo: Tony Izaaks
Sign 7, 2021
Glazed ceramic, wooden board
132 x 242 x 4 cm
© Lubna Chowdhary. Courtesy the artist.
Photo: Andrew Judd
The Hayward Gallery presents Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art, the first large-scale group exhibition in the UK to explore how contemporary artists have used the medium of clay in inventive ways. Given the recent surge of interest in ceramics by artists around the world, as well as countless people who enjoy sculpting clay as a pastime, Strange Clay offers a timely reflection on this vital and popular medium. Featuring 23 international and multi-generational artists, from ceramic legends Betty Woodman, Beate Kuhn, Ron Nagle and Ken Price, to a new generation of artists pushing the boundaries of ceramics today, the exhibition explores the expansive potential of clay through a variety of playful as well as socially-engaged artworks.
Strange Clay features works by Aaron Angell, Salvatore Arancio, Leilah Babirye, Jonathan Baldock, Lubna Chowdhary, Edmund de Waal, Emma Hart, Liu Jianhua, Rachel Kneebone, Serena Korda, Klara Kristalova, Beate Kuhn, Takuro Kuwata, Lindsey Mendick, Ron Nagle, Magdalene Odundo, Woody De Othello, Grayson Perry, Shahpour Pouyan, Ken Price, Brie Ruais, Betty Woodman and David Zink Yi.
Curated by Dr Cliff Lauson, Strange Clay features eccentric abstract sculptures, large immersive installations, fantastical otherworldly figures and uncanny evocations of everyday objects. The artworks vary in scale, finish and technique, and address topics that range from architecture to social justice, the body, the domestic, the political and the organic. Regardless of background or route into the material, all of the artists in the exhibition celebrate the sheer possibility and versatility of clay.
Schmear Campaign, 2012
Ceramic, Glaze, Epoxy resin, China Paint
17.7 x 7.6 x 9.5 cm
© Ron Nagle
Courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery / Modern Art
Photo: Don Tuttle
Ms. Artismal, 2018
Ceramic, catalyzed polyurethane, epoxy resin, acrylic
17 x 10 x 10 cm
© Ron Nagle.
Courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery / Modern Art
Photo: Don Tuttle
Among the highlights of the exhibition is the work of Ron Nagle. Born in 1939 in San Francisco where is live and work, this talented artist is know for its colourful abstract expressionist ceramics. For more information on this artist, you can read the posts on two exhibitions (among others) that Matthew Marks Gallery (New York), which represents him, devoted to Ron Nagle : Ron Nagle: Necessary Obstacles (2021) and Ron Nagle: Getting to No (2019).
In a brand new commission for the exhibition, titled Till Death Do Us Part (2022), Lindsey Mendick explores the domestic realm as a site of conflicts and negotiations. A reflection on the ambivalence of domestic settings and relationships, the home is represented as a battleground where vermin infiltrate every corner of the house.
Untitled (Architeuthis), 2010
Burnt and glazed clay
29 x 575 x 115 cm / 11 3/8 x 226 3/8 x 45 1/4 inches
© David Zink Yi. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Stefan Altenburger Photography Zürich
David Zink Yi’s giant ceramic squid, Untitled (Architeuthis) (2010) sprawls across the floor of the gallery, spanning more than 4.8 metres and lying in what appears to be a pool of its own ink. Fascinated by the extreme biological differences between humans and squids, he explores the relationship between myth-making and the construction of identity.
Untitled, 2016
Porcelain, glaze, pigment, steel, gold, lacquer
288 x 135 x 130 cm
Courtesy: Alison Jacques, London
© Takuro Kuwata; photo: Robert Glowacki
In his ceramics sculptures, Takuro Kuwata radically reinterprets the shape of a traditional Japanese tea bowl or chawan – a vessel used to prepare and make tea for traditional ceremonies. Greatly varying in scale, the artist’s sculptures are glazed with elaborate colours and textures that evoke organic forms, pushing traditional techniques to create something entirely unique and surprising.
Installation view of Klara Kristalova: Camouflage,
Perrotin, Paris, September 7 – October 7, 2017
Courtesy Perrotin. Photo: Claire Dorn
Wooden girl, 2021
Stoneware, 62 x 25 x 31 cm
© Klara Kristalova and Perrotin.
Courtesy Perrotin. Photo: Tanguy Beurdeley
Fantastical creatures are displayed in a botanical installation from Klara Kristalova, featuring plants and ceramic sculptures. Roots, moss, grass and branches evoke the forest surrounding the artist’s studio in the Swedish wilderness and the woodland setting of fairy tales.
Won’t Tell, 2018
Ceramic, glaze, acrylic paint, resin, 135.9 x 48.3 x 48.3 cm
© Woody De Othello. Courtesy of the artist;
Jessica Silverman, San Francisco; and Klarna, New York, NY
Photo: John Wilson White
on and ON, 2020
Ceramic, underglaze, glaze, 43.2 x 43.2 cm
© Woody De Othello. Courtesy of the artist;
Jessica Silverman, San Francisco; and Klarna, New York, NY
Photo: John Wilson White
Woody De Othello’s surreal clay sculptures modify the shapes of traditional household objects into over-sized, twisted and sometimes anthropomorphic forms. With his distinct approach to ceramics, Woody Othello reimagines the mundane with a humorous twist while offering a serious reflection on society and race.
Dr Cliff Lauson, Curator of Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art, says: “Strange Clay brings together some of the most exciting artists working in ceramics in recent years. Using innovative methods and techniques, they push the medium to its physical and conceptual limits, producing imaginative artworks that surprise and provoke in equal measure.”
Ralph Rugoff, Director of the Hayward Gallery, says: “Vibrant, playful and provocative, Strange Clay brings together a diverse range of artists - from across the world as well as the UK - whose work is inventively redefining the place of ceramics in contemporary art. Their work celebrates the medium’s special characteristics in order to explore an array of timely concerns.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with essays by Dr Cliff Lauson and Amy Sherlock, texts by Allie Biswas, Jareh Das, Hettie Judah and Jenni Lomax, and a roundtable discussion with four of the artists in the exhibition chaired by Elinor Morgan, co-published by Hayward Publishing and Hatje Cantz.
Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art is curated by Dr Cliff Lauson with Assistant Curator Marie-Charlotte Carrier and Curatorial Assistant Suzanna Petot.
HAYWARD GALLERY
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London
