Collection: 'Re-Imagining Clay' - Group Exhibition

'Re-Imagining Clay in South Africa in the 21st Century'

07.11.23 - 04.01.21
Bordeaux House, Franschhoek

Artists working in clay often push the boundaries of artistic expression. Through shape, material, academic expression and sheer exuberance they often explore avenues of creation that other artists sometimes struggle with. Ceramicists, potters and artists using clay as their material of choice have historically been labelled as producing purely functional pieces or “craft art” and this has diverted attention away from South Africa’s rich and diverse legacy of fine art ceramics.

In the 21st century the quality of ceramics produced in South Africa engages with the dialogue of the past whilst at the same time forging a new reference to modernism and a uniquely African contemporary avant-garde.

‘It is a multivalent art form, immersed in a social context, and engaging both the body and the mind’ - Julian Stair (artist and writer)

‘This exhibition incorporates the work of 22 invited artists from across South Africa and only scratches at the surface of talent that South African ceramicists provide. I invited artists that we had previously exhibited and some I’d always wanted to have the opportunity to show. The inspiration, scale, material and range of works produced for this exhibition are wide; it in- corporates sculptural pieces, experimental forms, figurative works, painterly elements and social commentary – a true reflection of the diverse nature of South Africa’s artistic community’ - Marc Stanes, Curator