Back in 2020, the internationally acclaimed Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei bought a number of Chinese antiquities at an auction in Cambridge, a city in which he retains a base having lived here for a few years, and where his son still goes to school. Some of the pieces are more than a thousand years old, dating from the Northern Wei and Tang dynasties. In his new solo show at Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard, he is showing them alongside his own new and existing work.
Continue reading “Ai Weiwei – The Liberty of Doubt”The Grand Tour – Claire Partington, Emily Allchurch, James B Webster, Matt Smith
In the 18th and 19th centuries, it became something of a rite of passage for upper class Europeans, mostly from Britain, to embark on the Grand Tour taking in cities such as Paris, Rome, Venice and Florence in order to learn about Classical and Renaissance art and architecture. They’d accumulate works and souvenirs as they did so. Four artists have given a contemporary spin on this phenomenon in Grand Tour at London’s James Freeman Galley.
Continue reading “The Grand Tour – Claire Partington, Emily Allchurch, James B Webster, Matt Smith”Sophie Cook – Multiplicity
“I’ve been trying to get a bright pink for 20 years and haven’t managed it yet,” declares ceramicist Sophie Cook, famous for her elegantly sculpted bottle, pod and teardrop forms. Yet there are plenty of other rich and vibrant colours to behold in her new exhibition entitled Multiplicity at London’s Contemporary Ceramics Centre.
Continue reading “Sophie Cook – Multiplicity”Henrik Uldalen – Lethe
It’s a common theme in history that reactionary groups look back to a so-called golden age, believing that society’s ills will be cured if one returned to the values of the good old days. It’s never that simple of course and the idea of a false collective memory looking at the past through a rose-tinted filter is the theme of Henrik Uldalen’s new solo exhibition, Lethe, at JD Malat Gallery.
Continue reading “Henrik Uldalen – Lethe”Margaret Curtis – Surface
“I like the clay to speak for itself”, says ceramicist Margaret Curtis, speaking to me at the launch of her new exhibition, Surface, at the Contemporary Ceramics Centre in London. Her pieces, whether they be large vases and cylinders or small bottles and cups, have one thing in common – their imperfection. “I make them in the round, sort of precise, then I start pushing them and poking them and distorting them and let the movement of the clay give a lot of feeling.”
Continue reading “Margaret Curtis – Surface”Emil Alzamora – Expanded Present
Like many sculptors, Emil Alzamora is fascinated and preoccupied with the human form, a form that everyone, from any culture, can relate to on many levels. His new exhibition at London’s Pontone Gallery is dominated by figurative sculptures that are both anonymous and androgynous, being allegories and metaphors for the human condition.
Continue reading “Emil Alzamora – Expanded Present”Rebecca Appleby – Inner Order
Rebecca Appleby is more than a ceramicist. She is an all-round artist who uses ceramics as her canvas. Her abstract pieces are sculptures informed by art, architecture and industrial archaeology. Her work over the past two decades has centred on an exploration of the contemporary urban landscape and its relationship with nature. Now she has a mostly new body of work, Inner Order, just opened at London’s Contemporary Ceramics Centre.
Continue reading “Rebecca Appleby – Inner Order”Thomas Bohle – New Work
Multi-prize-winning Austrian ceramicist Thomas Bohle has acquired a reputation as one of Europe’s most gifted potters. His beautifully crafted bowls and vessels have been exhibited the world over in exhibitions, museums and private collections.
Continue reading “Thomas Bohle – New Work”Peter Gronquist – Shape Shifter
American artist Peter Gronquist draws on a wide range of media for his works – fabric, metal, ceramics, frosted glass, mirrors, even taxidermy. Working from his barn by a lake near Portland, Oregon, his oeuvre is multi-disciplinary – sculpture, painting and installation.
In whatever medium, his themes have revolved chiefly around American obsessions with material wealth, consumerism, guns, and religion. He once said, “Our culture puts money and violence on way too high a pedestal. I think these days people no longer see the line between entertainment and reality.”
Continue reading “Peter Gronquist – Shape Shifter”Early Modern Matters – various artists
In keeping with his focus on artists who confront current themes by referencing art history, gallery owner James Freeman has invited five European artists to show work for his latest exhibition who take their inspiration from the political and social upheavals of the Early Modern period from the 1500s onwards. Continue reading “Early Modern Matters – various artists”