I
n our overwhelmingly digitised hectic lives, the earthy realness of ceramic art brings us a whole new level of grateful appreciation. Many of its contemporary proponents are innovating with the materials and processes to create ever more striking pieces.
This month, over 90 of the very best such artists from all over the world are congregating in King’s Cross at Ceramic Art London 2019, showcasing, demonstrating and selling everything from hand-made tableware to full-on, often slightly mind-bending sculptures.
The annual fair spans the concourse of Central St Martins in the Granary Building, and this year you should keep an eye out for some exciting first time exhibitors, including self-taught Korean ceramist Miho Inagaki, who works with steel mesh and clay to produce art that is all about cracks and imperfections as the materials shrink at different rates, and Paula Bastiaansen, who shows porcelain to be delicate and fluid (main picture above), despite its ultimately enduring physical strength.
You can also get sucked into the geometric void of Grainne Watts impossibly colourful stoneware, be seduced by Martin Pearce’s abstract yet strangely human pieces, or marvel at the intricacies of Nuala O’Donovan’s spiky unglazed porcelain fractals.
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If all that gets you fired up, as it surely will, the ClayTalks series delve deeper into the art, this year boasting a keynote speech by former MP turned V&A Director Tristram Hunt, and a talk from celebrated ceramicist Kate Malone. Those events run all through the weekend, and advance booking for them is understandably a must.
Do also make sure you venture out through Lewis Cubitt Square too, as up at The Skip Garden you’ll find The Kiln House: a chance to witness the fiery production process behind the art up close and personal.
The weekend will wow ceramics fans, and convert many more, with the chance for everyone to chat directly with the makers themselves about their work – and maybe take something fabulous home, too.
Ceramic Art London 2019, Fri 22 – Sun 24 March 2019, University of the Arts London, 1 Granary Square, N1C, standard day tickets £15. More info here.
