Sculptural ceramics have the art world buzzing
Function meets fine art in an ancient medium that seems as contemporary as ever
Amidst the wallpaper, furniture, and art in Before Yesterday We Could Fly, the Afrofuturist period room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, colorful plates, cups and ashtrays bring an artistic utilitarian flair to the space. These sculptural objects—with portraits of Black cultural figures like Nina Simone, Martin Luther King and Beyoncé by ceramicist Roberto Lugo—reveal the importance and increased visibility of contemporary ceramics.
Functional ceramics reference a long history of human innovation. Today, contemporary artists are pushing the technical and creative extremes of craft. Sometimes these thought-provoking ceramics are sculptures, and sometimes they are objects useful for everyday pleasures: Why not serve your mint tisane in musician-themed teapot?
A look at contemporary ceramics
Aneta Regal. Courtesty of Jason Jacuqes gallery.
Ceramics refers to a mixture of clay, water and various additives that is shaped and fired. Both pottery and porcelain are kinds of ceramics; porcelain is translucent, and pottery is not. Clay is an accessible material—making it a medium that many can participate in. Creation can be as simple as forming a shape with your hands.1
Early civilizations needed to carry water, and later oil and wine, in non-porous vessels, so ceramics have been vital to human history. This utilitarian connection means ceramics have long been classified as crafts, rather than fine art. Yet, the work of many contemporary artists and potters reveal the difficulty of drawing a distinction between craft and art.
With so many practitioners, and so many formal and philosophical approaches to ceramics, I’ve focused on three ways to frame some of the visual and creative expressions of this historical medium that seems more contemporary than ever.
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Katja Zigerlig is Vice President, Art, Wine + Collectibles Advisory at Berkley One (a Berkley Company).
