Clay: Collected Ceramics is on view at Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane
May 13 – October 22, 2023
From functional to fine art, Clay: Collected Ceramics at Museum of Brisbane showcases a curated collection of contemporary ceramics that elevates the earthen art form and cements its place in shaping the stories of Brisbane.
Clay: Collected Ceramics features modern artworks by renowned local artists that break the mould and highlight the shape-shifting relationship between the potter and their product.
The curated collection includes newly commissioned works, never seen before from cutting-edge Brisbane ceramic artists, Bonnie Hislop, Steph Woods, Kenji Uranishi, Jane du Rand, and Nicolette Johnson.
Ceramic artist Kylie Johnson (Paper Boat Press) shares her lifetime passion for collecting pottery with a selection of pieces that smashes the perception that functional and beautiful are mutually exclusive. Built from Kylie’s extensive private collection, this deeply intimate installation includes an astounding selection of local and international talent hand-selected by the collector throughout her career.
Spanning 60 years of hands-on creativity, the exhibition features works by ten renowned makers including Carl McConnell (1926–2003), one of Queensland’s most significant post-World War II potters, as well as Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Milton Moon, Lyndal Moor, and Kevin Grealy.
Artist-in-Residence Jody Rallah contributed a mural which sees the Yuggera, Biri Gubba, and Warangu artist use her handmade coolamons (cultural vessels traditionally made of tree bark) to create a new mural especially for the exhibition.
At the entrance to the exhibition, a display called Commune collates around 300 memory vessels lent by Brisbane’s ceramicist community for the museum’s largest artist-sourced display to date.
MoB takes visitors behind the artworks and into the workshop in an exclusively commissioned film that delves into the hidden intimacy of the artist studio.
Museum of Brisbane Acting CEO Cathy de Silva said the practice of ceramics forms an integral part of various cultures around the world for centuries as a storage vessel of both traditions and tales.
“As a material, clay changes its form under the hands of its maker—so too does each piece’s very purpose,” Ms de Silva said.
Clay: Collected Ceramics at Museum of Brisbane dives deeper into the personal processes of creating and collecting pottery pieces and celebrates the makers who use this medium to create and shape the contemporary landscape of local art.
Contact
info@museumofbrisbane.com.au
Museum of Brisbane
Level 3, City Hall, 64 Adelaide St
Brisbane, Queensland
Australia
Photos by Katie Bennett and Claudia Baxter
