The Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale (GCB) International Competition is a juried exhibition open to both Korean and international ceramic artists, attracting an average of 1,500 applicants from 70 countries each year, with 60 to 300 artworks ultimately selected for exhibition. As the GCB International Competition marks its 12th edition in 2026, there are many who will be unfamiliar with its full scope or possess a limited understanding of it. By presenting a selection of past Grand Prize-winning artworks, this retrospective offers a meaningful glimpse into the evolving trends of the competition.
The Grand Prize of the inaugural GCB International Competition in 2001 was awarded to Lawson Oyekan for his artwork Healing Being. This large-scale object, hand-shaped from red clay and completed as a 210 cm terracotta sculpture, vividly embodies the raw materiality of clay, nature’s fundamental material. A British-Nigerian artist, Oyekan sought to convey a spiritual message through his artwork that “human suffering can be healed through clay, through nature.” His intention aligned with the vision of the inaugural GCB International Competition, which sought to mark its inception through clay, the essential material of ceramic art, and to create a shared space unified by this medium. Moreover, the artist’s determination to pioneer a new domain of ceramic sculpture by transcending the long-standing scale limitations imposed by the kiln throughout the history of ceramic art further reinforced the significance of his award.
The Grand Prize of the 2nd GCB International Competition in 2003 was awarded to Yuh Sunkoo, a Korean-American artist, for his artwork Alfred Summer. This large-scale object is an autobiographical artwork that draws from the artist’s experiences encountering a wide range of individuals while teaching a summer course at Alfred University. It takes the form of a three-tiered tower composed of multiple human figures and is especially notable for its cascading and marbled coloration, exquisitely realized through the use of 50 distinct glazes. The expressions of the figures convey the complex emotions individuals experience within social relationships, while their forms, densely assembled and veiled in marbled colors, evoke a portrait of the modern individual, constantly navigating the diversity and intricate networks of contemporary society. Alfred Summer, imbued with the artist’s personal narrative, resonates deeply with those living in today’s complex world, ultimately earning Yuh the Grand Prize. If the 2001 Grand Prize-winning artwork symbolically represented “the origin and inception, as well as the foundation and context of the GCB International Competition,“ the 2003 winner may be seen as highlighting the importance of both ”artistic excellence“ and ”narrative power embedded in a work of art.“
The Grand Prize of the 4th GCB International Competition in 2007 was awarded to Danish artist Bodil Manz for her artwork The Architectural Volume. This cylindrical vessel features geometric planes formed by straight and diagonal lines on both its interior and exterior surfaces, evoking architectural blueprints. The geometric compositions of this artwork respond to changes in light and viewing angle, revealing a range of architectural forms. Notably, this artwork possesses such a high degree of translucency that both the exterior and interior can be seen simultaneously, and it is acclaimed as an achievement of technical excellence that surpasses the traditional limitations of clay. In addition, Manz’s artwork drew attention for expanding the paradigm of ceramics by exploring the full potential of the vessel form, which affirmed the GCB International Competition’s mission of broadening the horizons of ceramic art. Interestingly, the Grand Prize-winning artwork of the 3rd International Competition in 2005 was also a piece that reinterpreted the vessel form by incorporating sculptural elements. Around 2007, the conventional boundaries between function and form in ceramic art began to dissolve, encouraging artists to explore and propose new possibilities within the field. This evolving paradigm was thoughtfully reflected in the curatorial vision of the GCB International Competition.
The Grand Prize of the 7th GCB International Competition in 2015 was awarded to British artist Neil Brownsword for his artwork National Treasure. This piece includes a 15-minute video highlighting a veteran craftsman who worked for decades at a ceramics factory in Stoke-on-Trent, a region once famed for its ceramic manufacturing, along with the craftsman’s original workbench and ceramic plates adorned with his own drawings. Brownsword’s artwork presents a narrative of the mass unemployment and ensuing local challenges faced by residents of Stoke-on-Trent, who had long made their livelihoods in ceramic manufacturing, following the relocation of production overseas. Through this artwork, the artist critiques the forces of globalism that caused the offshoring of production work and calls for greater awareness of the sustainability of British industry. It is particularly noteworthy that the artist himself created only the video, while the other elements are items either used or made by the featured craftsman. Brownsword’s award reflects the jury’s strong emphasis on the conceptual aspect of the artwork. The decision may also have stemmed from the expectation that his piece would provoke reflection on the roles of manufacturing and craftsmanship, the conditions of culturally marginalized communities, and the sustainability of ceramic culture. This also implies that the GCB International Competition has attained a level of global standing that enables it to voice perspectives on social issues.
The GCB Grand Prize of the 11th GCB International Competition in 2024 was awarded to American artist Matt Wedel for his artwork Fruit Landscape. The piece is distinguished by its scale of over 1.6 cubic meters, its organic form, and the glaze that flows across its surface. The jury recognized the artwork as highly significant, noting that its visual scale and expressive form not only reveal the artist’s outstanding technical mastery but also eloquently embody the spirit of a ceramicist who continually pushes boundaries while embracing the laws of nature.
According to the artist, during the creation of this piece, he noticed that an asparagus plant he had been growing in his garden had, at some point, begun to resemble the form of his artwork. Through this experience, he came to sense the immense force of nature beyond his ability to plan and translated that awareness into a green asparagus-shaped sculpture that could never be controlled or cultivated by human hands.
Ceramicists respond sensitively to environmental factors such as temperature, sunlight, humidity, and wind. Such sensitivity arises from the fact that even when pieces are created under favorable conditions, variations in the environment can either cause a piece to crack in the kiln or, conversely, to be completed in its full integrity. For the ceramicist, nature is not something to resist but a presence to be embraced and harmonized with. Ceramicists, while accepting those limitations, continue to test the boundaries they can push beyond. This quiet persistence is one of the qualities that distinguishes them from other artists.
Accordingly, the jury of the 2024 GCB International Competition awarded the GCB Grand Prize to Matt Wedel for his artwork Fruit Landscape as a gesture toward returning to the essence of ceramics, especially in light of the absence of a Grand Prize in 2021.
This year, the Korea Ceramic Foundation is once again organizing the GCB International Competition, with a focus on exploring new artistic possibilities through enhanced standards. The foundation aims to carefully select winning works that reflect thoughtful consideration of the future direction of ceramic art.
The Ceramic Culture Declaration from the 2001 Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale (World Ceramic Exposition 2001 Korea) stated that “the techniques of ceramics, shaped by clay and the human hand, have contributed solely to creating a life of comfort and beauty since ancient times.” The declaration also emphasized that ceramics has the power to merge nature and civilization, safeguard the right to life against the threat of environmental destruction, and transform the discontinuities of human culture into a continuous, living history by bridging traditional craftsmanship with future technologies.
As we reflect on the unique nature of ceramics, we hope that this year’s competition will once again select an outstanding work that resonates within the contemporary ceramics community and enriches the global ceramic arts landscape.
● For this year’s international competition guidelines, please visit www.gcbcompetition.kr
