unit 5. 20 and 21st century ceramics
TRANSCRIPT
Ceramics in the 20th and 21st Centuries
Modernism
In the late 19th and early 20th century.
Rejected the traditional idea of realism, and replaced it with abstract art.
The mantra, Make it new! led to experiments with abstract form.
Modernist work drew attention to the processes and materials used.
Simple colour and shape were the basis of modern art.
Like in architecture, modern art valued simplicity and rejected decoration.
Arts and Crafts Movement
An international design movement that happened between 1860 1910.
It was led by artist and writer, William Morris during the 1860s.
The A & C Movement developed first in Britain, but later spread to Europe and North America.
It was a reaction against big industry and the resulting abandonment of handmade decorative arts.
The A & C Movement stood for traditional craft, using simple forms and folk style decoration.
Modern Ceramics in Britain
Modern style: simple abstract forms, with little decoration.
Lucie Rie (1902 - 1995): an Austrian refugee. Her work was functional. She is known for her pin-striped bowls and bottles.
Modern Ceramics in Britain
Ruth Duckworth (1919 2009): German-born, worked in Britain. She is known for her unglazed porcelain sculptures and wall-sculptures. True to the modernist style, her work is characterized by simplified abstract forms.
Modern Ceramics in Britain
Hans Coper (1920 1981): produced non-functional, sculptural pots (which were often unglazed). He would throw parts on the wheel, then alter and assemble them. His works tend to have rough surfaces, and are often coloured with a brown-black oxide.
Modern Ceramics in Britain
Elizabeth Fritsch (1940 - ): studied ceramics under Hans Coper at the Royal College of Art in London, England. She developed a flattened coil technique that turned her vessels into 2D profiles. She painted geometric decoration with slips.
Modern Ceramics in Britain
Bernard Leach (1887 1979): although he lived at the same time as Hans Coper, Ruth Duckworth, etc., he continued to work in functional pottery. After studying ceramics in Japan, he established a different style of pottery influenced by Far-Eastern and medieval English forms. He fired a lot of his work in wood-burning kilns. His style became very influential.
Modern Ceramics
in North America
Peter Voulkos and John Mason led the modernist trend in Los Angeles, California.
They led the abstract expressionist movement in clay.
Abstract expressionism is characterized by dramatically large, experimental forms that expressed the subconscious.
Abstract expressionist ceramics were known for their rawness, spontaneity, and expressiveness (Richard Marshall).
Modern Ceramics
in North America
Peter Voulkos (1924 2002) became known for his large, aggressive clay sculptures that tore apart the idea of the traditional vessel. His sculptures are recognizable by their visual weight, free-formed construction and energetic decoration.
Modern Ceramics
in North America
John Mason (1927 - ) makes work that focused on exploring the physical properties of clay and its plasticity.He was inspired by math concepts relating to rotation, symmetry, and modules.
Post-Modernism
Post-Modernism started as a reaction against the rules of Modernism.
In Modernism there was a focus on abstract forms, truth to materials (clay should look like clay), and simplicity of form and colour.
Some historians say that Post-Modernism began with the work of Robert Arneson, the father of the Funk Movement.
Post-Modernism:
The Funk Movement
Funk Art, like Pop Art, used commercial products and consumerism as their subject matter.
Unlike Pop Art, which was cool and clean, Funk was confrontational and messy.
Arneson's work includes a lot of self-portraits, done with a sarcastic sense of humour.
Post-Modernism:
the Funk Movement
Post-Modernism & Architecture
Post-Modern ceramics, influenced by Post-Modern architects like Michael Graves and Robert Venturi, became bright, colourful, playful, and decorative.
Graves Venturi
Defining Post-Modernism
Because Post-Modernism encourages individuality, it is difficult to define what Post-Modern ceramics is.
There are several trends:1. bright colour, playful form, pattern-friendly2. Post-Minimalism3. pattern & decoration4. the multiple vessel5. organic abstraction6. the super-real
7. history & culture8. image on the vessel9. the vessel as flat image10. the figure11. abstraction12. Post-Industrialism
1) Bright Colour, Playful Form, Pattern-Friendly
^Howard Kottler
Ron Nagle >
2) Post-Minimalism
(moves past Modernism's focus on simplicity by adding little
embellishments)
Wouter Dam ^ Magdalene Odundo >
3) Pattern & Decoration
< Betty Woodman, Ralph Bacerra >
4) The Multiple Vessel
< Elsa Rady,
Piet Stockmans >
5) Organic Abstraction
Tony Marsh ^
Chris Gustin >
6) The Super-Real
^ Marilyn Levine
Tip Toland >
7) History & Culture
(artists use current events & issues as inspiration for their
work)
Richard Notkin Grayson Perry
8) Image on the Vessel
Kurt Weiser
Anne Kraus
Jason Walker
9) The Vessel as Flat Image
Elizabeth Fritsch Paul Mathieu,
Greg Payce
Viola Frey Sergei Isupov
10) The Figure
10) The Figure
Akio Takamori Jean-Pierre LarocqueDoug Jeck
11) Abstraction
< Ken Price Barbara Nanning >
12) Post-Industrialism
(we have moved into a digital age, with most of our
industrial
needs being out-sourced to places like China; some artists
use
the abandoned factories and industrial sites as inspiration)
Dan Anderson
^ Steven Montgomery >