Pottery art pieces from ancient to contemporary, antiquity to futuristic, unusual to utilitarian, quirky to conservative. There’s always something to say with the 3D forms fashioned from that pliable clay. The versatile bounty of the earth keeps experiencing new ways to be interpreted and appreciated while its deep past provides fascinating revelations. The earth’s grounded passivity gets awakened and emboldened by the kinetic application of the potter and projects a new balance through interaction with the restless fire dynamic and defined spaces.
While a daily update is aspired to, it is usually otherwise with new entries appearing weekly at the least.
Hand built with slabs, incised with abstract drawings, brush glazed with copper and colored glazes – Tanya Tyree
Height 35 inches
Set of black and white raku vessels
bubaniarteeraku.it
Black line diamond shaped ceramic footed pillow box – Vaughan Nelson
Sold by Artful Home
‘Blue Sail’ – Ricky Maldonado
Christine Fabre, France
Japonism vase – Jarl Otto (1856-1915) – Meissen, early 20th Century
Eileen Singleton
Ray Silverman
Stephen Hatcher woodturned jar
Suzuki Tomio
To further enhance shino’s tactile appeal, Suzuki Tomio approaches every unglazed pot as a landscape architect would an undeveloped plot of earth. It first requires slow, thoughtful sculpting before anything is lain upon it. As a result, his clay creations are renowned for their terraced surfaces, ridges, and winding vistas. This resplendent yōhen-kin (golden) vase is a proud example of Suzuki’s unique approach to shino. Deeply cut furrows and facets naturally guide the eyes across a rugged, glistening terrain swept across with crackled feldspar and flowing brushed details.
Striped Porcelain Pitcher with bird and tree motifs – Matthew Metz
Figural Vase Van Briggle
Glass vase ‘Passage of time’ – David Hay, AUS
Uwharrie Crystalline Pottery vase
Tea jar fired in the wood and waste oil kiln at the Pleasant Hill Pottery in 2016. – Hank Murrow
Art Deco pidgeon vase – Mougin Brothers
Michael Cleff
Bowl with bone china & soluble salt surface treatment – John Shirley, South Africa
Michael LaLone ‘Little Fatty’ crawl glaze pot
2008
Matthew Hyleck
Tony Laverick
French Art Deco Jazz Age ovoid vase – Alfred Roullet Renoleau
1920’s
Italian Art Pottery Jug by Otello Rosa for San Polo
Otello Rosa was a sculptor & painter, who from 1951-1959 took over as artistic director of the Venetian ceramic workshop of San Polo (who were making tourist pieces at the time) and re-directed it to his vision- many pieces being unique, and all hand-painted in tin-glazed earthenware with bright glazes with Italian imagery & characters.
Artifacts from the ancient cities of the Grecian Archipelago and Asia Minor have depicted numerous examples of decorative motifs representing the octopus. They were a very popular artistic theme with the pottery of Crete, Cyprus, Mycenae and Troy and they were generally regarded as a sacred symbol. Octopus art also appeared in Peru and Brazil and was believed to have originated from the ancient Pacific ocean continent of Mu. Having eight legs coming from a central hub, the octopus was aligned to the mystical eight sided ‘Pa Qua’ configuration. This was also known as the Magic Square to the Egyptians or the Lo Shu square by the Chinese, as it was first observed in China carved on the shell of an elderly tortoise which came from the Lo Shu river. The spider was also given a sacred status due to also having eight legs radiating from a central point.
Moss green octopus – Wax & Bing Studio
Having exceptional polymorphic powers of camouflage due to being boneless and possessing a remarkable skin able to change colour, texture and patterns in a split second, the octopus can shape shift and adapt its appearance to practically anything it wants in the ocean (see video below) They were admired because this reflected the ancient esoteric belief in the metamorphic potential of human beings. Also being colour blind, they must have possessed psychic abilities to be able to interpret their surroundings so accurately. The most rigid part of their body is the eye and they can fit through anything if their eye does. They are blessed with three hearts and like to collect shiny objects off the ocean floor to make ‘octopus gardens’ around their lairs. They are considered the most intelligent of all the invertebrates.
Erik Pontoppidan, the Norwegian historian claimed that the giant kraken (octopus) posed a real danger to sailors due the whirlpool left in their wake and if the creature’s arms were to lay hold of a ship, they had the abiltiy to pull it down to the bottom of the sea. In his ‘The Natural History of Norway’ he described the kraken as “incontestably the largest Sea monster in the world” who had the ability to wrestle with a whale.
The sinuous, malleable and diverse forms of the octopus make its easily adaptable to numerous shapes, hence its popularity with artists and creators.
Octopus, cephalopods, kraken and tentacle spectacles
Giant pacific octopus – arm span up to 6 metres
Kraken attacking a sailing ship
‘Skin Changers Closet: octopus’ wall art – Kate MacDowell 2015
Sold @Mindy Solomon Gallery
Red ceramic octopus – Beth Allison
Ellen Jewett
Octo mudka pot – Sue Anderson
Art Nouveau octopus vase by Amphora
A mural by Belgian artist ROA is part of the street art project ‘Djerbahood’
Photograph- Mohamed Messara-EPA
It’s hard to keep a good octopus down !
‘Inky’ looks content in this photo because he knew he would soon be back in the sea again at Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand.
The morning staff at the National Aquarium of New Zealand arrived recently to see that ‘Inky’ had done a runner in the night. The telltale tentacle tracks were on the floor, he had ‘got kraken’ through the 50 metre drain pipe which led to the sea and his freedom.
Ancient Pompeii-Herculaneum octopus mosaic
Neil Weightman flickr
Austrian Art Nouveau Octopus Vase by Stellmacher for Amphora
1901-02
llustration for Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea – Alphonse de Neuville & Edouard Riou
1871
Giant Kraken illustration from the original 1870 edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by author Jules Verne
Octopus mosaic by Carrie Wilson
Octopus wash basin by Shayne Greco
Chilling out cephalopod
Diana Fayt Scrimshaw platter
Bronze Octopus Sculpture by Paul Harder, California, USA
Ancient Greek coin with octopus
Eretria, c. 500-465 BC
Tracey Porter
Octopus chest tattoo
Large glass mosaic octopus by LucyDesignsonline
Black vase with surface relief octopus – Tammy Garcia
Octopus plate – – Ruchika Madan
‘Octochair’ – Maximo Riera new edition of animal chair collection
Passionate art lovers will sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to see or acquire a piece of art. Franck Goddio spent 13 years uncovering the sunken ancient Egyptian city of Thonis in the Mediterranean Sea (see below) to reveal exquisite treasures such as a grand temple of the god Amun. Whether it’s finding sunken artifacts or the chance discovery of a rare antique object at a bric-a-bac stall, there is a definite allure to searching for art and being rewarded with a find. The dedication of collectors who harbor a desire to to own a piece of art is also noteworthy. They can spend decades patiently waiting for a piece to become available and with luck manage to be triumphant at an auction. Enduring day long journeys in heat and dust to see rare statues or visit a temple is also where the dedication of the art aficionados is on display. Rising before sunrise on the weekend to get to an antique market to snare a bargain is also the modus operandi for some. Even a visit to the Paris Louvre requires a certain dedication with the long queues. Fortunately they are handsomely rewarded for their efforts. The painstaking work of archaeologists to discover and unearth mysteries from the past is admirable for their commitment.
This post presents a collection of links ranging from travel destinations for art, museums, art and antique exhibitions, pottery fairs and other guides for finding and exploring art.
Art exploration – ancient and contemporary:
Venice Biennial 2017 13May – 26 November 2017
http://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2017
Berlin Art Week 13 – 17 September 2017
Berlin Art Week is a highlight on the contemporary art calendar in the German capital. For the sixth time, the Berlin art world will be hosting exhibition openings, fairs, prize award ceremonies, artist films, and numerous special events during the week. The rich variety of this fall program is made possible by the joint collaboration of institutions, galleries, artist, collectors, and project spaces and draws international attention.
Friday, September 23, 2016 – Sunday, September 25, 2016
http://countryclubplaza.com/event/plaza-art-fair/
Degas – A New Vision – NGV – (National Gallery Victoria)
Currently running till 18th September 2016
‘The Woman In Movement’ – Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas is one of the most celebrated artists associated with French Impressionism. The art he made over more than fifty years of constant creativity and renewal embraces painting, drawing, printmaking, monotypes, sculpture and photography, and has had an immense impact on modern and contemporary art. Modern life as he experienced it in nineteenth-century Paris provided Degas with a repertoire of motifs he explored with endless variation and innovation; from scenes of work and industry to ballet and the theatre, racecourses and boudoirs. This sweeping exhibition brings together more than 200 works by Degas from dozens of collections worldwide, offering a fresh and dynamic reappraisal of this legendary artist’s genius.
Le Don du Fel – 9th European Ceramic Sculpture Festival, 2016
Mo Jupp, Jean-Marie Borgeaud, Emma Rodgers, Michael Flynn, Michel Wohlfahrt
from the 26th of June to the 11th of August, 2016
Jean Marie Borgeaud
http://ledondufel.com/en/now-showing/
MAISON&OBJET
September 2- 6, 2016
September 3-10, 2016 – Paris Design Week
The multi-multicultural crossroads of contemporary living.
MAISON&OBJET is the major event for professionals working in the art of living in all its rich and varied expressions. The lifestyle show brings together a 360°product offering. Decoration, design, furniture, accessories, textiles, fragrances, the world of children, tableware.
http://www.maison-objet.com/en/paris-design-week
Futura festival, 2016
25 to 27 August
20 concerts, 1 Nuit Blanche (from midnight to 8 am), 100 speakers, for concerts in total sound immersion 1 large screen for video projections 6 performers on acousmonium: Eric Broitmann , Guillaume Contré ,Tomonari Higaki , Olivier Lamarche , Jonathan Prager and Nathanaëlle Raboisson
http://festivalfutura.fr/
Sublime Symmetry, 2016
A touring exhibition showcasing the work of celebrated Victorian Arts and Crafts designer, William De Morgan.
1st june to 4th September 2016 – free entry
Cannon Hall Museum, Park and Gardens, Bark House Lane, Cawthorne, BarnsleySouth YorkshireS75 4AT
Set in 70 acres of parkland, this country house museum is home to an impressive collection including ceramics, glass, furniture and Old Master paintings.
William De Morgan, Two Handled Vase with Persian Floral Decoration, 1882-1888
The annual Heiva, started in 1881, is an iconic event for Polynesian culture. Dance competitions, which are some of the most important events in Heiva, are prepared for months in advance by dancers.
Tribes from all over the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea and other neighbouring tribes from the Highlands region will gather in the township of Mt. Hagen to put on exciting cultural performances.
The Venice Art Crawl’s mission is to foster and reinvigorate the creativity that has historically and currently makes Venice such a vibrant and dynamic community.
5th International Biennial of Contemporary Ceramics of Sevres
from 12 to 29 May 2016 – 47 Grande Rue, Sevres, France
Ceramic Biennale (5th edition )
Now unavoidable, this international biennial welcomes the guests of honor Valérie Hermans and Jean-Paul Azaïs along with 42 other ceramic artists.
They share a love of nature and the earth. On clean shapes, box, nest, they drove passionate research. John Paul reveals the poetry of clay with natural glazes. Valerie works with high temperature glazes and especially celadon. Both, alchemists, playing with fire.
See more here
10 London highlights
A visitor walks through an exhibition room at the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, UK. Photo: Bloomberg
An exhibition featuring the works of Michael Cardew, Claudi Casanovas, Hans Coper, Elizabeth Fritsch, Ewen Henderson, Bernard Leach, Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie, Elizabeth Raeburn and Lucie Rie.
Known as Thonis to the ancient Egyptians and Heracleion to the ancient Greeks the city was rediscovered in 2000 by French underwater archaeologist Dr. Franck Goddio and a team from the European Institute for Underwater Archeology (IEASM) after a four-year geophysical survey. On the sunken Island of Antirhodos, the ruins of the lost city the size of Paris was found 30 feet under the surface of the Mediterranean Sea in Aboukir Bay, near Alexandria. This city, shrouded in myth, was swallowed by the Mediterranean Sea and buried in sand and mud for more than 1,200 years. Archeologists are now unearthing the mysteries of Heracleion, and uncovering amazingly well-preserved artifacts telling the story of a vibrant classical-era port.
Egyptian statue buried underwater
Portrait of a pharaoh, Quartzite, 25th dynasty (712-661 BC) with characteristic traits of the statuary of the 25th so-called Ethiopian Dynasty (8th century BC).
Lifting an Egyptian statue from the submerged city – Monumental statue of red granite (5.4 m) representing Hapy, god of the Nile flood and symbol of abundance and fertility.
Head of a colossal red granite statue of a pharaoh is raised to the surface.
Discovery of an ancient inscribed Egyptian tablet- The stele of Thonis-Heracleion (1.90 m), ordered by Pharaoh Nectanebo I (378-362 BC), is almost identical to the stele of Naukratis in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo.
Franck Goddio and his team watch the rise to the surface of a colossal statue of red granite (5.4 m) representing the god Hapy, symbol of abundance and fertility and god of the Nile flood which stood in front of the temple of Heracleion. Never before has the statue of a god of this size been discovered in Egypt, which indicates Hapy’s importance for the Canopic branch, the largest and most important of the Nile branches at that time. Hapy looks happy to be rediscovered.
One of the finest finds in Abukir Bay is the remarkable dark stone statue of a 3rd century Ptolemaic queen, very probably Cleopatra II or Cleopatra III
Recovery of monumental Egyptian sculpture – archaeologists Franck Goddio and his team inspect the colossal red granite statue of a pharaoh of over 5 metres height, weighing 5.5 tons
The statue of an Isis priest holding an Osiris-jar found on the sunken Island of Antirhodos in the great harbour of Alexandria
Above view of the colossal triad of 5-metre high red granite statues of a pharaoh, his queen and the god Hapy, dating from the 4th century BC, which stood in front of the great temple of Heracleion. They are lying on a pontoon barge together with the 17 fragments of an over 5-metre high 2nd century BC red granite stele in reassembly.
Egyptian potter ?
A diver eye-to-eye with a sphinx made out of black granite. The face of the sphinx is believed to represent Ptolemy XII, father of the famous Cleopatra VII.
Majestic lion statue
Ceramic bowl that dates from the 1st century BC – 1st century AD. Its shape suggests that it may have been used for divination rituals.
Sunken Cities – Egypt’s lost worlds
19 May – 27 November 2016, British Museum
More Franck Goddio finds
Porcelain dishes in blue and white appear after the sediment has been removed from the wreck of the Lena Shoal junk.
Rediscovering Shi Cheng, a Chinese Lion City which was flooded half a century ago
The Louvre’s collection covers Western art from the medieval period to 1848, formative works from the civilisations of the ancient world, and works of Islamic art. See the collections with the link.
Nymph and Triton surrounded by two geniuses – Jean Goujon
http://www.louvre.fr/en/departements
If you want to avoid the queues then try using the entrance at the Porte des Lions just east of the Pont Royal; at number 99 the Rue du Rivoli; at the Arc du Carousel or directly from the Metro station Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre (platform on line 1).
You can escape the queues completely by purchasing your ticket in advance at FNAC or other department stores
The Baroque church rises on homonymous island; visible from San Marco Square
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Federation Square, Melbourne
The home of Australian art, presenting Indigenous and non-Indigenous art from the colonial period to the present day.
General entry is free
Open 10am–5pm
Earthenware pot with four handles,with applied sculptural elements, possibly Igbo people
Nigeria ca. 1900-24
African art motives
In many parts of Africa there is still a vital interaction that occurs between the people, their pottery and arts, and the spirit world. Originally, all across Africa, their ceremonial art had a purpose – attracting blessings for good harvests, bringing fertility, warding off disease along with natural calamities and evil spirits and lso helping make social decisions and reaching judgments. The finished products were usually subjected to a ritualistic process to raise its presence and power. Their creative instincts are still a force in producing works that reinforce spiritual concepts ranging from the liturgical art of Ethiopia to representations of the Dogon creation myths and countless other deities of worship like goddess icons of Mama Wati. Some of the most spectacular pieces are produced specifically to be presented on their shrines. While changes in religious beliefs and practices has led to the abandonment of some art and pottery forms and traditions, in other places the ritual significance of pots and art objects still endures. These pieces were formerly placed on altars with each vessel having a very specific symbolic meaning and upholding a cohesive framework for their social and spiritual beliefs. With the unveiling of more ancient pots and artifacts through archaeology and deeper interaction in Africa, the social and mystical meanings of individual pieces are being discovered. This has been aided by gleaning knowledge about the women and men who created them and the social, economic, and spiritual contexts from which they were conceived, created, and used.
African Ligbi culture mask
The African sculptural human forms aren’t always proportional and can exaggerate specific bodily characteristics to emphasize or draw attention to a particular aspect. The heads are quite often larger than the body with wide lips and geometrically simplified shapes and abstract figural forms being common. The 15th century Benin statues were graceful with tall and slender proportions and they liked to make bronze figures of their kings ( Onis) which were much more naturalistic in style.
Silvia Forni’s work with potters in several communities in Cameroon led her to the conclusion that from birth to death and beyond, pots are important agents in their social life. Lisa Aronson’s research into Vodun arts in Ghana revealed that the methods employed for building their everyday and ritual (Vodun) pots, can be understood as a visualization of the spiritual world, especially when seen in concert with the iconographic embellishment of the vessels. The Shona artists of Zimbabwe believe their art comes from deep within and that they are connected to a Pan African cosmology. Other African artists usually share a similar trait, their works reflecting a freedom and spontaneity typical of artistry rich in spirit.
Increased access to modern conveniences and utilitarian products have changed the demand for pottery in some African locations while other places are still thriving. Nigeria and west-central Cameroon are still pottery-rich areas while the modern Yoruba are prolific potters with origins that reach back to exquisite vessels and sculptures from their ancient past. They are still producing a diverse array of vessels that includes water containers, storage pots, ritual vessels and decorative arts. It is not uncommon to witness pottery and art objects being created with the exact techniques that have been employed for centuries. ( see here ).
Michael Cardew gave an excellent account of an African artist at work with his impressions of Lady Kwali manipulating clay:
“To watch Ladi Kwali building her pots by hand is an enlightening experience, quite as stimulating as one’s first sight of a good thrower at work. You realize with surprise that it is not necessary to have a potter’s wheel in order to achieve pots which have the appearance of perfect symmetry. One also experiences … the exhilaration of watching a craftsman who seems to be doing the impossible and to be always on the brink of disaster, yet is entirely unafraid, and entirely confident with the confidence that comes from a lifetime of devotion to the craft. Crowning all this, her personal charm radiates all her art and everything she does and seems to be the epitome of the deep-seated culture of Africa.”
A bronze figural weight used for weighing gold dust used as a currency in the Baule region
‘Dan Tribe’, Ivory Coast, National Geographic, July 1982, Michael and Aubine Kirtley
Baule Mblo mask from Cote D’Ivoire, Africa
Ethiopian Omo Valley face art
columbusmagazine.nl
African Mask from the Dan people of Ivory Coast or Liberia
Wood, fiber, metal ca. prior to 1976
Water Vessel from Chad, Africa
20th century
‘Old Time Friend’ – Simon Muriithi
Kenya Arts Diary
Carved wood ancestral sculpture
Tikar, Cameroon
Djenne equestrian figure, Mali
c. 13th-16th century (terracotta)
An African Mask from the Tikar tribe of Cameroon-17inches-high
Carbonised and burnished coil built terracotta pot – Magdalena Odundo
Geometrical decorated sgraffito vessel – Nupe people, Africa
Mohammed Ahmed Abdalla
Early in his career Abdalla drew from his knowledge of ancient Sudanese practices as well as his training in England to design utilitarian pots with delicate glazes. His later forms, with which this example belongs, are the result of bold experiments with new slips and surface treatments. This porcelaneous stoneware form was coiled, smoothed and coated with a series of glazes when it was leather hard. After the glazes dried, the pot was fired in an electric kiln. To produce the reptilian surface it was then dipped in a magnesium slip and fired again.
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
Ibis? bird sculpture – Calao Senoufo
African ceramic pot from the Dick Jemison Tribal Art Collection
Birmingham Museum of Art
Yaure Ivory Coast mask
Image from The End of eating Everything : animated video by Wangechi Mutu – 2013
Yoruba covered bowl
Anang artist, Nigeria—Mama Wati figurine
Mami Wata (Mother Water), is a water spirit recognized by peoples throughout Africa and the African diaspora, reflected in masks and figures that bear her likeness.
