Featuring Mark Divo, Pascal Häusermann, and Cristian Andersen
Why is it that Modernism, despite Roger Fry’s admiration for the material, relegated clay sculpture to the area of craft? And why is craft a bad word in contemporary art? Even today, after many important modern and contemporary artists tried their hand at it, ceramic still remains a material not worthy of contemporary sculpture for so many others. This contempt is shown even in the the lexicon which differentiates clay-based sculpture from the rest: the name of potter applies to those that make both pots, read functional and decorative objects, but also non-functional sculpture. Or is it an art that is just so difficult to master that it mandates a categorization of its own? A reconsideration of the clay-based material in contemporary sculpture is necessary.
Fire It Up explores the work of three artists who make work from clay-based material and proposes that craft, once liberated from function, should be once again embraced as a necessary part of art-making.
Vernissage: Thursday, March 15, 7pm
Artist Talk: Friday, March 16 , 7pm
with Mark Divo and Pascal Häusermann, moderated by Olga Stefan
Read essay here: www.olgaistefan.wordpress.com
See photos from the exhibition here
Press: www.modernism.ro
