The exhibition entitled Clay Art Rocks! at Kunsthal Rotterdam opens the doors of the ceramic arts depot of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. By showing over 150 ceramic top pieces that are either swirled, casted or moulded by hand, the exhibition displays the endless possibilities and highly diverse qualities of both clay and glazing.
Numerous ceramic artists, both from the Netherlands and from abroad, got inspired by the artistic qualities of clay. The ceramic collection is characterized by both vase- and pottery forms. With a survey of works from the beginning of the previous century onwards the exhibition convincingly shows that not all ceramic art can be put under the same heading.
Impressive Survey
Over seventy works of art by 32 Dutch ceramists, belonging to several generations, together constitute an impressive survey of the development of Dutch ceramic art. At the beginning of the twentieth century inventive playing with glazing was an important factor of the works of ceramists like Chris Lanooij (1881-1948) en Hein Andrée (1882-1961). In the middle of the fifties potters like Johan van Loon (1934) and Jan van der Vaart (1931-2000) experimented with more free forms. Work by Van Loon is extremely versatile and still startles the beholder; through ceramic sculpting and vases that were produced in limited edition he has created his characteristic oeuvre. Van der Vaart is known as a grand innovator of ceramic art despite the fact that his works have remained both functional and practical: so-called ‘sculpturality' is nevertheless typical of his vases. The generation of Barbara Nanning (1957) and her contemporaries, amongst whom Geert Lap and Olaf Stevens, shows that ceramic art has developed into an entirely autonomous form of artistic expression. The younger generation is represented by work of Esther Stasse and Wietske van Leeuwen.
Unique International Collection
The revolutionary work of Hans Coper (1920-1981) and Lucie Rie (1902-1995) is considered to be the main part of the collection of English ceramics from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Together with Bernard Leach (1887-1979), these ceramists have been extremely important for the development of Dutch potters. The expressive work by Peter Voulkos (1924), who used clay as a free form of expression, has also left its marks on future generations, as can be witnessed from the work by Irene Vonck (1952). In the international pavilion, which presents eighty works by 45 foreign ceramists, a lot of attention is also paid to ceramic art from Germany, Denmark and Japan.
(Inter)national ceramics
The Netherlands: Johannes Henricus Andrée, Lies Cosijn, Huub Gommans, Babs Haenen, Wessel Holleman, Dirk Hubers, Hans de Jong, Harm Henrick Kamerlingh Onnes, Atelier 't Kruikje, Sonja Landweer, Chris Lanooy, Geert Lap, Wietske van Leeuwen, Johan van Loon, Joseph Mendes da Costa, Barbara Nanning, Bert Nienhuis, Helly Oestreicher, Jan Oosterman (Jr.), Veronika Pöschl, Kees van Renssen, Etie van Rees, Johnny Rolf, Jan de Rooden, Olaf Stevens, Jan van der Vaart, Irene Vonck, Leen Quist, Esther Stasse, Christian Wisse; Great Brittain: Gordon Baldwin, Richard Batterham, Alison Britton, Martin Brothers, Michael Cardew, Hans Coper, Ruth Duckworth, Ken Eastman, Bernard Leach, Carol McNicoll, Jacqui Poncelet, Lucie Rie, Martin Smith, Jason Wason; Germany: Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Harold Jegodszienski, Beate Kuhn, Rolf Overberg, Karl Scheid, Ursula Scheid-Duntze, Walter Popp, Gerald Weigel, Gottlind Weigel; Denmark: Gutte Eriksen, Sten Lykke Madsen, Richard Manz, Bodil Manz, Jane Reumert, Alev Siesbye-Ebüzziya, Gertrud Vasegaard, Myre Vasegaard; USA: Ewen Henderson, Richard DeVore, Colin Pearson, Peter Voulkos, Betty Woodman; Belgium: Carmen Dionyse;France: Alain Girel; Japan: Kayoko Hoshino, Yasuhisa Kohyama, Tatsuzo Shimaoka;Finland: Erna Aaltonen; Canada: Steven Heinemann.
