i had the privilege to pop into the ceramix show at last, having meant to go since october. on offer through a collaborative effort of cité de la céramique- sèvres and la maison rouge- paris, the bonnefanten museum in maastricht presented a collection of 20th and 21st century ceramic works by big name artists such as picasso, rodin, gauguin and ai weiwei which took nearly 4 years to assemble. aldo rossi’s post-modern space was entirely sympathetic to the work and especially the installations came into their right. i have noticed too often that the density of displays takes its toll, distracting from the truly powerful pieces and although there is always some criticism to be had, i felt that the show and it’s contents were well worth it and did justice to the thematic continuity of the exhibit. i specifically loved the way polystyrene was used as the crisp white plinth material, almost enforcing the permanence of these pieces in contrast. the display in the tower with it’s meters high cupola was however exceedingly weak; as a space etched with sol levitt’s graphic presence and with such promise it really failed to deliver. on the other hand though, the way the exhibition was categorised and its choice of artists was admirable, which only means that the expected highbrow attractions were interesting enough while the greater balance exceeded expectations. what the show lacks in global representation it more than makes up for in strengthening the position of ceramics as art, expressing the medium’s power and versatility across european, american and asian artists. it would have been good to also see some african and middle-eastern works in such a representative show. eight years ago i saw my first lucio fontana ceramic in venice and i was too grateful to see so many of his pieces again; it substantiates the dynamism of the medium and was shown together with the fantastical contemporary work of rosemary trockel. my other favourites must be anne wenzel’s attempted decadence; an explosion of decay in a vase. in the sex and violence category; erik dietman’s human components and michel gouéry’s ray gun no 2 balanced well with the towering elmar trenkwalder and rachel kneebone’s sad pieces . as a converted follower of johan tahon’s work, not much needs to be said except for the fact that it would have been a great omission on the part of the curator if he was not included. andré derain’s masks completed the journey of the fauvist’s ceramics which included some previously admired dufy and matisse. the greater narrative of artist’s ceramics gets a bit lost halfway through the last century but still it remains one of the best selections of the medium i have seen so far. of course i’m just as interested in their next offering of grayson perry, who together with edmund de waal shared way too little space in this exhibit.
michel gouéry
michel gouéry
erik dietman
erik dietman
rachel labastie
johan tahon
sol lewitt
lucio fontana
elmar trenkwalder
rachel kneebone
anne wenzel
grayson perry
