After being somewhat eclipsed by other developments in contemporary art, work in ceramic media is again at the forefront of currant art practice, as evidenced by the interest paid to the field at international art fairs, in dealer representation, and by institutional and private collectors.

Big Ceramics showcases eleven leading artists pushing the boundaries – both intellectual as well as physical. The work of these artists employs a ubiquitous material, clay, in ways that challenge our thinking about the role of domestic and functional objects, our relationship to them, and the reciprocity between this medium and the rest of contemporary art.

In taking the familiar and quotidian, and deconstructing its function and place in the world, these artists enlarge our conception of the possibilities encompassed within the field of ceramics. Materiality is at the core of craft. In the manipulation of the stuff of the material world, we give tangible form to our needs, anxieties and desires.

Artists

Robert Baron / Kris Coad / David Ray / Andrei Davidoff / Janetta Kerr-Grant / Fiona Hiscock / Owen Rye / Vipoo Srivilasa / Mark Stoner / Jane Sawyer / Jill Symes

Curated by Craft CEO & Artistic Director Jane Scott.

Yarra Gallery, Federation Square
11am to 6pm, 2 to 15 August 2014