Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art
Sometimes reviews write themselves. Jonathan Baldock has helpfully put the poo emoji (💩) all over his work, making my job that much easier (1️⃣). Thankfully Lindsey Mendick (@lindseymendick) has contributed an entire room full of cockroaches, slugs and mice staging middle-Earth style battles throughout a house (2️⃣). This alone is worth the price of admission, and you’ll praise Jebus for that after you’ve see the rest of what’s on offer. I found it to be a very mixed show.
Then again, the problem might be me? I’m far too biased when it comes to ceramics. I have a much lower threshold for anatomical awkwardness in 3D. Dried shrubbery and autumnal forest scents simply can’t distract me from the fact that the fairy tale figures by Klara Kristalova look like primary school paper mâché (3️⃣).
That’s not the only questionable quality work, but almost everything else will impress if viewed solely from a technical perspective. Except that’s no way to appreciate art. Also, I often struggle with abstract sculptures even when they’re as meticulously well crafted as the Ron Nagle miniatures (4️⃣). And credit goes to whichever wall text writer came up with the phrase “psychedelically glazed protuberances” to describe the unsubtle works of Salvatore Arancio (5️⃣).
So what did I like? I’m a big fan of the geometrical wall reliefs by Lubna Chowdhary (@lubnachowdhary). I’ve seen her works before. They never fail to mesmerise me with their subtle changes in thickness and depth (6️⃣+7️⃣). David Yink-Zi (@davidzinkyi) has a wall of glazed stoneware that looks like the daily specials in a high street Nail Salon (8️⃣+9️⃣). And Takuro Kuwata (@takurokuwata) makes giant, colourfully drippy piles of goo that could be the next hot social media food trend (🔟).
Speaking of weirdly trippy visuals, I also liked the giant dead squid by David Yink-Zi and the “hand monsters” by Serena Korda (@serenakorda) that look like they’ve crawled out of an Evil Dead film (Img 11). Serena’s giant necklace of 100 large clay beads, however, didn’t quite do it for me.
The old adage about strength in numbers also didn’t quite work for Liu Jianhua due to too many repetitive items (Img 12) or Edmund de Waal — who literally has hundreds of works in the show, none of which you can actually see because they’re hidden inside frosted glass vitrines hung high above your head, so there’s no photo included here, for obvious reasons.
With the only theme being the core ingredient, the output is as varied as a Saturday Street Market. Chances are high you’ll disagree with lots of what I wrote, but to each their own. You’ll like what you like, and walk past the rest. Though you might find your initial impression of something changes after you’ve seen the whole show, and learned what’s possible when working with clay.
At Hayward Gallery (@hayward.gallery) until 08 Jan 2023
Tickets from £15 adult. Click to buy.