Pots for Light at Galerie Besson
Bodil Manz, "Shadow II" Cylinder no. 4 with stepped wall, Two cylinder no. 1, with yellow and black, all porcelain.
An exhibition focusing on studio porcelain is currently on show at London’s Galerie Besson until 27 May.
Pots for Light showcases the work of twelve ceramicists from the UK and abroad. The work ranges from wheelwork to constructed forms and includes a variety of vessels – from functional cups, bowls and jugs to more decorative vases – as well as some more purely sculptural pieces. The idea is to show the range of porcelain and how it can be used not just to create the refined, delicate vases commonly associated with it, but also to make heavier, more expressive pieces.
‘We wanted to show that although porcelain has a wonderful translucency and is responsive to light, it can also be used in a free and expressive way,’ says exhibition curator David Whiting. ‘If you go back and look at Korean porcelain made several hundred years ago, you can see it was used quite thickly and broadly, almost as though it was stoneware.’ Ceramists working in this bolder, more gestural way, represented here include Jack Doherty, Trevor Corser and Masamichi Yoshikawa. Those who prefer the more ‘traditional’ ways of working porcelain, which exploit its delicacy and ability to absorb light, should look out for work by Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Daniel Smith and Bodil Manz.
www.galeriebesson.co.uk
