If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives): contemporary ceramic art

Showing posts with label contemporary ceramic art. Show all posts

Alas, My Knight In Shining Porcelain. Eleven Of Them.

11 suits of armor, each measuring 1.6 meters tall and made of transparent glazed porcelain, flank the public area of the Provincial building in Leeuwarden. Designed by Hans van Houwelingen in collaboration with Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum who produced the pieces, the 11 porcelain knights were part of a triptych of works commissioned by The Province of Friesland whose common theme involves the relationship between art and politics at a time when they seem to be moving further and further apart. The project is named Mecenaat Provinsje Fryslãn.

In the public area of the new Provincial building eleven suits of white porcelain armor with closed visors stand proudly on eleven consoles. Stately, conservative, self-assured and fragile, each bears the coat of arms of a Frisian town on its cuirass.

A suit of armor made of porcelain is like Frisian tradition, which preserves the people but at the same time makes them vulnerable. Tradition protects, but is also society's Achilles heel, just as porcelain can last a thousand years or be shattered by a single blow. Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum produced the numerous components of these suits of armour.

This commission has once again enabled Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum to showcase its traditional craftsmanship and expertise in ceramics. Hans Van Houwelingen is quoted as saying “I am very impressed by Makkum's craftsmanship.”

above: Hans van Houwelingen inspects an actual suit of armor for inspiration

Creating and producing the pieces:

About Hans van Houwelingen
Hans van Houwelingen (1957) was educated at the Minerva Art Academy in Groningen (Netherlands) and at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. His work is internationally manifested in the form of interventions in public space, exhibitions, lectures and publications, in which he investigates the relations between art, politics and ideology. He has created various exhibitions and permanent installations in public spaces. He publishes regularly in newspapers and magazines. The monograph Hans Van Houwelingen VS. Public Art: Stiff (Artimo, 2004) offers an overview of his projects and texts and an extensive reflection on his work. The publication update describes the permanent update of the Lorentzmonument in Arnhem (NL) during the exhibition Sonsbeek 2008. Hans van Houwelingen's Undone was published, presenting nine critical reflections on three recent works. Van Houwelingen lives and works in Amsterdam.

images courtesy of Hans van Houwelingen, Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum and Vormen uit Vuur

Have A Little Heart This Valentine's Day. Here's 64 To Choose From.

This large selection of handmade Italian ceramic hearts designed and decorated by various artists are designed to cover every gamut of love from desire to heartbreak. Each individual heart measures approximately 5x12 cm and makes a great paperweight in addition to being a declaration of feelings. Some are interactive and others are simply decorative, but all of them are sweet.

In addition to unique ceramic hearts, Creativando makes other ceramic wares such as vases, paperweights and artist decorated butterflies. They also create furniture.

Creativando is inspired by a passion. From the passion of Laura Ellero and Mauro Bassani, the founders, for contemporary art and design. Hence the idea, at the beginning just a hobby, to "produce" gifts and everyday objects revisited with an artistic and graphic point of view. Nowadays Creativando distributes its products worldwide. The philosophy is very simple. A small artisan entreprise who made of creativity and service its strength. And that puts a lot of passion in all its work.

Environment and Made in Italy
Selected materials and maximum attention to product quality and manufacturing, a craftmanship for details, from concept to packaging. This allows us to offer a product that has all the value and reliability of the product Made in Italy.

Creativando

Ordinary Objects Become Art When Slip Cast and Painted by Shalene Valenzuela

There are numerous talented artists who hand paint ceramics. Even their own slip cast ceramics. (For those who don't know, slip-casting is one of the simplest methods of reproducing a replica of an original model). But what makes Shalene Valenzuela's work different is the items on which she is painting. Her ceramics are not tableware or homewares. Not pretty vases or wedding platters meant to be used in a functional way, but sculpture meant to make you think. Or laugh. Or both.

She paints mid-century retro imagery in a cartoon-like vintage advertising style on mundane objects she slip cast in ceramic. Irons, blenders, toasters, clocks, woollite bottles, pencil sharpeners, handguns, cell phones, women's shoes and more serve as her handmade canvases. Perfect replicas in white, she then adorns them with her whimsical visual commentary.

above: Shalene Valenzuela, On Thin Ice, slip cast ceramic, ribbon and paint

Some are a work of one item, always painted on all sides. Other pieces are sets, in which the boxes or containers, as well as the objects within, are also cast in ceramic and hand painted.

While many of the objects and their images clearly play off of female stereotypes from the Harlet to the Happy Homemaker to the Fashionista with a shoe fetish. Others mock religion, our vanity or are a statement of our society's addiction to television.

Regardless, they are as amusing to look at as to ponder. Here are a few of her fabulous pieces from 2002 to the present, in no particular order:

Woollite Bottles:

Toasters and Bread, front and back:

Milk Cartons (front and back):

Pee-Chees:

Pencil sharpener (front and back):

Oven pads:

Handguns:

Clocks:

99 Bottles:

detail of 99 Bottles:

Blenders:

Science Girls' Kit (interior and exterior):

Glue Bottles (front and back)

Shoes:

Shoes in Shoeboxes:

Irons:

Phones:

Paint Sets and Box:

above: Shalene Valenzuela at work

Her Artist Statement:"My body of work consists of quirky pieces that reflect upon a variety of issues with a thoughtful, yet humorous tone. I am inspired by the potential of everyday common objects. I reproduce these objects in clay through hand-building, slip casting, or a combination of the two, and illustrate the surfaces with a variety of hand painted and screen printed imagery.

I primarily obtain my imagery from remnants of the past (instructional guides, advertisements, family photos, tall tales), and reconstruct the images in order to convey my narrative. These narratives generally deal with topics ranging from fairy tales, urban mythologies, societal expectations, etiquette, and coming-of-age issues.

Stylistically, much of my imagery is pulled from sources around the 1950’s era. Through advertising, common objects were embraced in the most royal fashion, and through television and print, images of the “perfect Americana life” were portrayed.

One way of explaining my building aesthetic would be a form of trompe l’oiel with a twist. The preciousness of clay as a medium helps transform my depicted common household item into something magical. I care about the object being referenced and recognizable while maintaining an illustrative, and almost “cartoonish” quality at times.

Sometimes my inspirations are just pure whimsy, and I find nothing wrong with that. Rules are sometimes meant to be broken- how else are we supposed to learn?"