(“Inverted”, 2012, porcelain by Carla da Cruz)More Fired Up is an exhibition of contemporary ceramics opening this evening (May 31) at 18h00.
Comprising a group exhibition of contemporary ceramics, More Fired Up is presented by the KZNSA Gallery as an extension of the All Fired Up: Conversations between Kiln and Collection exhibition which was showcased recently at the Durban Art Gallery (DAG).
This exhibition has rekindled public interest in ceramics. Responding to public demand, the KZNSA, working together with the DAG Curator of Collections Jenny Stretton, will offer a reconfigured collection of ceramic works. Having long outgrown the title of ‘pottery’, contemporary ceramic art is a fusion of art and science as its practitioners devise ever more innovative ways reinvent their clay.
The invited artists are either lecturers or MA graduates from the Ceramic Departments of both Durban University of Technology and University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg.
The exhibition will be opened on May 31 at 18h00 by The Durban Art Gallery Curator of Collections, Jenny Stretton.
Stretton believes that ceramics have a special role to play because ceramic art is three-dimensional. “It has more claim to the immediate dynamics of society than other visual art forms: it intrudes, demands space – almost as people do, and can alter its form as one circles it. Ceramics in broader society has become one of the darlings of the material sciences, chemists and physicists, who use ceramics to create jet turbine blades, flexible springs and semiconductors.
Set in the context of South Africa in 2012, a transforming social and political landscape, the shift in subject matter for artists is striking. Almost without exception, the artists speak of the transformational power of the kiln – it is a sacred space that has no master, manipulating elements at an alchemic level – God knows what Faustian deals are done as the artist closes the door of the kiln!
Participating artists are, Juliet Armstrong, Kim Bagley, Ian Calder, Astrid Dahl, Carla da Cruz, Leanne Frisinger, Raksha Gobardan, Carol Hayward Fell, Isaac Nkosinathi Khanyile, Fahmeeda Omar, Mhairi Pattenden, Sharon Weaving, Clive Sithole, Georg Hendrik Stroebel, and Martha Zettler. Included in the More Fired Up reconfiguration are artworks by students of some of the above exhibitors.
The KZNSA Gallery is situated at 166 Bulwer Road, Glenwood, in Durban. More information on 031 277 1703, fax 031 201 8051 or cell 082 220 0368 or visit www.kznsagallery.co.za
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