Redefining ceramics through exhibitionary practice (1970-2009)

Since the 1960s the field of ceramic practice that developed in the wake of studio pottery has expanded to incorporate diverse uses of clay. In the same period public museums and galleries in Britain have begun to engage with contemporary ceramic works on a more sustained basis. This paper examines...

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Main Author: Laura Breen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Department of Art History, University of Birmingham 2014-12-01
Series:Journal of Art Historiography
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/breen.pdf
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author Laura Breen
author_facet Laura Breen
author_sort Laura Breen
collection DOAJ
description Since the 1960s the field of ceramic practice that developed in the wake of studio pottery has expanded to incorporate diverse uses of clay. In the same period public museums and galleries in Britain have begun to engage with contemporary ceramic works on a more sustained basis. This paper examines how they have attempted to reconcile art-oriented practice, in particular, with existing modes of categorisation through temporary exhibitions. It argues that these ventures also reconstituted the ceramic field, which, like the field of art, became increasingly dependent on context as a means of delineation. It focuses on the period from 1970, when Ceramic Review was founded, to the 2009 exhibition Possibilities and Losses, which craft theorist Glenn Adamson suggested, marks a paradigm shift in ceramics. Extrapolating from Miwon Kwon’s writing on site-specificity it contends that although museums and galleries acted as the functional sites for these exhibitions the discourse around ceramics was a key site of effect.
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spelling doaj.art-2440456de23c41e4a63405f68a493b672022-12-22T03:31:12ZengDepartment of Art History, University of BirminghamJournal of Art Historiography2042-47522014-12-011111LB1Redefining ceramics through exhibitionary practice (1970-2009)Laura Breen Since the 1960s the field of ceramic practice that developed in the wake of studio pottery has expanded to incorporate diverse uses of clay. In the same period public museums and galleries in Britain have begun to engage with contemporary ceramic works on a more sustained basis. This paper examines how they have attempted to reconcile art-oriented practice, in particular, with existing modes of categorisation through temporary exhibitions. It argues that these ventures also reconstituted the ceramic field, which, like the field of art, became increasingly dependent on context as a means of delineation. It focuses on the period from 1970, when Ceramic Review was founded, to the 2009 exhibition Possibilities and Losses, which craft theorist Glenn Adamson suggested, marks a paradigm shift in ceramics. Extrapolating from Miwon Kwon’s writing on site-specificity it contends that although museums and galleries acted as the functional sites for these exhibitions the discourse around ceramics was a key site of effect.https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/breen.pdfceramicsmuseumsmediumexhibitioncraftsdecorative artsclaypotteryexpanded field
spellingShingle Laura Breen
Redefining ceramics through exhibitionary practice (1970-2009)
Journal of Art Historiography
ceramics
museums
medium
exhibition
crafts
decorative arts
clay
pottery
expanded field
title Redefining ceramics through exhibitionary practice (1970-2009)
title_full Redefining ceramics through exhibitionary practice (1970-2009)
title_fullStr Redefining ceramics through exhibitionary practice (1970-2009)
title_full_unstemmed Redefining ceramics through exhibitionary practice (1970-2009)
title_short Redefining ceramics through exhibitionary practice (1970-2009)
title_sort redefining ceramics through exhibitionary practice 1970 2009
topic ceramics
museums
medium
exhibition
crafts
decorative arts
clay
pottery
expanded field
url https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/breen.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT laurabreen redefiningceramicsthroughexhibitionarypractice19702009