Vessel/Sculpture – serie

Vessel | Sculpture refers to the direction studio pottery has taken since the mid-20th century, developing from primarily functional vessels to artistically designed vessels, ceramic sculpture, installation and conceptual art. The aim is to trace the history of how ceramics has evolved and developed into an autonomous art medium, which is continually self-renewing. Focused on the GRASSI Museum's collection of contemporary ceramic work since 1946 when Germany was divided into East and West after the World War II, this book provides a fascinating and instructive overview of developments and trends in the two Germanys. Moreover, a broad-ranging selection of works by ceramicists now active in both the new and the old Federal German states is supplemented by contemporary pieces from all over the world. The publication is devoted to one-off pieces and limited editions from the past six decades. Reproductions in large formats of approximately four hundred selected objects are accompanied by biographies of as many artists and their signatures. Text in English & German. Artists include: Gordon Baldwin, Richard Bampi, Hedwig Bollhagen, Jan Bontjes van Beek, Hans Cooper, Dieter Crumbiegel, Anne Currier, Ruth Duckworth, Karl Fulle, Walter Gebauer, Ewen Henderson, Gerd Knäpper, Maria Teresa Kuczynska, Beate Kuhn, Bernard Leach, Heidi Manthey, Sonngard Marcks, Gertraud Möhwald, Colin Pearson, Walter Popp, Gilbert Portanier, Renée Reichenbach, Lucie Rie, Antje Scharfe, Karl Scheid, Ursula Scheid, Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Alev Siesbye, Bärbel Thoelke, Jindra Viková, and many more.

In 2008 and 2013 the GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts in Leipzig presented two representative inventory publications under the title Vessel / Sculpture. German and International Ceramics since 1946, which attracted great interest from across the globe and were regarded as standard reference works. This third volume continues the series, against a backdrop of a renewed and extensive increase of modern studio ceramics in the museum's collection. As in the previous publications, the objects in the book enter into aesthetic dialogues, thus facilitating interesting perspectives in the development of artistic ceramics up to the present day. In doing so it becomes clear how ceramic objects are developing from a servient-functional gesture into ever consistent autonomous artworks yet without necessarily losing the vessel theme. Its multitude of current artists' biographies and illustrations of makers' marks make this a highly recommendable reference work.Contents: Contributions from selected artists: Felicity Aylieff, Thomas Bohle, Werner Bünck, Carmen Dionyse, Allesandro Gallo, Louise Hindsgavl, Beate Kuhn, Sonngard Marcks, Ken Mihara, Sarah Pschorn, Elke Sada, Carolein Smit, Julian Stair, Robert Sturm and Henk Wolvers.Published to accompany an exhibition at GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts Leipzig (DE), 10 November 2018 - 13 October 2019.Text in English and German