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Category Archives: Ceramics

Vessels Gallery talk on Tuesday

07-Sep-08

Vessels Gallery talk on Tuesday

A reminder of the lecture "Two Perspectives on UK & Korean Ceramics" at the KCC on Tuesday 9 September. I'll be up in Cambridge watching Springtime on the Peninsula (1941) at the BAKS conference, so if anyone feels like providing a report of the lecture for this site, feel free. Works by Sena Gu (구세나) at the Vessels exhibition Here's some useful background, courtesy of the KCC: The exhibition “Vessels: Ceramicists from Korea & UK” opened on 12th August 2008 to exclamations of appreciation from specialists and collectors of ceramics alike. Admirers of this art form will be delighted to learn that there is still plenty of opportunity to visit the exhibition as it will be running until Thursday, 25th September. Featuring the ...

Vessels at the KCC

11-Aug-08

Vessels at the KCC

The KCC's exhibition for August and September is a juxtaposition of work by British and Korean ceramicists. Vessels: Ceramicists from Korea & UK Exhibition at the Korean Cultural Centre UK 12 August – 25 September 2008 Participating Artists (in alphabetical order): Felicity Aylieff | Sena Gu | Jeong Yong Han | Chris Keenan | Sun Kim | Hyejeong Kim | Eun-bum Lee | Yong Phill Lee | Chun Soo Lee | Rupert Spira | Heesook Ko | Sol Yoon The exhibition presents the unparalleled aesthetics and craftsmanship of the 21st century through the brilliant work of twelve artists. Representing both Korea and the UK, these artists have produced ceramic wonders that are not only breaking new ground but which also incorporate the uniquely congruent language ...

Return of Millennium Dream

03-Jun-08
Last year the ceramic artists of North Gyeongsang province held an exhibition just off Regent Street entitled Millennium Dream, Millennium Light. This year they return to a gallery in New Malden – coinciding nicely with the first week of the New Malden Arts Festival. As last year, the work will include that by renowned masters. Click on the image to the right for more information. The exhibition is at New Days Gallery, 2 Alric Avenue, New Malden, KT3 4JN, 5-10 June. Opening hours 10am – 5pm. Links New Days Gallery website Articles about last year's exhibition: here and here

Asian Art in London - 10th year

21-Oct-07
Asian Art in London is an annual event which unites London's leading Asian art dealers, major auction houses and societies in a series of gallery selling exhibitions, auctions, receptions, lectures and seminars. These are complemented by exhibitions at the leading museums. This is its tenth year and it runs from 1 - 10 November 2007. There's a wide variety of galleries and dealers participating, and many of them claim to be showing some Korean work. Similarly, if you visit the Asian Art in London site and search for "Korea", there's quite a long list potential buying opportunities. I emailed the dealers who came up on the list, and whittled the list down to the following who really do have Korean work ...

Moon jars old and new

25-Sep-07
There were moon jars a-plenty at the British Museum on Saturday: old and new, whole and smashed, real and fake and, as is the nature of these objects, none of them perfectly spherical. In pride of place in Room 3, just as you enter the museum, is one of the prized items in the British Museum's Korean collection, the Chosun dynasty vase - around 300 years old - picked up by Bernard Leach in Seoul in the 1930s. Surrounding the vase are other objects and displays to give it context: a reproduction of Lord Snowdon's photograph of the moon vase with Lucie Rie, taken in her studio. images of many of the surviving moon jars from the Chosun dynasty - photographed by ...

Focus on a piece of happiness

12-Sep-07

Focus on a piece of happiness

The story goes that Bernard Leach, browsing in a Seoul antiques store in the mid 1930s, came across a Choson dynasty Moon Jar and held his head in disbelief at its beauty. And, after one of the more inspired impulse buys in recent art history, he walked out of the shop "carrying a piece of happiness" ((Source: Gina Ha-Gorlin in the British Musuem's Autumn 2007 magazine)). That Jar now resides in the British Museum as one of the highlights of its Korean collection. From 20 September for six weeks, that piece of happiness will be the British Museum's "Object in Focus". Gina Ha-Gorlin, Arts Council Fellow at the museum, has planned an exhibition in room 3 (at the entrance to the ...

Millennium Dream

15-Aug-07
It's taken a while, but here is some more information on the artists and artisans from Gyeongsangbuk-do who were exhibiting in Mayfair earlier this year. It's a shame that their sojourn was so brief. The quality and interest of their work was equal to that displayed in the Traditional Yet Contemporary exhibition last year, and yet while last year's show stuck around for a couple of weeks on display and then re-appeared at the Bonhams auction later in the year, this year's exhibition was here for a couple of days and was gone in a flash. And it was particularly a shame that this year's exhibits did not stay around for longer given that the exhibition space was brighter, and ...

Artisans of Gyeongsangbuk-do exhibit in Mayfair

15-Jun-07
I apologise to the ceramists and textiles artists of North Gyeongsang Province for going to their exhibition armed only with my mobile phone. And unfortunately there aren't any press materials with images of the high quality work on show. From the above photo you can just about tell that the vase in the front has a red underglaze, but unfortunately you have to see the thing in person to see the richness of the colour. In the thumbnails below there's a small vase with a beautiful mountain design, and a large silk wall-hanging. The whole gallery is flooded with light and my little mobile phone cannot convey the sense of space and colour which abounds. I'll edit this post with more information when ...

Roe Kyung-jo: From Canvas to Ceramic

25-Apr-07
Gallerie Besson, 15 Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond Street, London W1S 4SP 25 April - 24 May 2007 Professor Roe Kyung-jo (노경조) made a rare appearance in London yesterday for the opening of his exhibition at Galerie Besson. Roe's work was on display in London last year as part of the Traditional Yet Contemporary exhibition at the Air Gallery, and for me his marbled vase was one of its highlights. What is new in this solo exhibition, apart obviously from the greater number of works, is that some of his early oil paintings are for sale alongside his ceramic work. Look at some of his paintings and they could almost be close-up views of his vases. The same muted colours, almost the same textures, ...

Traditional Yet Contemporary sale at Bonhams

22-Nov-06
The sale of contemporary Japanese and Korean ceramics at Bonhams on 7 November was the first time that a London auction had a focus on Korean work. As such, there was a lot of admiration from buyers as to the quality of the work, but when it came to putting hands in pockets buyers were more cautious. With limited past sale history to go on, the punters were unwilling to speculate. I'm always disappointed when I go into a gallery and the nice young lady behind the counter starts talking about how well a particular artist has done at auction, and what a great investment this artist is going to be. Naively, I would like to think that people buy works ...

Review: Traditional yet Contemporary

08-Jun-06
Air Gallery, London, May 29 - June 3 2006 As Stephanie Seung-min Kim says in her article introducing the exhibition, "...culture can only be seen in a clear light when compared with other cultures. I believe that is why Korean ceramic works have to be judged more in an international setting." The exhibition demonstrated the truth of this statement, but not, I think, in the way she intended.

Korean Ceramics - Traditional Yet Contemporary

27-May-06
One of the highlights of this year's Korean festival is likely to be the exhibition at Air Gallery in Dover Street -- juxtaposing the work of contemporary British potters with the work of modern Korean ceramic artists. Stephanie Seungmin Kim, curator of the show, explains. There's something rather comforting about traditional Korean ceramics. And this long and authentic tradition of Korean ceramic techniques is revitalized by modern ceramic artists to reveal the very best of the Modern Korean ceramics. These creations are now on show in London for a week, ensconced in the world of British contemporary arts. A week away from the land where its very own earth clay shaped them developed into a mission for me as some sort ...

Ceramics: Art or Craft?

08-Jun-05
Here's an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal from June 8 2005 by Karen Mazurkewich on the 3rd Ceramic Bienniale in Icheon, South Korea. Thanks to Aidan Foster-Carter for the link.

Rediscovering Korean ceramics

15-Apr-05
An article from the Wall Street Journal in the run-up to the 3rd World Ceramic Bienniale in 2005. Thanks again to Aidan Foster-Carter and his amazing powers of recall.