July 13, 2021 A major exhibition charting studio ceramic practice in Australia over the last 50 years will open at the Powerhouse Museum on 11 October 2021.
Bringing together works from 160 Australian artists, Clay Dynasty will celebrate Australian studio ceramics, as shaped by three generations of makers. The exhibition will present more than 450 works from the Powerhouse collection and will feature 70 new commissions and acquisitions from Australian artists.
Surveying over 50 years of practice, Clay Dynasty will feature works by pioneer potters who profoundly changed the course of Australian studio ceramics in the 1960s. Led by the English potter Bernard Leach’s interest in pre-industrial ceramic traditions of Europe and East Asia, they made uniquely Australian objects by using local materials and responding to the Australian environment.
Alongside the functional tradition, Clay Dynasty will explore the quest for artistic expression. Objects from the 1970s will illustrate the impact of American Funk art movement and popular culture in Australia, while works from the 1980s will reveal how Australian artists explored the vessel tradition through postmodern forms, colours and patterns.
Highlighting contemporary artists who are at the forefront of the medium today, Clay Dynasty will showcase new works from across Australia. Commissioned by Powerhouse in 2020-21, these works see makers exploring historical and cultural traditions, popular culture and current social issues to create contemporary works. Artists presenting include Gamilaroi artist Penny Evans; South Australian artist Honor Freeman; Brisbane artist Nicolette Johnson; National Art School (Sydney) trained artist Juz Kitson; accomplished Tiwi ceramist and woodcarver Jock Puautjimi; National Art School lecturer Ebony Russell; London-based sculptor Renee So; Vipoo Srivilasa and Queensland-based artist Kenji Uranishi.
Alongside commissioned works, Clay Dynasty will present works recently acquired by the Powerhouse, including works by internationally renowned Western Australian artist Pippin Drysdale; Head of Ceramics at the National Art School Lynda Draper; Luritja/Pintupi painter and ceramic artist Kunmanara Carroll; Sydney based artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran; Rona Panangka Rubuntja, award-winning artist and member of Hermannsburg Potters; Pitjanjatjara/Yankunytjatjara senior artist Carlene Thompson at Ernabella (Pukatja) Arts and contemporary potter Roswitha Wulff. Acclaimed artists Peter Cooley, Jeffery Mincham AM and Toni Warburton will also be featured.
Works from the Museum’s collection include ground-breaking pieces by Marea Gazzard AM, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott OAM, Margaret Dodd’s iconic Two blues Holden ceramic car which feminised the iconically macho FJ Holden of the 1970s; Joan Ground’s 1973 ceramic postal parcels and a rare collection of the earliest pottery made by Indigenous Australian makers in 1968–74 at the Bagot Pottery in Darwin, Northern Territory.
Lisa Havilah, Powerhouse Chief Executive said: “The Powerhouse collection of Australian studio ceramics is the most significant in Australia. We are committed to continuing to support contemporary Australian artists and documenting this significant field of practice for future generations.”
Eva Czernis-Ryl, Curator, Clay Dynasty, said: “As the first major exhibition exploring studio ceramic practice in Australia from the 1960s to now, Clay Dynasty reveals a field of dedicated artists, teachers and communities. Working with the Powerhouse’s Australian ceramics collection was a fascinating journey of reassessment and discovery.”
Clay Dynasty has been designed in collaboration with Aileen Sage Architects and AX Interactive and is supported by Brickworks.
Clay Dynasty
www.maas.museum/event/clay-dynasty/
Powerhouse Museum, Ultimo
Free
Clay Dynasty Masterclass series
National Art School, Claypool and Kil.n.it
TBC
$75/$150/$300
Powerhouse is partnering with local ceramic studios to develop a masterclass program in conjunction with the Clay Dynasty exhibition, where guest artists will explore a range of ceramic techniques. The series starts in October, with Stephen Bird leading a two-day raku firing class at National Art School. Prue Venables will demonstrate how to create functional forms through wheel throwing and altering at Claypool, and Hermannsburg Potters will deliver a workshop exploring underglazes on terracotta at Kil.n.it studio.
Clay Dynasty Symposium
Powerhouse Museum, Ultimo
TBC
$33/$40
In partnership with the ceramic industry, Powerhouse will host a symposium celebrating Australian studio ceramics from the 1960s to now, as part of the Museum’s ongoing research series. The symposium will focus on current practice and will look into the future, with speakers including Clay Dynasty curator Eva Czernis-Ryl, curator and writer Grace Cochrane AM, Head of Ceramics at the National Art School Lynda Draper; participating artists will include Stephen Bird, Kirsten Coelho, Geoff Crispin, Paul Davis, Penny Evans, Vipoo Srivilasa, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Gerry Wedd.
IMAGES HERE
MEDIA CONTACTS
Sasha Haughan
sasha@articulatepr.com.au
0405 006 035
Kym Elphinstone
kym@articulatepr.com.au
0421 106 139
Artist List
Alterfact
Nyukana Baker
Rod Bamford
Errol Barnes
Stephen Benwell
Stephen Bird
Olive Bishop
Les Blakebrough AM
Louise Boscacci
Euphemia Bostock
Stephen Bowers
Angela Brennan
Richard Brooks
Matt Butterworth
Penny Byrne
Kunmanara Carroll
Joan Campbell
Barbara Campbell-Allen OAM
Michael Cardew CBE
Kwirak Choung
Kirsten Coelho
Greg Colwill
Peter Cooley
Don Court
Geoff Crispin
Greg Daly
Steve Davies
Paul Davis
Janet DeBoos
Johanna DeMaine
John Dermer
Brian Doar
Margaret Dodd
Lynda Draper
Pippin Drysdale
Bern Emmerichs
Ida Enalanga
Patricia Englund
Ivan Englund
Irene Entata Mbitjana
Merran Esson
Penny Evans
Diogenes Farri
Fiona Fell
Suzanne Forsyth Hatch
Simone Fraser
Honor Freeman
Joe Furlonger
Angus Gardner
Wanda Garnsey
Marea Gazzard AM
Joyce Gittoes
Ivan Gluch
Donna Green
Victor Greenaway
Malcolm Greenwood
Joan Grounds
Andrew Halford
Alister Hallum
Shoji Hamada
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott OAM
Steve Harrison
Yaritji Heffernan
Mark Heidenreich
Patsy Hely
Satoru Hoshino
Harold Hughan MBE
Robert Hughan
Rupert Jack
Jenuarrie
Lorraine Jenyns
Nicolette Johnson
Won-Seok Kim
Juz Kitson
Yasuhisa Kohyama
Maria Kuczynska
Augustine Kungul
Bernard Leach CBE
Alex Leckie
Col Levy
Sandra Lockwood
Dianne Mangan
Janet Mansfield OAM
Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran
Maggie May
Carl McConnell
Phillip McConnell
Vincent McGrath
Ian McKay
Ivan McMeekin OAM
Susie McMeekin
Anne Mercer
Jeffery Mincham AM
Damon Moon
Milton Moon AM
Patsy Morton Mbitjana
Fiona Murphy
Nell
Chester Nealie
Gail Nichols
Graham Oldroyd
Maricelle Olivier
Jenny Orchard
Anders Ousback
Sassy Park
Alan Peascod
Peter Petruccelli
David Potter
Reg Preston
Jock Puautjimi
Mark Puautjimi
Eddie Puruntatameri
Robert Puruntatameri
Ray Rogers
Pilar Rojas
Carol Panangka Rontji
Christabelle Rose
Rona Panangka Rubuntja
Peter Rushforth AM
Ebony Russell
Owen Rye
Bernard Sahm
Bill Samuels
Chistopher Sanders
Ted Secombe
Avital Sheffer
Shigeo Shiga
Mitsuo Shoji
Stephen Skillitzi
Derek Smith
Leonard Smith
Yasmin Smith
Renee So
Paul Soldner
Ian Sprague
Jaishree Srinivasan
Vipoo Srivilasa
Hiroe Swen
Stefan Szonyi
Sandra Taylor
John Teschendorff
Thancoupie AO
Carlene Thompson
Derek Jungarrayi Thompson
Mark Thompson
John Bosco Tipiloura
Giovanni (John) Tipungwuti
Peter Travis AM
Kaye Panangka Tucker
Kenji Uranishi
Prue Venables
Jindra Viková
Toni Warburton
Amanda Warner
Alan Watt
Gerry Wedd
Kevin White
Zona Wilkinson
Roswitha Wulff
Bobby Wunyimarra
Ah Xian
Commissions and New Acquisitions
Alterfact
Angela Brennan
Matt Butterworth
Peter Cooley
Geoff Crispin
Lynda Draper
Pippin Drysdale
Merran Esson
Penny Evans
Simone Fraser
Honor Freeman
Angus Gardner
Steve Harrison
Yaritji Heffernan
Rupert Jack
Kunmanara Carroll
Nicolette Johnson
Juz Kitson
Susie McMeekin
Jeffery Mincham
Damon Moon
Rona Panangka Rubuntja
Sassy Park
Jock Puautjimi
Ebony Russell
Renee So
Vipoo Srivilasa
Carlene Thompson
Kenji Uranishi
Toni Warburton
Roswitha Wulff