Dedicated to contemporary clay and ceramics from South Africa. The first publication of its kind, published by Art Formes.
R1,190.00
This publication offers enthusiasts and collectors a glimpse into the studios of thirty important South African artists, born between 1941 and 1998, revealing the richness of both contemporary clay and ceramic tradition within South African art. This book is the fruit of countless conversations with each featured artist including Hylton Nel, Belinda Blignaut, Jabulile Nala, Ian Garrett, Andile Dyalvane, Katherine Glenday, Zizipho Poswa, Madoda Fani, Marlene Steyn, Hennie Meyer, Astrid Dahl, Chuma Maweni and Ruan Hoffmann amongst others.
Art Formes ships to all locations in South Africa.
We are now shipping CLAY FORMES to Europe, Australia and America from South Africa. Shipping confirmation will be sent via email once your order has been processed and carefully packaged. Please allow 7-10 working days for international deliveries. Orders may be subject to import taxes and VAT, which are the responsibility of the buyer. We know South Africa is far away and we thank you for your support.
“Clay has long been freed from the yoke of functionality. That is not to say that functionality is without beauty, but this publication sought to highlight all the things that clay can be when it is not functional. CLAY FORMES presents an in-depth survey of sculptural clay from contemporary South African artists. The large majority of artists featured in this publication have been working with clay for most of their adult lives and have a profound understanding of the medium and its technical capabilities. Crucial to the essence of this book is this sentiment by contemporary Israeli ceramic artist Ester Beck: ‘I was a ‘potter’ – once. The potter is still there, in the subconscious […] but ‘centering’, centrifugal movement of the wheel, and lifting and thinning of walls are all gone: now I myself am revolving around a block of clay and around the object being formed.’ Each of the artists in this publication has somehow been formed by clay, both shaping the medium and being shaped by it over time.”
– OLIVIA BARRELL, EXTRACT FROM THE EDITOR’S NOTE
“Hylton Nel once said that the clumsy had always remained with him, and he had grown to accept that this was how he worked. Perhaps the ground-breaking nature of Nel’s work is that it allowed ceramics the scribbly freedom to play outside of the studio, to go out into the corners of the garden and the artist’s mind, to draw attention to a medium that can step outside of the functional realm, or leave a foot behind, or scuff this distinction beneath a heel altogether. Nel broke through the deep conventional trenches of South African ceramics to show that in art-making, in self-expression, there are no rules.”
– EXTRACT FROM CLAY FORMES
“You need to have a very strong, very fit heart. Clay teaches you to keep making, to keep trying and that’s what it is. In clay there is a beautiful lesson about life as well as individually.”
– ANDILE DYALVANE
“Belinda Blignaut has found herself within the mud. She has become legendary in South Africa for her pioneering practice: forging a new impulse in contemporary ceramics, that of unprocessed wild clay.”
– EXTRACT FROM CLAY FORMES
“The material, imaginary, and interpersonal resonances of porcelain have remained central to Katherine Glenday’s practice since the early 1980s. Formally and conceptually emphasising the porousness of borders and skins, the artist’s vessels defy categorisation. They extend into the most translucent edges of what we think porcelain should be able to do and are continuously coming into being in the blur between ‘the sacred’ and the kitchen sink.”
– EXTRACT FROM CLAY FORMES
“This publication is about the metamorphosis of clay, illustrating much of what the medium can become: canvas, voice, eggshell, stone, sand, artefact, plastic, wood, metal, or metaphor. This book is the first of its kind – a lengthy dedication to sculptural clay within contemporary South African art. There has been a small handful of publications providing an overview of South African ceramics – such as Garth Clark’s Potters of Southern Africa (1974) and Wilma Cruise’s Contemporary Ceramics in South Africa (1991), which stands as the latest to date – but these group both sculptural ceramics and functional pottery together within the same genre. CLAY FORMES sought to elevate this medium, which despite surrounding us in its practical forms and functions, can serve as the most exquisite medium for pure sculptural expression.”
– OLIVIA BARRELL, EXTRACT FROM THE EDITOR’S NOTE
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Dedicated to contemporary clay and ceramics from South Africa. The first publication of its kind, published by Art Formes.
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