“STRANGE CLAY”: CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS EXAMINED AND REVEALED

IN LONDON, AN EXHIBITION OF UNUSUAL WORKS TEASES THE SENSES OF SIGHT AND TOUCH

Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art
October 26, 2022 – January 8, 2023
Hayward Gallery
Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XX, England
United Kingdom

by Nuala Ernest

Approaching the Hayward Gallery, I was curious to the point of apprehension about the idea of an exhibition devoted to, as the title “Strange Clay” suggests, just one medium. I didn’t expect to feel as intrigued, engaged, and moved as I did — or to find this survey of the creations a range of contemporary artists working in the ceramics field to be so much fun.

Betty Woodman, “House of the South,” 1996, glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, and paint; 159 x 246 x 9.5 inches (403.9 x 624.8 x 24.1 centimeters); view of this mixed-media work as it was presented in *The Art of Betty Woodman* at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, April 25 – July 30, 2006. Photo by Eli Ping. Courtesy of the Woodman Family Foundation. ©Woodman Family Foundation/DACS, London

Cliff Lauson, the director of exhibitions at Somerset House, a vibrant arts center housed in a neoclassical building in the heart of London, served as the curator of Strange Clay, an exhibition he has described as a survey of a selected group of contemporary artists’ productions rather than as an encyclopedic presentation of ceramic art today.