Exciting contemporary art at Blackwell
An atmospheric art installation joins a dazzling array of ceramic art on display during the summer at Blackwell, The Arts & Crafts House in Cumbria run by Lakeland Arts.
Form over Function: Ceramic Art at Blackwell, an exhibition challenging the notion that ceramics are primarily functional, runs until 9th September 2018. The exhibition includes work by artists including Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Gordon Baldwin, Ewen Henderson, Rosemary Wren and Alison Britton.
Through loans from the Centre of Ceramic Art at York Art Gallery and Lakeland Arts own private collections, Form over Function explores William Morris’ saying: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
(above) Gordon Baldwin, Emergent Vessel 1971, on loan from a private collection.
Gordon Watson, Chief Executive of Lakeland Arts points out that ceramics are enjoying a massive renaissance at present and Form over Function brings together an outstanding collection from the very best contemporary ceramic artists: “Sculptural forms, painted surfaces and narrative works by some of the greatest master of clay from the 20th and 21st centuries will be on show,” he says. “The quality and craftsmanship will excite visitors. This exhibition is about making art out of craft, ranging from a playful hippo sculpture to an optical illusion box. Works are themed into animals, clay as canvas, sculpture and community,” he added.
While visitors can view the very best modern and contemporary ceramic art inside Blackwell, they will also be amazed by a stunning art installation outside. Di Mainstone’s Time Mirror (pictured left)
is an interactive sculpture, made from polished steel, that reflects Blackwell’s dramatic Lake District surroundings.
During 2018, Lakeland Arts shows off some of the biggest names in world sculpture at Blackwell and at Kendal’s Abbot Hall.
At Abbot Hall, Elisabeth Frink will focus in a new exhibition Fragility and Power until 29th September. Rodin: rethinking the fragment (20th August to 27th October) explores how the originator of modern sculpture was inspired by the art of ancient Greece and Rome.
At Blackwell, Grayson Perry: Ceramics (21st September, 2018 to February 2019) features as the autumn show Turner prize winner Perry established his career in the field of ceramics, taking classical sculptural forms and portraying universally human subjects on their surface.
(above) Rosemary Wren – Hippo – courtesy of York Museums Trust
For information about visiting/events at both Blackwell and Abbot Hall, please visit: https://www.lakelandarts.org.uk
