Thursday 11 February 2010

Life and Art in Israel Today



Using the ancient clay of Israel, 42 contemporary artists offer a revealing perspective on issues of their home and identity. Don’t miss the only Canadian opportunity to see this powerful exhibition.
Israel is home to a vibrant contemporary ceramics community, with artists producing a wide range of exciting work in both studio ceramics and industrial design ceramics. The Gardiner Museum recently showed numerous examples of contemporary Israeli design ceramics in its 2008 Object Factory exhibition. With From the Melting Pot into the Fire, the Museum now presents an outstanding selection of contemporary Israeli studio ceramics.
The exhibition features 37 works of art that were originally shown in 2007 as part of the Fourth Biennale for Israeli Ceramics at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. Many of the works in the exhibition are highly conceptual and address complex issues involving questions of identity and the uncertainty of life in contemporary Israel. Other works are inspired more by formal concerns and a desire to explore the full material and aesthetic potential of ceramic art. To illuminate the varied concerns of the artworks included in the exhibition, the participating artists were invited to write the captions that appear with their objects in the gallery. From the Melting Pot into the Fire does not endorse any single political, social or artistic point of view and is meant to encourage visitors to form their own opinions about the art it presents and the issues it raises.
From the Melting Pot into the Fire was organized by the Ceramic Artists Association of Israel (CAAI) in conjunction with the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte, North Carolina. The CAAI is a nongovernmental, non-profit professional organization that supports ceramic artists in Israel. Funding to bring this exhibition to North America was provided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 56-page catalogue.

2 comments:

Karena said...

I would love to see this exhibit. What a wonderful, poignant endeavor!
Karena

cotedetexas said...

Ahhhh! My favorite country in the world!