Thursday, November 8, 2007

SUSAN JEFFERIES: Guide to ceramics


Ceramics have been part of human history for millennia and are found in a variety of cultures around the globe. Their traditional use ranges from practical storage of goods to objects used in sacred rituals. We have learnt a lot about our past and the daily lives of our forebears from ceramic pieces uncovered from ancient sites in virtually all the continents. The clay which we ourselves are meant to be fashioned from has become a silent witness to our progress on this planet.

I spoke to Sue Jefferies, curator of modern and contemporary ceramics at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics about her work at the museum and their exhibition of 23 pieces by the German artist, Gertraud Möhwald. This was a discovery for me, ceramics were not high up in my must-see-before-I-die list of art treasures. Now I am revising that list.

Sue Jefferies was a valuable guide in my journey of discovery. She herself began her journey in her native California where she studied at the University of California Berkley and University of California Davies. The latter was where she encountered the Funk Artist, Robert Anerson and his teaching assistant David Gilhooly. I never thought I would hear the words “funk” and “ceramic” so close together in a sentence. At this point, one’s brain may be tempted to conjure various George Brown statuettes, resist that urge, fight it and read further. According to Ceramics Today: “West Coast Funk is a movement associated with the western USA, notably California. Its roots date back to Pop Art and Dada.” The term was coined by art historian Peter Selz and defines the world Sue Jefferies grew up in, the beginning of her love affair with modern ceramics.

Jefferies spoke of the Gardiner Museum and her work there as curator. The museum is unique, perhaps the only one devoted to ceramics in North America. It was founded in 1984 by Toronto financier and businessman George Gardiner and his wife Helen. They donated the initial 2000 pieces that formed the core collection of the museum. The permanent collection now has over 2,900 pieces, including works from Ancient America, Italian Renaissance, English Delftware, Chinese and Japanese porcelain, European porcelain and a Contemporary gallery.

The museum re-opened in August 2006 after a $20 million renovation by KPMG Architects. The building was awarded a PUG Award (Toronto People Choice Award for Best Commercial Architecture in 2006).

The current exhibition, and something Jefferies was keen to spend time on, was the exhibition she has just put together, Clay Portraits: Gertraud Möhwald. According to Jefferies, Möhwald was one of the most significant ceramic artists working in postwar Europe. She brought a well-worn copy of a book chronicling the work of the artist to the studio. Jefferies clearly has a very personal attachment to this artist. She did meet with her in her studio in Germany, I sensed that this was a very meaningful encounter for Jefferies that had a profound impact on how she put together this exhibition.
Möhwald's work combines classical European sculptural traditions with her experiences as a young German who survived the bombing of Dresden and lived in East Germany after its separation from the West. Surrounded by baroque buildings and walls in various stages of decay and ruin, her work reflects this fragmentary environment. Her heads and torsos are composed of clay and commonplace ceramic fragments, and are sometimes combined with found objects and coloured paper.

This is the first time all these pieces have been exhibited together. The pieces are on loan from museums and private collections. It took Jeffries over 3 years to put the show together, before the tragic death of the artist.

The exhibition runs Oct 12, 2007 – Jan 20, 2008. The Gardiner also has a fabulous restaurant by chef Jamie Kennedy that serves lunch during the week and dinner on Fridays.

MORE INFO:
www.gardinermuseum.on.ca

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