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The Vase Project celebrates the art of copying and the role
of the usually anonymous artist in Jingdezhen. Working with 101 blank
vases, the curators created a visual chain letter selecting factory
workers and painters from independent workshops around the city to copy
and hand‐paint a blue-and-white contemporary landscape based on their
original sketch of the smoke stacks of Jingdezhen.
The project took place sequentially over a two year period: the
first factory artist received the sketch which he/she copied on a blank
vessel which was then fired and passed on to the next artist to copy
on a new identical blank vase and so on.
The Vase Project exhibition reveals that even when working
by rote or mimetically the anonymous artist’s individual brushstrokes
contribute to a singular one-off aesthetic within mass‐production.
Curated by Barbara Diduk, Charles A. Dana Professor of Art at
Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in collaboration with Zhao
Yu, Assistant Professor at the Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
This exhibition explores the recent allure of China on Canadian
ceramicists. In the past few years, numerous ceramic artists have
attended residencies and exchanges in Fuping and Jingdezhen, replacing
the tradition of visiting Japanese folk (Mingei) potteries, in search of
authentic experiences.
The exhibition traces this new direction and how/if it has re-shaped
ceramic practice in Canada. Themes include contemporary Western
interpretations of Asian iconography, the relationship between the
handmade and mass production and the endurance of blue-and-white (Qing
Hua).
Go East features work by nine artists from across Canada
that were made in China or inspired by their experience of living
there. Artists participating in this exhibition are: Susan Collett, Jackson Li, Sin-ying Ho, Rory MacDonald, Sally Michener, Ann Mortimer, Paul Mathieu, Walter Ostrom and Diane Sullivan.
Curated by Rachel Gotlieb
JAN 14: PANEL DISCUSSION: Engaging with Ceramic Processes in Contemporary Art with artists Clint Neufeld and Linda Sormin. Moderated by Mona Flip, Curator of the Koffler Gallery
JAN 16: LECTURE: Under the Influence: The Harlequin Effect with artist Kate Hyde
JAN 25: LUNCH + LEARN: Susan Swan: The Western LightFEB 9: TRANSFORMATION BY FIRE: Hands-On WorkshopFEB 12: LECTURE: Married to Pottery: A Life of Uncertainty with Senior Curator Rachel GotliebFEB 14: JAMIE KENNEDY VALENTINE’S DINNER
111 Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 2C7
Canada
tel +1 416.586.8080
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www.gardinermuseum.on.ca
