Events

by

Brajo Fuso – A Certain Idea of Ceramics

Nov. 13, 2010 – Jan. 9, 2011
Torgiano, Italy

Italian Ceramics - A Certain idea of Ceramics - Brajo Fuso (1899-1980)Thirty years after his death, Umbria celebrates Brajo Fuso with two exhibitions.

The first one aims to sketch for the visitors the portrait of this eclectic Italian artist thru his paintings, sculptures and jewels. The other exhibition focuses on his ceramic works and, thanks to the curatorial effort of Giulio Busti and Franco Cocchi, it promises to cast some new light on Brajo’s creative path.

Brajo Fuso (1899-1980) is considered one of the most representative Italian artists of the 20th century. In 1943, in the middle of a successful medical doctor career, he started experimenting with color paints and wood, strings and clay, and any material that aroused his creativity.

Continue reading →

by

Ancient Ceramic Artifact Found near Montelupo

lastramontelupowebArchaeologists working in the area of Montelupo Fiorentino report a new find. It’s a remarkable ceramic plaque, a full relief featuring the head of a veiled woman, believed to date back about 2500 years.

The artifact is made of terracotta. The woman is wearing earrings and a necklace. Her hair is pinned on her head. She is surrounded by acanthus leaves.

The plaque was probably part of the fronton of a temple or of its sloping roofs. The archaeologists found it on the bottom of a 7.5 mt deep water pit, on a layer of gravel and accurately covered with stones. The setting of the plaque has prompted the assumption that the woman, possibly a Goddess, was laid there to protect the water of the pit.

The quality of the artifacts and its exceptional preservation make it a valuable addition to the Museum of Archaeology in Montelupo. One more reason, if necessary, to visit this beautiful spot of Tuscany, worldwide famous for its handmade Tuscan pottery.

by

Michela Minotti – Beyond. Ceramic Sculptures.

November 6 – 14, 2010
Tuscania, Italy

Italian Ceramics - Artworks by Michela MinottiI read about this exhibition on the Internet and I decided to go, regardless of my knowing nothing about the artist. A ceramic art exhibition near Viterbo, the place where I currently live, is a seldom occurrence. Plus, Tuscania is a charming destination.

I drove there with a sense of excitement because I had absolutely no idea of what I was about to see. I cherish the lack of expectations. It’s a blessed state of mind.

The exhibition was in a beautiful spot: a handsomely shaped, ancient warehouse, encased into the city walls. I watched a short video, featuring the artist, Michela Minotti, using the Raku technique to fire her pieces. Then I had a close look at her pieces. Finally I met her.

Continue reading →

by

Giuliana Cusino – Fairies

Until November, 2010
Avigliana – Italy

Italian Ceramics - Storie della mela - "Perché la mela proibita?" - 2010 - cm 50x70 - Photo credits: Giuliana CusinoGiuliana Cusino’s works have been often described as ceramic drawings, both for the technique she uses – she makes almost bi-dimensional raku figures and applies them on wooden panels – and for her naïve style.

A new talent in Italian ceramics, the artist has been working for a long time as a writer and illustrator of children’s books, a job and a passion that has strongly enhanced her gift for impactful and natural communication, only apparently unsophisticated.

Continue reading →

by

Women’s Hours

Sept. 29, 2010 – April 3, 2011
Naples – Italy

Painter from Licurgo- Wedding scene - 350 b.C. - Photo credits: www.palazzomontanari.comHow did women live 2500 years ago in the Mediterranean regions? An answer to this question is provided by a splendid exhibition, now open in Naples. It features thirty vases made between the 5th and the 3rd century b.C. and found in Ruvo di Puglia, an area in the South of Italy that at the time was part of the Great Greece.

Using the typical red figure technique, the pottery makers painted on their vases scenes from women’s daily life.

Queens in their own house, they spent there most of their time. They are depicted while busy in their homely chores, weaving colorful fabrics for their clothes, nursing their children, leaving their bedrooms to meet their husbands in the thalamos, the common bedroom. Outside their house, wedding celebrations and death rituals were women’s most important public activities. Continue reading →

by

Meeting Italian ceramic artists: Mirta Morigi

Italian Ceramics - Works by Mirta Morigi - Photo credits: www.racine.ra.itWhen I stepped through the old door into Mirta’s bottega it felt like I was traveling back in time, when technology did not own our lives and working meant “laboring”.
Biscotto piled up on every shelf, sketches pinned all around, brushes, easels, pieces at different production stages, busy people sitting at small desks, the perennial grayish dust of clay everywhere. Nobody seemed to pay any attention to me, and I was really wondering if I had misinterpreted the indications I’d found on Mirta’s showroom window in the main street of Faenza.

Then a nice girl looked up from her half-painted plate and asked me if I was looking for Mirta. A hesitant “yes, I am,” and I was told, “She’s in the back room”. Impossible not to feel at home! Continue reading →

by

Evolution Art Revolution – Italian ceramic genius at work

Italian Ceramics - Evening dress "Nike of Samothrace" - Photo credits: Evolution Art RevolutionWe’ve already told you how /r/evolutionary this event aims to be. Today we’ll tell you more about one of the projects presented in the exhibition Evolution Art Revolution. It’s the innovative combination of fashion and ceramic, both strictly made in Italy.

Here is the story, a truly cute one.

Nicola Boccini is the key character. He is the founder of the CLS (Free Experimental Ceramics Association) and an extremely knowledgeable ceramicist, with a significant technical experience. He is very focused on new processes and techniques that add to the properties of ceramic, thus making it suitable for more functional purposes than the traditional ones. Continue reading →

by

Castellamonte – Italian ceramic exhibition 2010

Sept. 3rd – October 3rd, 2010
Castellamonte – Italy

Italian Pottery - Castellamonte - Italian ceramic exhibition 2010 - Work by Ugo Nespolo - Photo credits: www.comune.castellamonte.to.itThis year the event proudly celebrates its 50th birthday with many interesting exhibitions, all organized by Amedeo Sacco, also directing the local Museum of Ceramics.

The key location of the event is as usual Palazzo Botton, that will host a solo exhibition of Rachele Bianchi, sculptor and ceramicist, whose large works are a miracle of geometric poetry, and “The soul of the Earth”, a collective exhibition that offers an interesting overview on the evolution of art ceramics since the Seventies. The artists featured in this exhibition need no presentation: Arman, Paolo Echaurren, Giosetta Fioroni, Luisa Gardini, Nicolas Leiva, Aldo Mondino, Mimmo Paladino, Ettore Sottsass.

Continue reading →