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Nino Caruso donates 60 ceramic sculptures to Torgiano

Italian Ceramics - Sinulite by Nino CarusoOn March 13th a grand opening celebrated the permanent exhibition of 60 works by Nino Caruso, donated by the artist to the city of Torgiano (Umbria).

Caruso is Italy’s most renowned contemporary ceramic artist, internationally acclaimed both for his works and for his studies.

The collection is an ideal overview on his evolution as an artist since the Fifties, when he started to use traditional shapes – steles, columns, vases, oil lamps – as references for modern contemporary ceramic art.

In a very distinctive way, Nino Caruso breaks with Italian ceramic traditions while reflecting in his works a thorough understanding and appreciation of those traditions. Similarly, he embodies the European humanism while freely using forms and techniques from Japan such as haniwa and raku.

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Lucerna Circus – A Ceramic Oil Lamp Exhibition

February 7-17, 2009
Perugia – Italy

Frezzini&Zaganelli - Circo Lucerna e Romeo il clown - 2008Each year the Lungarotti Foundation harnesses the creative forces of important Italian artists to offer a new, creative vision of the oil lamp and its flickering light that accompanied the life of people for many centuries. Oil lamps have been used in Italy until the end of World War 1. They were usually made of clay and burned olive oil, that neither smells nor smokes.

This year the project was assigned to Stelio Zaganelli e Cristina Frezzini, two young designers from Umbria, assisted in the making of their works by the School of Ceramic Art Romano Ranieri in  Deruta.
In a brilliantly creative association of ideas, they have jumped from the magic of the olive tree and oil – almost sacred in Italy – to the magic of the Circus.

Inspired by the atmosphere of poetry surrounding the 19th century Circus, so close to human virtues and vices, their large ceramic oil lamps/sculptures represent the key characters of the Lucerna Circus:

Sissi, the slender and elegant dancer, always in the limelight, desperate for a loving soul to share her destiny with;

Filo, the slim funambulist, continuously challenging his records but depending on drugs to keep his pace steady;

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New Clays – Languages of the Young Italian Art Pottery

Dec. 19, 2008 – Jan. 30, 2009
Baronissi – Italy

An extraordinary exhibition Italian Ceramics - New Clays Exhibition in Baronissi (Salerno)has just been opened at the FRAC Baronissi – Regional Fund of Contemporary Art – that will feature the works of a new generation of artists who’ve chosen clay to express their Art.

Born in the Seventies and the Eighties, they represent what’s new in the technical and visual language of Italian ceramics. A unique initiative, indeed, since it builds on the differing Italian traditions – Deruta, Savona, Padova, Vietri, Faenza, Lucca, Urbino and Salerno among the others  – and techniques, which include a number of experiments with contemporary images and materials.

In his introduction to the event the director of the FRAC Baronissi says that the exhibition features a carefully selected sample of the languages and the practices used in modern Italian ceramic art. These languages preserve the lively cells of the valuable Italian heritage while participating in the contemporary art experiences and blending clay with other materials and creative processes. Italian pottery is therefore a language among other languages, all of them having in common imagination, creativity and a contemporary spirit.

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Italian Clay Art: Brunelleschi’s Madonna first time on exhibit

Dec. 15, 2008 – Feb. 28, 2009
Firenze – Italy
Italian Ceramics - Madonna di Fiesole - Photo credits: www.corriere.itAn adorable clay sculpture of the Madonna with Child recently attributed to Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) will be on exhibit for the first time through Feb. 28th, 2009 in the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence.

The terracotta bust portraits a young woman with downcast eyes, deep in thought. She gently holds her baby, who leans on her shoulder with profound trust and intimacy, interlocking his legs with her arms.

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An Italian Ceramic Artist: Alfredo Santarelli

Oct. 25, 2008 – February 28, 2009
Gualdo Tadino, Italy

Alfredo SantarelliItalian ceramics - Porta del Morto (The deceased's door) by Alfredo Santarelli - Photo credits: www.gualdo.tadino.it is one of the most important Italian Ceramic Artists of the 20th century. His talent in drawing and his mastery in the tin glazing technique (lusterware) won him a large number of golden medals in International and Italian ceramic exhibitions. His excellent portraits and classic subjects are prized collectors’ items but he also interpreted Islamic, Liberty and Art Deco designs and shapes with great originality.

The curators of the exhibition, Prof. Enzo Storelli and Prof. Mario Becchetti, have selected for this very special event the best works made by Santarelli, ranging from his “historical” pottery to the modern 20th century pieces.

Santarelli was very much intrigued by the Visual Arts of the Past. The pieces he owes his fame to were inspired by Egyptian, Etruscan, Classic, Gothic, Hispano-Moresque, Renaissance, Neoclassic and Pre-Raphaelite models. They stand out in the modern Ceramic Art for their remarkably elegant execution and creativity, their philological exactitude and the sumptuous iridescence of their ruby and golden lustre.

In the second half of the 20’s his art evolved in line with the contemporary trends. His Art Deco and Liberty pieces are a tribute to Santarelli’s talented versatility.

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Castellamonte Ceramic Festival No 48

Sept. 5 – Oct 5, 2008
Castellamonte – Italy

Welcome to the presentation of a highly fueled edition of Castellamonte Festival of Ceramics #48, a must for the lovers of Italian ceramics!

Castellamonte Ceramic Festival © Vittorio Amedeo Sacco con permessoThe event, organized by Vittorio Amedeo Sacco, will include an amazing number of exhibitions: more than 1000 art works by renowned Italian and International ceramic artists will be featured in the streets and historical buildings of this charming town, not far from Turin (Piemonte).

Before going through the rich Festival official program, let’s briefly have a look at the history of Castellamonte, where pottery making has been one of the most important resources for 6000 years.

In the past Castellamonte residents were simply called “pignaté” (pottery makers) by their neighbors since most of the functional pottery used in the region was made here. Continue reading →

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Ceramic Art Exhibition & Workshop in Rome

Sept 5th – 21st, 2008
Palazzo Venezia, Rome

Palazzo Venezia in Nicola Boccini - Credits: CLS Rome is about to open its doors to a usual and exciting event: an exhibition of experimental ceramic art and a ceramic workshop open to pottery lovers experienced potters and absolute beginners.

The event will complement the Agostino Tassi exhibition, currently on in the same building.
Tassi (1578 1644) was a very talented Italian painter, whose reputation was equally influenced by the beauty of his landscapes and seascapes and the rape of Artemisia Gentileschi.

Close-ups of Tassi’s works will be the subject of the workshop on majolica painting held by the School of Ceramic Art Romano Ranieri from Deruta. The participants will discover the secrets that make Italian ceramics famous worldwide. For the workshop details, please read below.

The exhibition of experimental ceramic art will feature the works of David Roberts, Nino Caruso, Nicola Boccini, Marino Ficola, Malgosia Turlo, Giuseppe Agamennone and Pierluigi Pompei, a group of artists belonging to the CLS – Ceramica Libera Sperimentale (Free Experimental Ceramics). Continue reading →