Engaging with clay to create

Tradition/Transition is the brainchild of Kristine Michael and Jin Kyoung Kim, both of whom envisioned and conceptualised it; Gallerie Nvya and InKo Centre (Chennai) have come together to bring their idea to fruition. Multiple artists portray multiple perspectives in their ceramic artwork, each engaging with the clay in a unique and personal manner. The exhibition aims to showcase the works of a wide range of potters, including the established and emerging.

“In the hands of the potters, this elemental substance stays still and transforms. Like the artists who give it form and use it to reflect myriad meanings, the clay both ‘Is’ and ‘Becomes’,” says Tripat K Kalra, founder, Gallerie Nvya.

This exhibition is a collateral event at the India Art Fair 2016 and Korean artists will be present. “The exhibited artworks hold the potential of being a delightful addition to any art collector’s repertoire,” says Kalra, a textile designer, art consultant and art columnist.

Both India and South Korea are renowned for their strong and diverse ceramic traditions in society as functional, ritualistic and architectural objects. Most of the artists whose works are exhibited here are educators, as well as strong practitioners, whose great influence on younger generations has led to a growing recognition of the value and highly regarded place of ceramic art in art practices of the 21st century.

The exhibition brings together a mix of senior South Korean names like Jae Joon Lee, Hoon Lee, Jin Kyoung Kim with senior Indian artists Ira Chaudhuri, P R Daroz, Trupti Patel and G Reghu, with a host of young talent including Shirley Bhatnagar, Reyaz Badruddin, Pyon Kyu Ri, and Yoon Sun Lim among others.

As the common clay makes its way to the ceramic stature, hopefully the show will prove to be a space of transformative mouldings in more ways than one.

“Transition /Tradition” a Contemporary Ceramic Art of India and South Korea exposition at Gallerie Nvya, Square One Designer Arcade, is on till January 30.