Beyond the Vessel

Myths, Legends, and Fables in Contemporary Ceramics around Europe

September 13, 2019 – December 22, 2019
Open Tuesday to Sunday: 11.00 – 19.00 Long Fridays: 11.00 – 20.00

Meşher, Tomtom Mahallesi, İstiklal Cd. No:211, 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul

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Ceramics have always been a vehicle for conveying shared human stories. The earliest specimens reveal how as object and its material create a multitude of meanings, from the utterly utilitarian to the highly symbolic. The recent revival of the use of clay as a means of creating abstract sculpture, wherein the narrative element is made subordinate to the expression of raw emotion, reveals how this material and genre has once again become one of the most compelling mediums in contemporary art.

Beyond the Vessel: Myths, Legends, and Fables in Contemporary Ceramics around Europe demonstrates how ancient myths echo across generations and now form an exciting new wave of contemporary art inspired by the human characteristics and archetypes they represent. The exhibition focuses on how clay, often used simply to manufacture vessels and other utilitarian objects, holds the potential of being one of the most refined and yet powerful materials in the hands of artists with exceptional skill and vision, expressing human emotion in the greatest degree of subtlety.

The works in this exhibition spring from a universe of nightmares and dreams, with exquisite beauty matched by horror. They can be classified in two principal types; those inspired by the forests and dark tales of the North and those by Classical tales from ancient Greece and Turkey.