Mention ceramic pieces in conjunction with sex and probably most of us will conjure up in our minds that infamous scene from the movie "Ghost" with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore sitting at the pottery wheel and letting their hands slip through the wet, soft clay.
But the history of erotic ceramic pieces is actually older and includes very sophisticated classical Greek vases and Asian porcelains from the 18th and 19th century, as an exhibition opening in a month's time at the Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics in Leeuwarden, will soon prove.
"Sexy Ceramics" is indeed designed as journey through very provocative pieces, yet it's not arranged chronologically, but through the stages of lovemaking. The opening pieces look at gentle courtship and soft touches, but, little by little, the artworks included become more explicit.
At times, the pieces are characterized by historical images, hidden symbols or evocative shapes: courtesans, femmes fatales, seductive slippers, mischievous shepherd scenes, bare breasts, genitalia, male bodies, and graceful ladies show a world full of temptations, while lewd and lascivious vignettes hidden away under cups and dishes make you smile highlighting the more playful and ironic aspects of sex.
Stories from both the Eastern and the Western traditions – from Adam and Eve to the dissolute life of the handsome Genji, second son of an emperor – become great sources of inspiration for dishes, bowls and figurines.
Smooth materials and the fact that most of these pieces – from robust pottery to delicate porcelain – are shaped by human hands, hint at a heightened sensual experience.
Contemporary ceramics by artists including Louise Bourgeois and Jessica Harrison take the viewer into the world of sex and seduction.
The imagination is further stimulated by modern artists including Suzanne Posthumus, Michel Gouéry, Els van Westerloo, Irene Vonck, Anne Marie Laureys and Saturo Hoshino.
Each of these modern ceramists explore the unique properties of this material, some of them producing ambiguous pieces, others stimulating yet disturbing ones.
The exhibition will climax (excuse the pun…) with a final room conceived as a peepshow and featuring tiles with erotic pictures, pornographic porcelains and sculpted dildos, most of them leaving very little to the imagination (please note that this room has an age limit and you must be 16 to access to it).
For this exhibition artworks were loaned from the collections of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the Groninger Museum, several private collectors and the Venustempel Sex Museum in Amsterdam.
The renowned artist Alexandra Engelfriet also covered the walls of the exhibition spaces with clay, moulding it with her arms to give it physically powerful shapes.
A dirty mind is a joy forever, some malicious critics may suggest, rewriting Keats, but the theme chosen for this exhibit is actually a fun one that will certainly win new visitors to the museum.
The abstract bends and curves of some of these artworks reminiscing the human body, the explicit references, and the wonderful colours and techniques employed to make them will indeed offer visitors more accessible perspectives on ceramics.
One final note: the main campaign image for this exhibition features a man's body with a strategically placed abstract ceramic object by Tina Vlassopoulos, a good choice from the museum that should be praised since it opted to leave behind the overexposed female body to focus on the male body language.
"Sexy Ceramics", Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, 27th August 2016 – 9th July 2017.
Image credits for this post
1. "Sexy Ceramics" campaign, photography and concept Fritz Cook.
Tina Vlassopoulos, Object, 1998, terra sigillata.
2. Bowl with erotic scenes, early 19th century China porcelain
Bertholet collection, Amsterdam. Photo: Michiel Elsevier Stokmans
3. Two women in seductive pose, late 19th century, China porcelain
Bertholet collection, Amsterdam. Photo: Michiel Elsevier Stokmans
4. Love Couple in bed, circa 1918 to 1922, Shanghai, China porcelain
Bertholet Collection, Amsterdam. Photo: Michiel Elsevier Stokmans
5. Pair of slippers, 1775-1785, tile manufacture d‘Oude Prins, Amsterdam,
painter Adam Sijbel, pottery. Photo: Johan van der Veer
6. Els van Westerloo, nude male figure, 1981, stoneware. Photo: Johan van der Veer
7. Anne Marie Laureys, Vase, 2010, stoneware. Photo: Johan van der Veer
8. Chris Lanooy, female nude, 1930-1940, earthenware. Photo: Johan van der Veer
9. Michel Gouéry, Biomécanopatère, 2012, pottery. Photo: Johan van der Veer
10. Plate with wedding couple in bedroom (detail), circa 1752, China porcelain. Photo: Johan van der Veer
11. Dish depicting Venus and Mars, circa 1740, China porcelain. Photo: Johan van der Veer
12. Cup and saucer with hidden scene, circa 1740, China porcelain. Photo: Johan van der Veer
13. Jessica Harrison, "Painted Lady (25)", 2016, porcelain. Photo: Ruben van Vliet
14. Gerard van Westerloo, Plastic germinating seed, 1973, stoneware. Photo: Johan van der Veer
15. Ceramic artist Alexandra Engelfriet working at the Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics. Photo: Hans Jellema
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Related articles
Rispondi