Innovation and Change: Great Ceramics from the Ceramics Research Center, Arizona State University Art Museum Collection

Johnson, Mark M., Arts & Activities

Clay is one of the oldest materials known to humanity and has been used for utilitarian purposes and creative expression since prehistoric times. Clay tablets were used as the first writing medium when inscribed with cuneiform script around 3,000 B.C. When fired, clay was used for ceramic bricks, tiles, pots, bowls and dishware.

As civilizations evolved, ceramic materials, techniques, purposes and design all became more sophisticated and expressive. With the addition of different minerals and firing methods, clay was used to produce earthenware, stoneware and porcelain, allowing for even greater uses and versatility. Over the past 5,000 years or so, ceramics occupy a distinguished status in the history of numerous civilizations and cultures, both East and West and both ancient and modern.

Innovation and Change: Great Ceramics from the Ceramics Research Center, Arizona State University Art Museum Collection highlights 79 masterworks by many of the leading international artists of our time, offering a panoramic survey of the potential of clay as an expressive art form. The objects on view range from functional ware for everyday use to more expressive sculptural forms.

The exhibition provides an in-depth survey of American studio ceramics since the 1950s. There are also several examples of major …

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Publication information: Article title: Innovation and Change: Great Ceramics from the Ceramics Research Center, Arizona State University Art Museum Collection. Contributors: Johnson, Mark M. - Author. Magazine title: Arts & Activities. Volume: 145. Issue: 1 Publication date: February 2009. Page number: 16+. © 2009 Publishers' Development Corporation. COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale Group.

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