The Jurors took a break after deliberations from the GICB 2019 Ceramic Biennale and were toured through the newly developed Ye Village. The location is a mecca for local ceramic artists who have settled in this region providing spacious studios, living spaces, galleries and museum to support the clay community near Icheon.
The Blanc de Chine international competition celebrated the rich history of porcelain by attracting artists who use this rare and difficult clay with works that dazzled and amazed the jury. The competition is meant to honor the centuries old Dehua Porcelain that was made famous for its maritime silk road worldwide distribution. It was known as “ivory white,” or “milk white,” and was referred to in Europe as Blanc de Chine. The artists selected as finalists represented work with an array of illusions, metaphors and sensitivities along with skillful and astonishing handling of porcelain. They made use of its unique ability to be made paper thin and translucent or super fine to record the most detailed nuance of textures.
The exhibition opened in Beijing and then 6 months later, opened at the Massena Museum in Nice, France where the prize-winning artists assembled at the Nice Opera House for a stunning awards ceremony that included opera soloists, choir and full orchestra.
![Guests attending the 2019 International Ceramic Art Forum observe an Artisan from Dehua County repair ceramic products, 2019. [Photo Xinhua]](http://www.judyschwartz.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Guestsattendingthe2019InternationalCeramicArtForumobserveanartisanfromDehuacountyrepairceramicproducts2019.Photo_Xinhua.jpg)
The Korean Biennale (GICB) is probably the most prestigious of all ceramic competitions.
I was fortunate to be invited for a second time to jury the 10th which took place in 2019. I had previously juried the 2nd in 2005 and have consulted to the organization over the years.
The sheer magnitude of its spacious exhibition halls, the quality of the programing during the months it is open, the invitations to world-famous artists to lecture and demonstrate, the scholarly documentation of the catalogs, the ability to attract millions of visitors who flock to support the artists, and the memorable awards ceremonies to honor the artists, are just a few of the reasons for my enthusiasm.
This Gyeonggi region in Korea, where the royal kilns produced ceramics for the royal household for five hundred years (during the Joseon period) was not well known to the international community, and to remedy this, the first biennale was created to bring exposure to the region. It is well worth visiting not only to see the museums but also to visit the newly developed Ye ceramic community of galleries and artists’ studios with living working environments.
The jurors were asked to write a brief critical perspective for one of the winners and this was my writing for the grand prize winner, Tip Toland:
“Tip Toland’s figurative sculptures are stunningly realistic and exquisite. She uses wax to express real human skin and applies natural or artificial human hair. Her works bring to mind photorealism and hyperrealism, through which the artist intends to communicate the psychology deep inside humans. These three pieces are self-portraits. The first piece, “Tantrum”, describes the artist’s sane response to an insane world. The second piece, “Beauty Parlor”, is about parents willingly being made the fools out of love for their children. The third piece, “Fool”, is a portrait of the artist herself as a contemporary fool. Tip Toland often creates sculptures of the elderly and children because they are too often weak and neglected. The feelings imparted by her sculptures make the viewer feel the same feelings in his or her life and elicit an emotional and empathetic response.”
It was a pleasure to introduce and pay tribute to honoree, Jim Turnbull, during the Hand in Hand Benefit for the Clay Art Center held at the Willow Ridge Country Club, Rye, NY on October, 17, 2019.
In July, I gave a lecture on “Inciteful Ceramics,” at Beijing Technical Institute of Art & Design with Professor Bin Zhao.
On May, 18th, 2019, as part of the UCAE’s 2019 conference entitled, “Global Perspectives on Art and Education” held at School of Visual Art, NY, I moderated a panel called, “Personal Transformation Through Art,” with panelists Lahcen Amjoud (Morocco), Oscar Ceballos (Spain), Barbara Ellmann (USA), and Spyros Kasimatis (Greece).
Conference schedule and info here
It was an honor to be interviewed and then featured on the Ceramic Supply website. At the risk of this sounding like an endorsement, I am grateful to have had such a fine company mixing and delivering clay for more than 40 years to both my studio and classes at NYU. I have grown to rely on the quality of their clays and glaze materials. How fortunate we are in the USA to have abundant sources of clay, particularly when clays in other regions of the world, like Thailand and Japan, are scarce and very expensive.
