I’ll always remember The Light Forge's submission to the gallery as there were a lot of images attached and I can honestly say I mouthed ‘wow’ at every single one. And it was exactly the same when I unwrapped their delivery - their delivery of work made especially for our show ‘On The Edge Of The Light’ from their studio in Cape Town. . I did take some time to consider opening the gallery up to international submissions as the UK has such an impressive art scene, including an impressive yet still under-represented ceramics scene, that I already felt spoilt for choice. However in seeing work by The Light Forge, Clementina van der Walt, Roger Coll and Michael Rice (hint of some exciting news coming soon), there was an element to all of their work that was different from anything coming out of the UK. I realized that if this gallery is about reinforcing ceramics place within contemporary art then lets really show them what the medium can do. Selecting purely on the merit of the work rather than location has set the bar high but also, with this, shows the place that London and the UK has become for ceramics – an internationally sought-out exhibition location as well as home to an ever-growing and enviable group of ceramic artists. The Light Forge’s collection is an exquisite exploration of the translucency of porcelain, dramatically added to with a few beakers in dark clay that sit like heavy shadows amongst the collection. I couldn’t be more pleased to have their work here.
_
Image above: Cups, all slip-cast porcelain, by The Light Forge in our window.
Image: Katherine Glenday and Alistair Blair of The Light Forge working on the new collection in their studio in Cape Town. Image courtesy of The Light Forge.
Image: Jugs, cups and bowls by The Light Forge, all slip-cast porcelain, part of the collection in our exhibition 'On The Edge Of The Light' (29th March - 12th May 2019)
Comments