ΒΟΟΚ:Vitamin C,Phaidon Publications

In recent years there has been a change in the perception of clay and ceramics, now appreciated and consolidated within the tradition of “fine art”, as opposed to as “craft”.  “Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramic in Contemporary Art” by Phaidon Publiations celebrates the revival of clay as a material for contemporary visual artists, featuring a wide range of global talent as selected by the world’s leading curators, critics, and art professionals. Artists include: Caroline Achaintre, Ai Weiwei, Ghada Amer, Lynda Benglis, Edmund de Waal, Nathalie Djuberg and Hans Berg, Rose Eken, Alexandra Engelfriet, John Kørner, Klara Kristalova, Simone Leigh, Alice Mackler, Mark Manders, Ron Nagle, Ruby Neri, Paulina Olowska, Gabriel Orozco, Damiàn Ortega, Tal R, Sterling Ruby, Wael Shawky and Rosemarie Trockel. The central essay to the book (Haptic Art) is written by Clare Lilley. It situates clay as an ancient and abundant material, one of the natural world’s protean resources, which has been used for millennia.. Lilley traces the history of clay, from the early human compulsion to create art in the pre-historical period, to its ubiquity throughout the story of art: Rodin, Picasso, Giacometti, Miro, Noguchi, et al. She continues to explore this history through the context of museum and galleries, citing the representation of artists like Rachel Kneebone or Betty Woodman by commercial galleries as iterating how the boundaries have shifted.-Dimitris Lempesis