The art world's new 'flavour du jour'

Ceramics artist Jim Cooper at the 2010 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale picture supplied by Whitespace Gallery NZH

Take a tour today to see works by some of our finest ceramic artists. Emma Jameson reports

In Frieze magazine's May issue ceramics were boldly heralded as the "new video art", the art world's new "flavour du jour". Once scorned as "crafty" objects more suited to cluttered kitchens than sleek gallery spaces, ceramics have become a focus of artistic and critical interest.

In an increasingly depersonalised, digitised context, a growing number of New Zealand and international artists are turning to one of the oldest creative acts: sculpting objects out of clay.

Reinvigorated, the true craft of ceramics is being embraced as an exciting mode of artistic personal expression. This is reflected in the increasing prominence given to ceramics this year in galleries throughout New Zealand. In January, Wellington's Dowse Gallery exhibited Slip Cast, a show challenging the traditional perception of ceramics being purely functional. And Tessa Laird's ceramics were included in Auckland Art Gallery's Freedom Farmers: New Zealand Artists Growing Ideas, which paid homage to developments in contemporary art over the past 25 years.

Auckland's smaller dealer galleries have followed suit. Melanie Rogers Gallery has exhibited Sam Mitchell's quirkily nostalgic rolled plates, while Two Rooms displayed Lauren Winstone's earthenware earlier this year. The kiln has definitely become cool.

Today's Clay O'Clock event showcases this rich diversity, giving Aucklanders the chance to visit nine galleries across the city as part of a guided tour of ceramic talent.

Organised to mark this year's Portage Awards, our leading ceramics extravaganza, visitors to Clay O'Clock will encounter artists, techniques, styles and gallery spaces.

Starting at NorthArt in Northcote at 9.30am, Claytime, curated by University of Auckland student Chika Lim, focuses on the playful act of ceramic sculpting and how this is similar to children's toys. Visitors will see clay buses, aeroplanes and brightly coloured figurines evoking nostalgia for childhood escapism.

The tour then moves to Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, where visitors can see the freshly renovated gallery and hear a talk by Portage Awards judge Takeshi Yasuda, who will discuss how he made the selections and decided on the overall winner. He brings to the awards a rich knowledge of Chinese, Japanese and English ceramic traditions, developed over the course of a 50-year career.

The afternoon section starts at 1pm with light refreshments at Masterworks Gallery, and the ceramics of Paul Maseyk, Kate Fitzharris, Bronwynne Cornish and Andy Kingston. Their raw, almost primal quality is contrasted by the rich textural layers of Virginia Leonard's works at Objectspace. Her works, called The Effects of Crack, are an investigation into the material qualities of clay. She uses the drips, cracks and globules of clay formed in the kiln as a starting point.

Jim Cooper's works at Grey Lynn's Whitespace also take as their inspiration the working processes central to ceramics. Cooper, at present completing an artist's residency in Taiwan, has gained international repute by exhibiting his works in the Hualien Ceramic Art Centre and the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale.

He is interested in the physicality of clay and his large installations feature bright colours akin to those in NorthArt's Claytime, and reference films, comics and album covers of the 1950s and 1960s.

After visiting FHE Galleries to view Emily Siddell's domestic-inspired objects merging influences from her Polynesian and Auckland upbringing, the tour will travel to Anna Miles Gallery to see Richard Stratton's ceramics. Referencing a plethora of aesthetic qualities deriving from the 18th and 19th centuries - natural forms and a penchant for Asian style -- his pieces evoke historically inspired narratives that evolve as the eye traverses their irregular forms.

The tour will culminate at Gus Fisher on Shortland St after a detour into Jason's Books to see a display of ceramic books and exhibition catalogues.

At Gus Fisher, visitors will see Bronwynne Cornish's distinctive figurative ceramics. Bringing together four of her major series of works - Temples, Seated Figures, Baa Birds and Standing Figures, the exhibition showcases her consistent exploration into the primitive wildness joining humans and animals together that she feels has been lost in today's context.

Exhibition tour
What: Clay O'Clock: An Auckland Festival of Ceramics
Where and when: Start the tour at NorthArt, Northcote, today at 9.30am, Te Uru Gallery, Titirangi, at 11am or Masterworks, 71 Upper Queen St, at 1pm; at 6pm taxi vans will pick up visitors at Gus Fisher Gallery and return them to NorthArt or Te Uru; see gusfishergallery@auckland.ac.nz