Author(s): Matteo Zauli & Guido Molinari ed.

Art and Photography

Provoked Clay provides an analysis of experimentation in ceramics without focusing exclusively on formalisms nor through a choice of purely ceramic artists, but rather by moving freely and selecting works that show the elevation of the technique to an artistic material. Inside you will find works by the likes of Lucio Fontana, Alberto Garutti, Giacinto Cerone, Luigi Ontani, Daniel Silver and Ai Weiwei, as well as contributions from Carlo Zauli, Guido Molinari and Maura Pozzati. 'There are two ways in which clay can be provoked: by artists who, born and raised in ceramics, have for the physical and conceptual boundaries from within, and by those from the outside who, against all prejudice, have raised it to a pure art material and have greatly contributed to the great attractiveness that everyone recognizes today.' Ceramic as a material for artistic creation, free from artisan virtuosities and from being positioned among the minor arts. Production that becomes experimentation in works from Italian and international artists who have explored clay at some point in their research.