Use and Ornament - The British Ceramics Biennial 2021

Use and Ornament was an exhibition curated by Anna Francis as part of the 2021 British Ceramics Biennial 2021, held in Stoke-on-Trent, UK. The exhibition was held at Artist Led Gallery, AirSpace, in the city centre of Stoke-on-Trent.

Exhibition Info:
USE AND ORNAMENT is a multi-media group exhibition which explores contemporary understandings of clay, as material and resource, the role and purposes it might have today; and delves into what ceramics can offer us, as we move into a time of recovery and rebuilding.

Artists:
BRICKFIELD
CLAY COLLEGE
ANNA COLLETTE HUNT
INSIDEOUTSIDEHOUSE
CLAIRE LODER
KATY SPRAGG
FRANCES DISLEY
curated by
ANNA FRANCIS

Use and Ornament, creates a space for respite and refuge from a time of difficulty, setting out some practical uses for this very earthly of materials, and how it might help us to recover, when the time comes. But it also goes further, in the belief that the role of art, and therefore the occupation of the artist and maker, is to create moments that move us beyond the bounds of the earthly, to that important place of imagination, exploration and departure.

An exhibition in two halves, the works shown discuss the need to make more sustainable choices in how we make and consume, acknowledging a need to shift our value systems in relation to global resources. We then move on to recognise that there is good reason to celebrate the sublime; for as much as we need our art to have a role and a purpose, sometimes that role and purpose can be to lift us out of the hole we are in, even if just for a moment, to dream of the future.

The exhibition comprises works by 6 artists/collectives, including work made during a public facing and participatory artist residency, completed in August 2021.

USE AND ORNAMENT : A Manual for Recovery through Pottery and Ceramics
Essay by Anna Francis

Since its first iteration in 2009, every two years AirSpace Gallery has mounted an exhibition as part of the British Ceramics Biennial, exploring clay and its applications. As a visual arts gallery, we have always aimed to create space for dialogues and critique within our programmes, and often, in the works and projects we have developed for BCB, we have aimed to gain an understanding of what role ceramics plays in our place; what the material may mean to the people and communities here, and what significance this has had and still continues to have via our global connections as a city. For BCB 2021, the Use and Ornament Exhibition aims to examine and explore contemporary understandings of clay, via the work of 6 artists and arts collectives.
In describing the exhibition as a manual, the aim is to suggest something useful: perhaps a set of instructions that can be followed; a recipe for something certain, a set number of ingredients which always result in the same outcome.

As the first public exhibition that the gallery has been able to display since the pandemic took hold in 2020, perhaps the suggestion of a formula that can be followed provides some much-needed certainty. Life today looks almost unrecognisable in some respects; much of what we thought of as definite and fixed has changed and shifted position. An exhibition arriving in the wake of such unimaginable upheaval must address some of the difficulties and challenges which have impacted on every human being on the planet these past 18 months, but the need for recovery mentioned in the exhibition’s subtitle speaks additionally about the purpose and role of art, given the global context of climate change, and more locally, concerns of a city aiming to find a new identity, as much of its traditional industries have dwindled, these past 50 years.

The role of ceramic here then is of particular interest, being a city whose fortunes have been tied up with clay as far back as 2000 BC, but most notably, since the Industrial Revolution saw the region eventually defined and known for what it makes: ‘The Potteries’. How do you rethink the role of ceramics in the Stoke-on-Trent of today, and what relevance can be found in this material, clay, given the local and global challenges we face?

PUBLIC PROGRAMME

Throughout the exhibition, Use and Ornament will be augmented by a series of public activities, taking the core underlying principles of the exhibition as a starting point and working outwards to explore contemporary societal concerns in visual arts and ceramic contexts.

The Public Programme will comprise
• Artists' talks and public discussions - delving into the issues facing contemporary arts and crafts
• The return of our Artist Soup Kitchen series, to explore support networks, good practice and sustainability of the arts and artists in an ever changing and challenging world.
• Creative, hands-on workshops
• A special Film Club with our Use And Ornament resident artists
• A final Use And Ornament Social, hosted by renowned influencers Hayley and Bill - which will seek to make the case for beauty, and the arts.