62nd Faenza Prize. The International Biennial of Contemporary Art Ceramics is on view at MIC Faenza
July 1 – October 29, 2023
Seventy artists, over twenty nations represented: the best of the contemporary art scene who have chosen to use ceramics are on display at the MIC Faenza from 1 July to 29 October 2023 for the sixty-second edition of the Faenza Prize, one of the most important Biennial of Contemporary Ceramic Art in the world.
The exhibition displays the works of the selected artists, out of over a thousand participants, chosen by an international jury composed of the director of MIC Faenza, Claudia Casali, Judith Schwartz, president of the Museum of Ceramic Art-NY, Ranti Tjan, director of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Tomohiro Daicho, senior curator of MOMAK in Kyoto.
The topics covered and addressed are many: social, and environmental issues, those who are confronted with their own tradition and with clay to recover their roots or reflect on the territory. Some works interface with the public by requesting their participation, many others mix ceramics with other materials such as resins, wood, and photography.
The 62nd Premio Faenza proves to be a faithful mirror of the contemporary world, a window from which to look at and analyze the era we live in with his anxieties, his lifestyles, and his social and environmental problems.
The poetics respect the ceramic tradition, but at the same time overcome it through the technological research that a material such as ceramic, both ancient and modern, imposes, or confuses it with other materials.
And so it also happens to the awarded works. The installation “Eclectic Paradise on earth” by the Belgian artist Yves Malfliet, (over 35 supported by the Fondazione del Monte and Cassa di Risparmio Faenza) and the work “Courtyard Twilight Series IV” (under 35 supported by Cersaie) by Chinese artist Wei Bao reflects through clay on the relationship between man, society, nature and the environment.
“Yves Malfliet evolves by constantly reinventing his work through witty and inspiring creations. – the jurors comment – The clay manufacturing process is characterized by multiple techniques that give life to a harmonious whole. The intellectual aspect of the work leads us to investigate our society and, more deeply, the remains of society, through the fusion and apparent collapse of the objects, enclosed in boxes in which everything is piled up, like a bric-à-brac or waste. The work encompasses the entire space granted: wall, table, the floor in a total installation of great originality”.
“Wei Bao’s work – continues the Jury – instead focuses attention on the relationship between man and nature starting from a reflection on ancient civilizations and their settlements. Circularity represents the revolution of the Earth, ancient civilizations began to live in circular spaces, in contact and in symbiosis with nature. This is a very topical theme: we experience the loss of that primordial harmony every day. The work reminds us to respect the natural balance in building, to return to a serene dialogue with nature”.
The Medal of the Chamber of Deputies went to Anja Seiler, the Medal of the Senate of the Republic to Marieke Pauwels, the Monica Biserni Prize to Sarah Pschorn, the Prize in memory of Eleuterio Ignazi to Victor Fotso Nyie, the Rotary Club Faenza Prize to Marco Samorè , the Lions Faenza Club Host Award to Elysia Athanatos, the Silver Medal of the “D’A” magazine to Hongli Peng, finally the Lifetime Achievement Award from the MIC Faenza: Velimir Vukicevic.
“It is a special edition, which excites us – says the director of MIC Faenza Claudia Casali – it is a return to normality and custom of the Prize as a biennial appointment awaited by the world of international ceramic art. The last edition was in 2018, a lot has changed since then, both in the perception of ceramic art and inevitably in the poetics of the artists. We are very satisfied with the result and with the participation”.
Selected artists on display
Over 35
Dorna Abyak (Iran), Darien Arikoski-Johnson (USA), Elysia Athanatos (Cipro), Eliza Au (Canada), Kosmas Ballis (USA), Leonardo Bartolini (Italia), Sofia Beça (Portogallo), Nicola Boccini-Nicola Renzi (Italia), Anne Butler (UK), Kris Campo (Belgio), Sara Cancellieri (Italia), Greg Daly (Australia), Nathalie Doyen (Belgio), Antonio Fois (UK), Magdalena Gerber (Svizzera), Kei Hoashi (Giappone), Peter Johnson (USA), Maria Joanna Juchnowska (Norvegia), Ivan Kanchev (Bulgaria), Sunbim Lim (Sud Corea), Frank Louis (Germania), Yves Malfliet (Belgio), Massimo Manfredi Luccioli (Italia), Domenico Mangano & Marieke Van Rooy (Italia-Olanda), Alexandra Marinova (Bulgaria), Garrett Masterson (USA), Mikaso Tamago (Serbia, Giappone), Daniel Molyneux (USA), Muscle Memory Collective (USA), Yuko Nemoto (Giappone), Marieke Pauwels (Belgio), Maria Pol (Svizzera), POL Polloniato (Italia), Liza Riddle (USA), Sibylle Ritter (Francia), Fausto Salvi (Italia), Marco Samorè (Italia), Virginia San Fratello (USA), Anja Seiler (Svizzera), Brook Sigal (Francia), Nora Smahelova (Rep. Ceca), Kirsten Spuijbroek (Olanda), Eileen Cohen Süssholz (Sud Africa), Mariette Van der Ven (Olanda), Mattia Vernocchi (Italia), Velimir Vukicevic (Serbia), Lily Wang (Taiwan), Peng Xuejing (Cina), Tomoyo Yoshida Arrighi (Giappone), Veljko Zejak (Serbia).
Under 35
Felicithas Arndt (Germania), Wei Bao (Cina), Federico Branchetti (Italia), Uriel H. Caspi (Israele), Noa Chernichovsky (Israele), Lin Dong (Cina), Victor Fotso Nyie (Italia), HongLi Peng (Cina), Lena Kaapke (Germania), Guglielmo Maggini (Italia), Thomas Marseiler (Austria), Yu Mengtong (China), Sarah Pschorn (Germania), Lisa Reiter (Austria), Davide Ronco (Danimarca), Tomoya Sakai (Giappone), Katrina Schneider (Austria), Lei Shao (Cina), Laurence Sturla (Austria)
Contact
info@micfaenza.org
MIC – Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza
Viale Baccarini 19
48018 Faenza
Italy
