‘Smoke’ Rises at Frieze London

The past two decades have witnessed a sustained surge of excitement and curiosity in the art world about clay. In the UK, exhibitions dedicated to ceramics have included ‘A Secret History of Clay’ at Tate Liverpool (2004) and ‘Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art’ at the Hayward Gallery, London (2022–23). These have been paralleled internationally by ‘Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina’, organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2022–23), as well as by the rising recognition of figures such as Magdalene Odundo, whose work I included in the exhibition ‘Body Vessel Clay’, which travelled from Two Temple Place, London, to York Art Gallery in 2022. 

Dedicated solely to ceramics and artists who work with clay, the new Smoke section at this year’s Frieze London promises to be a rich and diverse exploration of the medium: an acknowledgement of both clay's historical role in art and its potential for future innovations and experimentation. Curated by Pablo José Ramírez of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Smoke features a selection of solo and dual presentations by Indigenous artists and those from the Global South, including Guatemala’s Manuel Chavajay, Honduran Adán Vallecillo and Christine Howard Sandoval, who is of Obispeño Chumash and Hispanic ancestry. 

Its title is drawn from a story by the late K’iche’ Maya writer Humberto Ak’abal; the geographies and genealogies of the artists in this section are not coincidental. ‘I chose to work with artists from the Global South,’ Ramírez explains to me in a recent conversation, ‘as this is a constant in my practice.’ Delving into the diasporic and Indigenous histories of ceramics, the section, as Ramírez says, maps ‘aesthetic trajectories towards clay originating from non-Western cultures that are not strictly connected to a teleology of Western art history.’

In his selection, the curator concentrated on artists who are reshaping the ceramic discourse, working with clay in what Ramírez calls ‘an expanded field’ that experiments with the medium, combining it with other materialities. ‘So, you have ceramics and clay in dialogue with materials ranging from steel to wood and porcelain,’ he says, ‘and incorporating painting on their surfaces, for example.’ What the presentations share, Ramírez explains, is ‘materiality on a conceptual level’. 

A compelling pairing presented by the Los Angeles gallery Murmurs brings together Roksana Pirouzmand and Karla Ekaterine Canseco. Pirouzmand centres her sculptural objects and installations on the artist’s body, drawing on her experiences as an Iranian woman living in the US to look at the complexities of diasporic memory alongside violence and care. Los Angeles-born Chicana artist Canseco explores similar themes but works with ceramics and performance. 

Clay, for Canseco, carries information that has been passed down and is still present; her interest lies in how inherited mythologies are dislocated from time, allowing them to unfold continuously. Like Canseco, Mexico City-based Noé Martínez features performance prominently in his artworks. He uses sgraffito (from the Italian sgraffiare, meaning ‘to scratch’): a ceramic technique that involves applying a layer of glaze or slip to a piece of pottery, allowing it to dry, and then using a tool to scratch into it to reveal the base layer of colour. Martínez's ‘Racimo’ series (2022–ongoing), the title of which translates to ‘bunch’, is influenced by the shapes of ritual rattles and musical instruments in pre-conquest Huastecan pottery. These forms are complemented by the artist’s narrative paintings of post-conquest Mexico and its resulting displacements.

Above all, Ramírez’s approach in Smoke centres on the idea of material culture. ‘When considering clay and other craft-based and Indigenous methods of making,’ he explains, ‘it’s more useful to focus on how material culture allows various perspectives to emerge and demonstrate their influence.’ He cites the example of Canseco, who ‘relates to the medium through her exposure to ceramics in her home life’, growing up in a Mexican-American family in Los Angeles. ‘The shared connection to the medium among many artists emphasizes the influence of material culture in art and enhances our understanding of material culture’s role in shaping artistic expression.’

This recognition of the contributions of artists from the Global South, the diaspora and Indigenous communities to the emergence of clay in contemporary art is not just a matter of inclusivity but a celebration of their unique practices. Embracing clay’s versatility and accessibility, their works enrich discussions, challenge and advance traditional definitions, and inspire us to recognize and appreciate the field’s vast pluralities. The diverse perspectives and cultural influences of the artists in Smoke allow us to see ceramics in a new light. 

This article first appeared in Frieze Week, London 2024 under the title ‘Sounding Vessels’.

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^{Main image: Karla Ekaterine Canseco, Incisivos (Incisors), 2024. Courtesy: the artist and Murmurs Gallery, Los Angeles}