Pablo José Ramírez Curates New Ceramics Section ‘Smoke’

Organised by Pablo José Ramírez (Curator, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles), a new themed section at Frieze London 2024 will present ceramic works that explore diasporic and indigenous histories.

Smoke will bring together international artists at the forefront of the medium today – whose practices mine pre-colonial traditions to use clay in expanded forms – presenting ceramics as one of the most impactful aesthetic forms in contemporary art. 

Smoke pays tribute to El Animal Humo (the Smoke Animal), Humberto Ak’abal’s story of an enigmatic creature made of smoke who emanates from the soil as a sublime and disturbing manifestation of nature. The featured artists – among them Manuel Chavajay (Pedro Cera, Madrid, Lisbon), Noé Martínez (Patron, Chicago), Lucía Pizzani (Cecilia Brunson Projects, London), Christine Howard Sandoval (parrasch heijnen, Los Angeles), Ayla Tavares (Galeria Athena, Rio De Janeiro and Hatch, Paris) and Linda Vallejo (parrasch heijnen, Los Angeles) – explore counter-archaeology, the continuum of ancestry and the ways in which materials bear witness to diasporic movements. 

Further Information

Frieze London and Frieze Masters, 9 – 13 October 2024, The Regent’s Park.

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^{Main image: Manuel Chavajay, 7 Days, 2024. Ceramic, acrylic, spray, variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and Pedro Cera}