17/11/2017

Touchstone, An Exhibition By Ceramics Ireland

Touchstone, an exhibition by Ceramics Ireland to celebrate the breadth of Irish ceramic practice, opens at the National Design & Craft Gallery in Kilkenny today, Friday the 17th of November 2017. Curated by ceramicists Tina Byrne and Elaine Riordan (editor and chairperson of Ceramics Ireland respectively) and featuring a variety of approaches to working with clay, Touchstone is a visual feast exploring form, figure, and function. The exhibition was officially launched by Minister John Paul Phelan, T.D.

The third exhibition in the Ceramics Ireland triennial series and coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the organisation, Touchstone debuted at Farmleigh Gallery, Phoenix Park, Dublin, on 17 June. The exhibition’s transfer to Kilkenny will provide an opportunity for national and international visitors to the area as well as local audiences to experience a comprehensive collection of contemporary Irish ceramics.

Karen Hennessy, Chief Executive of Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI), said: “Ceramics Ireland is a key promoter of Irish ceramicists and their work both at home and abroad. The organisation is instrumental in championing the quality and craftsmanship of this discipline and in raising the profile of ceramics as an art form. We are thrilled to host Touchstone in Kilkenny so that visitors to this region will have the opportunity to explore this beautiful collection of works from Ireland’s established and emerging ceramic artists.”

This contemporary exhibition will run at the National Design & Craft Gallery until 21 January 2018 and features 36 ceramic artists of and from Ireland, across the broad spectrum of clay practice, including sculptural, decorative, functional and installation-based works. An independent expert panel of three selected from over 100 applications and the chosen group includes the work of celebrated makers, including Frances Lambe, Cormac Boydell, Adam Frew, Sara Flynn, and Gráinne Watts, many of whom are featured in DCCoI’s PORTFOLIO progragmme. The exhibition also highlights the work of makers who are embarking on their careers such as Cathy Burke and Ann McBride, who are former DCCoI Future Maker Awards & Supports recipients, as well as Aisling McElwain, a recent graduate of the DCCoI Ceramics Skills & Design Course.

The full list of artists features:

Ceramics Ireland also commented: “Touchstone celebrates current contemporary ceramic practice by makers of and from Ireland. It follows on from ‘transFORM’ and ‘Centred’ in our triennial series of exhibitions, the first of which was brought about to mark the Year of Craft 2011. Each of these exhibitions has been an important benchmark and we are delighted to bring Touchstone to the National Design & Craft Gallery as we mark our 40th anniversary as a membership organisation. A distinguishing feature of this exhibition is the inclusion of a rich archive documenting and acknowledging all who have contributed to the growth of the organisation and our vibrant legacy.”

Ceramics Ireland is a membership organisation and this series of exhibitions in tandem with other activities, prioritises activation, education and promotion of the sector to guarantee the future landscape of ceramics in Ireland, while raising the international profile of Irish ceramics.

Touchstone is produced by Ceramics Ireland and is co-supported by the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI) and The Office of Public Works (OPW).