Strange Clay is a wild surprise. Totem poles of chimney pots sprout beckoning fingers and toby jug handles. Distant minarets float on the horizon. Curious stumps glow like molten lava. There are Post-it notes scrawled with resentful messages, sea creatures sprawled on the floor and winged sprites hidden among the foliage of a life-size glade. And all of it is made in ceramic.
The Hayward Gallery has caught the moment with this enormous clay exhibition, for the ancient medium has become a contemporary phenomenon. So much so that this show can afford to leave out Ai Weiwei’s priceless Han dynasty urns painted with Coca-Cola logos or Theaster Gates’s hand-thrown vessels, with their meditations on African American politics, to show the work of 23 other international names.
