Ceramics UNIT: Introduction to Ceramics unit

Ceramic Art London

CERAMIC ART LONDON Ceramic art London is the leading fair for contemporary ceramics in London which runs over one weekend every year at the Royal college of art. The fair allows national and international ceramicists to showcase and sell their work to the public; other ceramic artists and professional buyers. In my personal opinion I feel that a career in ceramics is one that is hard to be successful in as there isn't a high public demand for it as individual pieces of art and isn't something that is exhibited on a high end scale. Because of this the fair aims to educate people in studio ceramics, to do this they include programme talks, demonstrations and film introductions to ceramic to increase the publics knowledge of ceramics and get more people interested in ceramics, it is also a good opportunity for young and aspiring ceramic artists to get talent spotted and acknowledged by collectors and gallery owners.

The ceramic art London fair is presented by the Craft Potters Association (CPA), the CPA were established in 1958 and represent ceramics and ceramic artists all over the UK; their aim is to support and encourage the idea and creation of ceramics and to raise the profile of ceramics to the public.

The CPA started off as a small group of ceramic artists trying to interest people in pottery, however the association has grown tremendously throughout the years and now includes nearly 1000 members. The CPA is open to new associate members and professional members the link to more information about the membership is shown below. CPA email

The CPA owns their own gallery in central London which exhibits work from the CPA members all year round which are available for sale. They previously had to move their gallery into a larger space because of the growing number of members and are currently working towards owning another gallery which will exhibit more themed solo exhibitions by young up coming ceramic artists. I think that by having a permanent gallery to showcase artists work all year round has helped the organisation to raise awareness of ceramic art which is what their aim is, their methods are widely evolved around using education of ceramics to spread the word. In 1991, the CPA set up a charitable trust to help raise money to put forwards ceramic education in the CPA gallery. Some of the trustees involved in the charity are members of the Crafts Council, former officials and current members of the CPA and fund the charity by giving donations and help to organise fundraisers.

Here are some photos of ceramic pieces done by just a few of the CPA members.