Radical Feminine – Radikal weiblich

Strong female positions determine the departure and the breaking up of established conventions in ceramic art. This goes back to a long tradition: while female artists were long discriminated within the male-dominated art world and excluded from education, at the beginning of the 20th century, they began to occupy the very niches that were left to them at that time. Initially, these were materials and techniques with “feminine” connotations, such as textiles, graphics, and ceramics. The raw material clay inspired the pioneers, they experimented with the material, and women artists continue to push it to its limits and beyond until today. 
The exhibition Radical Feminine takes a look at the feminine in ceramic art. In the sense of the word root, lat. radix: root, origin, source, an arc spans from prehistory to radical approaches in today’s contemporary art. From one of the oldest known representations of women to important positions of the 20th century up to the present day, the female and figurative aspects of women themselves, but also strong feminist attitudes are shown. While the male view of the naked female body prevailed for a long time, the female ceramic artists of the turn of the century then conquered their view of the feminine. Emilie Simandl, Susi Singer, and Gudrun Baudisch interpreted nudity in their way in their works. With Johannes Schweiger (AT) the important, displaced Jewish ceramics Artist Lucie Rie (AT/GB) is also on display.
 
In contemporary ceramic art, the visual language is more explicit: feminism, radicalism, and vulnerability are inherent in the works of artists Annerose Riedl (AT), Kris Lemsalu (EE/AT) and Maria Kulikovska (UA). Klara Kristalova (PL/SE), Andrea Scholze (NO), and Laura Põld (EE) take a transfiguring, questioning look at the human condition and the relationship to other species, inventing figurations that range from fairytale-like to dystopian. Esra Gülmen (TR/DE) and Julia Beliaeva (UA) work socio-politically and critically, while Angelika Loderer (AT) deals with the ground of things and Linda Luse (LV/AT) with the roots (Radix) themselves. They critically question our interpersonal relationships, and the way we treat our surroundings and nature. With their ceramics, all the artists create fantastic new narratives of femininity, humanity, and living together. To this end, they humorously and lavishly deconstruct and destroy dogmas, reassemble them, transcend boundaries, and radically reinvent ideas of the feminine.
 
The concept is to present international contemporary art in ceramics of the highest quality, reflecting the collections and context of the province of Upper Austria: The collection of the city of Gmunden, the archives of the companies Gmundner Keramik Manufaktur and the Laufen Austria AG, private collections, galleries and works from the collection of the province of Upper Austria and from the exhibition program of the OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH and its Academy of Ceramics Gmunden since 2022 provide loans. This compilation, complemented by major figures from the ceramics scene, impressively demonstrates the uniqueness, power, and radical nature of female creation and the potential of ceramics as a material.