Crust is a Gold Coast City Art Gallery travelling exhibition of international contemporary ceramics, curated from the Gallery’s permanent collection.

Gold Coast City Art Gallery has an extensive ceramic collection of some 177 works, acquired mainly through the Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, an award running since 1982. This exhibition is a selection of 38 works from the collection, and will display the strength of one of the most significant ceramics collections in regional Australia.

The exhibition explores the plethora of approaches ceramic artists use when considering the finished surface of their objects. A number of firing and decorative techniques have been explored and documented – from wood firing, raku, gas and electric techniques, to salt and commercial glaze applications, sgraffito, underglaze, on glaze decoration and more.

Crust will show work by artists from all states of Australia including; Stephen Benwell (Victoria), Les Blakebrough (Tasmania), Jenny Orchard (NSW), and Errol Barnes (QLD). Given the international nature of the Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, the exhibition will also showcase several international artists including; Florence Rometsch (Switzerland), Werner Nowka (Germany), Hideaki Suzuki (Japan), Scott Dooley (USA), Tita Berkman (Mexico).

Crust is an important travelling exhibition of ceramic art, giving audiences not only an insight into the Gold Coast City Art Gallery’s extensive collection of contemporary ceramics, but also to the complexity of ceramic practice itself. Stephen Baxter, himself an established ceramic artist, will curate the exhibition therefore presenting the medium through the knowing eyes of a practitioner.

Due to the fragile nature of the medium, very few ceramic exhibitions are available to an audience outside the host gallery’s exhibition space. This being the case, Crust offers galleries a unique opportunity to present an exhibition that fully explores the diversity of contemporary ceramics.