“Raw Modernism: Accolay Clay Today” examines the historical significance of postwar Accolay ceramics and their continued relevance to contemporary ceramic practice. Focusing on the production of the Accolay workshops in France from the late 1940s until the late 1980s, the exhibition presents approximately 120 ceramic works alongside recent works by 8 contemporary artists. By juxtaposing historic Accolay works with contemporary practices, the exhibition explores the parallels between these two artistic contexts, examining overlapping reflections on craft, materiality, and the expressive potential of clay.

Emerging in the context of France’s postwar reconstruction, Accolay ceramics are characterized by experimental approaches to form, surface, and glazing. Positioned between art, craft, and design, these works reflect a modernist sensibility grounded in material exploration and collective production. Based on a non-academic, do-it-yourself idea of craft, the self-identified “Accolay potters” developed a keen sense of marketing, selling their works at gas stations that they themselves operated. This unconventional creative approach, which blended together the spirit of freedom, the practice of apprenticeship, and bold creativity, resonates deeply with the work of the participating contemporary artists—who, in turn, are continuing to expand the artistic potential of clay.

This exhibition attempts to establish a dialogue between the Accolay movement and non-academic contemporary ceramic practices. French artists Sylvie Auvray and Nitsa Meletopoulos re-examine the Accolay aesthetic through a series of colorful masks and vases; Chinese artists Geng Xue, Ou Ming, and Sun Yue break through traditional boundaries, creating unique styles that blend together popular culture and raw expression; Japanese artists Rena Kudoh and Takuro Kuwata bring together seemingly contradictory qualities in their works, like childlike innocence and rigor, simplicity and unconventionality; and Italy’s Roberto Cuoghi uses clay to stitch together an assemblage of helmets, armour, and crab parts. Through these each of these artists’ distinctive interventions, Accolay ceramics find themselves visually transformed and presented anew within UCCA Clay. 

This exhibition is presented by UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in collaboration with Le Consortium Museum in Dijon, France. It is curated by Franck Gautherot, Seung-duk Kim, and Zhang Yao, with exhibition design by matali crasset.