CLAY POWER

摘要

Figurative sculpture, quite evidently modelled in clay, currently feature in two major London exhibitions. At the Royal Academy sculptures by Auguste Rodin fill the ground floor. Rodin prepared many of his works in clay but, usually, these were subsequently cast in bronze; however, they retain their sense of the material and its ability to be pushed and pulled around, evidence of the sculptor's search for some kind of truth. At Tate Britain, Rebecca Warren, who makes figures, or more usually parts of figures in unfired clay, is a contender for the 2006 Turner Prize. Warren's success in being shortlisted echoes that of Grayson Perry in 2003 for his decorated vases; it will be fascinating to see if her female figures will do for clay sculpture what Perry did for pots in raising its profile and status. Both Rodin and Warren use clay as a means of expressing ideas rather than for any intrinsic love of the material itself.