A quick glimpse of Jacques Monneraud’s vessels give the impression of lighthearted craft time, with cardboard tubes and layered cutouts affixed with pieces of clear tape. Perhaps they’re maquettes for larger pieces or simply playful experiments with an inexpensive material. But look closer, and you’ll discover there’s a lot more to these vessels than they first let on. Namely, they’re actually ceramic.
Monneraud’s ongoing CARTON series explores the relationship between material and perception. He blends three types of clay, then uses a potter’s wheel to throw the core shapes. When the form has dried to a leather-hard consistency, he trims where needed and refines the contours and edges, creating minute details that give the illusion of cut paper.
Achieving the corrugated detail is one of the most time-consuming and labor-intensive processes, which Monneraud accomplishes by pressing a handmade wooden tool into the clay to create a series of triangular impressions. When all of the pieces come together, it appears as though a few pieces of cardboard were patched together with adhesive. In fact, each container is totally water-tight, and they certainly won’t wrinkle or warp!
The artist recently conceived of a series of groupings in an ode to the subtle and playful oil paintings of Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964). The Italian artist is known for his muted still lifes of ceramics in which perspective, light, and shadow create nuanced compositions. He paid particular attention to the relationship between volume and line, often organizing items so that their tops all aligned or various elements appear to merge into other vessels’ details.
In Monneraud’s current exhibition Life, still., on view in Brussels, Morandi’s compositions provide a jumping-off point for the trompe-l’œil ceramics. Pitchers, vases, jars, and other shapes mimic those Morandi rendered in oil, revisiting the painter’s approach to “cosiddetta realtà,” or “so-called reality.” He was interested in “the notion that meaning lies not in the subject itself, but in the way it is observed,” says a statement for Monneraud’s show.
Life, still. is open on Saturdays through November at 38 Quai du Commerce in Brussels. Find more on Monneraud’s Instagram.
