Modern and Contemporary - Canadian

As Canada’s national ceramics museum, the Gardiner Museum is dedicated to celebrating Canadian artists and their work.

The collection brings together work by ceramic artists from across the country from the 1950s to the present. The field of contemporary Canadian ceramics today is rich and varied. The current generation of ceramicists takes the medium in a multiple directions. In their work, they show consciousness of history and popular culture, use the medium to tell stories, and borrow from industrial techniques such as transfer-printing and mould making. Clay is also used for sculpture and in multimedia work.

The Gardiner Museum’s holdings of contemporary Canadian ceramics were greatly enhanced by important gifts by Raphael Yu. It has been further enriched by works given by Léopold L. Foulem, Helen Gardiner, Aaron Milrad, Diana Reitberger, Brian Wilks, as well as from other donors. Many artists have also given works.

The Raphael Yu Centre of Canadian Ceramics was established as a virtual destination under which all activity related to Canadian Ceramic art is documented.