ALBISSOLA AND THE INTERNATIONAL AVANT-GARDE: CERAMIC ART, DESIGN AND ACTIVITY (1929-1963)

The coastal town of Albissola Marina has been the site of traditional ceramics production since the thirteenth century. During the twentieth century however Albissola became a prosperous hub for avant-garde ceramic art, design and activity. It’s two central ceramics factories - the Mazzotti Factory and San Giorgio - attracted a large number of international artists and figures during this period, including Asger Jorn, Lucio Fontana, Wifredo Lam, Piero Manzoni, Enrico Baj, and movements such as Futurism, CoBrA, Nuclear Art and the Situationist International. They all experimented with clay in avant-garde ways, resulting in the production of some the most innovative and unorthodox ceramics of the twentieth century. This thesis is the first scholarly study which demonstrates Albissola was a centre for avant-garde artist production during the twentieth century. It responds to an overwhelming lack of scholarship by examining the most vibrant and artistically revolutionary periods in Albissola, seeking to understand why artists were so interested in ceramics as an art form and why Albissola was such an attractive place to work. In answer to these two fundamental questions, this thesis combines original object-based research and fresh document analysis to explore some of the most important works of ceramic art created by artists in Albissola. This thesis hones in on the ways in which individual artists responded to ceramics using the various lenses of religion, mythology, technology, industry, artistic collaboration and collective activity, demonstrating that Albissola should be recognised as an important site of twentieth century ceramics, art and design.