Ursula Morley-Price - Ann Van Hoey

Bringing together the works of two artists in the same exhibition is more complex than it might seem. If the two artists' approaches are too similar, the eye is often left with the simple exercise of comparison. If the two visions are radically opposed, the confrontation makes little sense. The comparison ofAnn Van Hoey andUrsula Morley-Priceproposed in Toucy, is a perfect in-between. Their works are obviously of different natures. The Belgian ceramist favors smooth surfaces, precise cuts and a flawless finish. The Franco-English artist prefers more irregular effects, however masterful they may be. The pure, almost abstract lines of the former are matched by the more organic forms of the latter. But they share common preoccupations: a love of the earth and experimentation with its limits, the use of monochrome - matte whites and blacks, green, beige... - a sense of movement - between twists and helical dynamism - and the influence of Japanese paper folding, garlands or origami.
Since their last solo exhibitions at Galerie de l'Ancienne Poste, in 2016 and 2017 respectively, Ursula Morley-Price and Ann Van Hoey have continued to evolve their work, without losing any of what makes them unique. Over time, both have forged and developed an instantly recognizable style, from which they remain steadfast. The former produces stoneware pieces with open, flared shapes, extended by delicate fins that extend from the main body of the structure into the space, while the latter continues her work of cutting, incising and folding slabs of clay, giving rise to a range of highly design-oriented objects, inspired by simple shapes such as half-spheres, triangles and squares.