Revista Ceramica

Certainly the “Oil Spot” Tenmoku glazes of the Song dynasty in China have something magical, that same magic has been recovered by Albert Montserrat (http:// albertmontserrat.co.uk) in his main ceramic works, magnificent vessels and splendid bowls with subtle glazes. On his website he comments as “His interest in ceramics is based on the research of glazes and their application on a large surface of thrown porcelain. I am fascinated by experimenting with different materials to find new colours and textures. The main inspiration comes from the oriental glazes known as “Oil Spot". I throw classic and simple forms, intensively pursuing balanced volumes and proportionate shapes with a special interest in the vessels given their declaration of intentions and cultural connotations attached to the history of humanity that the forms of the vessels possess ”.

When working with thrown pieces that exceed half a meter in porcelain, it is possible to enjoy very unique glazes that open up new paths in a fully modern ceramic, basically learning from the past to start from it.

He has a multidisciplinary training from the hand of Product Design, La Massana and the Escola de Cerámica de la Bisbal, not to mention the surroundings of Barcelona where he was born, Mexico and now the United Kingdom.

He fires his porcelain that he also uses at 1300C, its hardness, fluidity and whiteness are the reasons why he uses it, in addition to their historical connotations. His shapes are bold and with statement, it is enough to appreciate the pieces published in this magazine on p. 7, no. 139 and p. 90, no. 151 and the pieces on the website, mentioned above, logically the virtuous and plethora of forms base their expressive force and glazes with rich textures on the best recipient of high temperature glazes, which is none other than porcelain, textures sometimes multilayered give a sense of depth, we can also see his pieces with several layers of glazes, sometimes with superficial contrast thanks to darker tones in the upper part of the piece and lighter glazes in the lower part. Sometimes the glazes have a considerable thickness which makes a sense of a dramatic effect.

Albert Montserrat is a ceramist of his time and incorporates into the 21st century the eternal values of ceramics, porcelain with impressive shapes and brilliant glazes, highly appropriate the word “brilliant” in this case, learns from the past and try to open new paths, or in other words in the eternal ceramics, well understood by a very modern artist who creates new paths of ceramic expression.

Logically, he has received a lot of attention thanks to the prestigious awards obtained, highlighting the Young Masters Art Prize and the Ceramic Biennial Prize Angelina Alós Esplugues (Barcelona), those of us who knew Angelina Alós personally can say that she would be very happy with Albert Montserrat's winning ceramics, on the other hand his presence in the panorama of British ceramics, perhaps one of the most important in Europe, allows him to participate with galleries and spaces such as The Garden Gallery, Doddington Hall, Beaux Arts and Art in Clay Hatfield, among others.

Although he produces splendid bowls and cylinders, its large vessels or if you want more in the keys of its current environment the vessel-type forms due to their presence and visual strength, which pays tribute to the tenmoku glazes and especially the “Oil Spot” glazes creating mystery and admiration since the Song dynasty and its wonderful pottery.

Albert Montserrat offers the eternal ceramics that on the other hand we have seen in the contemporary ceramics of Bernard Leach, Hamada, Artigas and Lucie Rie, the brilliant contributions of this level keep the avant-garde of ceramics in full shape as a form of contemporary and current expression , thanks to great masters like Albert Montserrat."