WHY are both Pop Art and modern ceramics popular yet sometimes sniffed at by arty purists?

Pop Art & Pots! at Lotte Inch Gallery, in Bootham, York, will consider this question from tomorrow until March 4 in a new show with "a true pop of colour".

"In an exciting and thought-provoking exhibition that celebrates the ‘popular’ in 20th and 21st century art, we focus on the spheres of Pop Art and contemporary craft – in the form of ceramics – to consider why both art movements have, in their own way, been subject to misinterpretation and to designation as low art forms," says Lotte.

"In an attempt to rethink previous representations which muddy our appreciation of craft in relation to the glamour of the Pop Art movement of the 1950s and onwards, this exhibition will showcase new ceramics by selected members of the Northern Potters Association, alongside prints from Pop Art superstars such as Sir Peter Blake. In doing so, we're offering up an exhibition which pitches Pop Art and craft on an even playing field."

York Press:

Shooting Stars by Peter Blake, © Peter Blake, courtesy of Enitharmon Editions

In celebration of the Northern Potters Association's 40th anniversary, Lotte is presenting new work by ten artist-makers from the north: Alison Brayshaw, Barbara Wood, Bev Seth, Josie Walter, Michelle Freemantle, Penny Withers, Katie Braida, Charlotte Morrison and Harriet Mckenzie.

Limited-edition prints by Sir Peter Blake, produced in association with Enitharmon Press and in response to the well-known, if quirky, tale of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, will be on show, along with perhaps more traditionally Pop Art prints by Eduardo Paolozzi, Robert Rauschenburg and others.

Delving deeper into the exhibition theme, curator Lotte says: "Over the past few years, ceramics as an art form and an interest – both the making and collecting side of the subject – have become increasingly popular, gaining a new, diverse following. While TV shows such as the Great Pottery Throw Down have served to bring the art form into the public realm, social platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest have also assisted in creating an amplified presence on a global scale and among people from all generations.

York Press:

Ceramics by Michelle Freemantle

"Raised online presence aside, this renewed interest in ceramics and pottery might also be considered the early stages of a backlash against the mechanisation, commercialisation and digitisation of 21st century living."

Either way, continues Lotte, it has seen the elevation of pottery and ceramics – alongside other forms of craft – to the level of fine art. "It is this that brings the subject into alignment with the work and thinking of the Pop Art movement," she suggests.

"This international phenomenon associated with the post-war West, celebrated commonplace objects and people from everyday life. It began as a revolt against the dominant approaches to art and culture and traditional views on what art should be, instead adopting themes and imagery from Hollywood movies, advertising, product packaging, pop music and comic books.

"Critics were horrified by the Pop artists’ use of such ‘low’ subject matter and by their apparently uncritical treatment of it, but this phenomenon, like the resurgence in traditional craft and making techniques today, offered a strong case for the elimination of the idea of high versus low in art, fine art versus popular art or fine art versus craft."

The exhibition run will include a preview event on Saturday afternoon, offering the opportunity to meet many of the craft makers in the show, with refreshments provided by Hotel du Vin, York. Gallery opening hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5.30pm and at other times by appointment on 01904 848660 or by contacting lotte@lotteinch.co.uk