Mr Monkey sees Distinction at the MCDC, 7th December

Mr Monkey missed the start of Distinction, the latest exhibition at the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, by several weeks due to his humans having problems reading properly but that didn't stop him going anyway.

Distinction runs until 23rd January 2010, and features work by 14 artists.

Mr Monkey looking at the Distinction exhibition

Mr Monkey looking at Becky Harle's Wide Porcelain Vessel

Mr Monkey very quickly noticed that Distinction was divided into two sections, one with white things on a black background and one with black things on white. Mr Monkey thought this was much better than the other way round.

He peered at Becky Harle's Wide Porcelain Vessel, which is supposed to look unstable and does it rather well and rather beautifully.

Mr Monkey looking at glass bowls by Gillies Jones

Mr Monkey looking at ceramics by Annette Bugansky

Gillies Jones' bowls, decorated with different fruits and leaves, impressed Mr Monkey. It was only when he got really close - and saw through the bases - that he realised they were made of glass.

Annette Bugansky's ceramic bowls and vases intrigued Mr Monkey by looking as if they'd been knitted. He suspects they only look knitted, though.

Mr Monkey looking at vessels made by Sara Flynn

Mr Monkey looking at bowls by Timea Sido

Mr Monkey couldn't quite work out exactly how roads, pathways and hedgerows had inspired Sara Flynn's small bowls and vessels, but that didn't stop him enjoying them. They're thrown then modified.

Timea Sido's Tangled Web bowls and vases are based on damaged spider webs, but more substantial and ceramic. Mr Monkey admired their apparent fragility.

Mr Monkey looking at work by Kaori Tatebayashi

Mr Monkey looking at Juxtapositions of Old & New II by Mai Sakuma

Mr Monkey quite liked the teapot and bowls by Kaori Tatebayashi, though he knew nothing about the old Korean ceramic tradition that inspired them.

Finally, Mr Monkey studied Mai Sakuma's work and tried to work out what the reclaimed materials used were before they'd been reclaimed. There's a similar piece to this in the other display case, only all in black.

Not all the work in the exhibition photographed well - Nitin Goyal's cushions were covered in reflections, and Deborah Zeldin-O'Neill's earrings were too small - so the pictures above are only a selection of the work on show.