CONTENT is on view at Peach Corner, Copenhagen
November 7 – December 14, 2024
The themed exhibition CONTENT presents a curated and diverse selection of 25 vessels created by Danish ceramicists over the recent decades. Together, the 25 objects explore the full spectrum of ceramics, from the most basic everyday functions to existential questions. In the 25 texts in the accompanying catalogue, we gaze into the vessels to see what sort of content they might hold.
What we found: everything from ashes to concept, from shit to materialized poetry, sometimes within one and the same vessel! We found beauty, design philosophy, humour and social satire, conceptual and narrative CONTENT.
Artists: Anne Tophøj, Bente Hansen, Bente Skjøttgaard, Bodil Manz, Christin Johansson, Christina Schou Christensen, Claydies, Flemming Tvede Hansen, Gitte Jungersen, Hans Vangsø, Alma Bangsgaard & Hilda Piazzolla, Jørgen Hansen, Karen Bennicke, Kristine Tillge Lund, Lone Skov Madsen, Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl, Mette Marie Ørsted, Michael Ge ertsen, Morten Løbner Espersen, Ole Jensen, Peder Rasmussen, Petra Dalström, Sisse Lee, Turi Heisselberg Pedersen, Ursula Munch-Petersen
In ceramics, the vessel is both a convention and a mainstay: a type with a rich history that defines the field. We selected some of the vessels that have made the biggest impression on us, because they offer an interesting take on the vessel as type. They are objects that continue to haunt us and which are therefore well worth revisiting! The result is a collection of ceramic pieces that evade definition as they morph in and out of different genres. Are we looking at a sculpture, a utilitarian object, a materialized idea, a pure experiment? For the objects on display, the answer is never either-or. They defy categorization, they are both –and–, and that is part of their impact and allure.
The catalogue received support from the private foundation Grosserer L. F. Foghts Fond.
Excerpt from Gitte Jungersen’s text about Green Root by Bente Skjøttgaard:
‘Green Root is roughly modelled, and Bente has allowed the traces of her fingers pulling on the coarse clay to remain, without additional finishing. Had it been a drawing, it would have been done in charcoal, rough and dirty. The outer form is only slightly abstract, perhaps modelled on a concrete root she saw in the wood? But it is constructed as a thin shell, as if only the bark remains. The inner form follows the outer, as if the object we see has been hollowed out. It seems as if the dissolution has already transformed the dense tree trunk into a cavity. Green Root has a thick green glaze that melts and flows over the coarse clay surface, causing edges and small protrusions to appear darker and more visually prominent. The glaze looks almost like a living substance, a wet layer of mosses and algae that is now metabolising nutrients from the dying form to generate new life. The decay has a heavy, swampy sense of pleasure and desire. Remember: you are fortunate enough to be mortal.’
Excerpt from Ole Jensen’s text about Sun by Bodil Manz:
‘Bodil Manz continues to take her series of cylinders to new heights and expressions. In particular, Sun – a radical and minimal piece with fields of pure yellow and pure red – exuded a degree of intensity and appealing warmth that was unprecedented in Bodil’s otherwise typically refined and understated expression. And it really warms my heart to see a generally “cool” and esteemed old ceramic artist – sorry, Bodil – show the courage and stature to, once again, pull out all the stops.’
Excerpt from Gitte Jungersen’s text about Gnisten (The Spark) by Sisse Lee:
‘I first saw Sisse Lee’s ashtray on Instagram, the photo accompanied simply by the dry statement, All my friends are smokers. Sisse’s reaction was immediately to make an ashtray. Perhaps she was initially provoked, but then she felt a spark and wanted to shape and paint and support her friends in their unhealthy habits. She might have even gone out to get some beer while she was at it? Smoking is really stupid. But is it only stupid? It can also be pleasure, celebration or “stress management” in the awkward grip of a fifteen-year-old. Suddenly you look cool, as you are standing there with your ciggy, the smoke rings soaring, death-defyingly, into the sky …
Sometimes, you may lose the spark, but sparks can fly. In a simple way, Sisse Lee’s ashtray holds more than ash: a pile of ambivalent emotions gathered in one of the most humble vessels in this exhibition. “Ashes to ashes,” I say!’
Excerpt from Ole Jensen’s text about Billedvase (Picture Vase) by Peder Rasmussen:
‘Billedvase (Picture Vase), which is included in the CONTENT exhibition, is an early piece. It dates from 1978, not that many years after Peder completed his training as a potter. I imagine him sitting at the potter’s wheel, listening to pop music on the radio and thinking, “Well, that doesn’t sound half bad. This Suzi Quatro is pretty good. I’m going to memorialize that in a ‘pot’ with a picture of her and the band.” The vase form, aspiring upwards, was thrown with verve and clearly reflects the pure pleasure of the craft. Small imprints and scratches heighten the ceramic expression. Spray-painted a greenish yellow and finished with a black, handmade, high-contrast photographic reproduction of Suzi and the band that wraps all around the body of the vase. It works. It is pottery art and pop art in a single object.’
Excerpt from Ole Jensen’s text about Loop Work by Hilda Piazzolla and Alma Bangsgaard:
‘Many – including myself – probably still hold an idealized notion of ceramics as being essentially about clay, hand and mind. Hilda and Alma’s ceramics certainly have clay and mind, but in Loop Works, they explore what might happen without the involvement and intervention of the hand. Hilda and Alma’s 3D Loop Works are entirely defined by digital, mathematical algorithms for ejecting (printing) soft porcelain clay via high-tech mechanical nozzles. Thin, softly flowing porcelain coils slowly rise up in a controlled cylinder formation. At programmed intervals, the monotonously controlled circular movement is interrupted, and the clay has free play to form its own arbitrary extensions and uncontrolled paths. The material seems to ornament the cylinder with its own intrinsic properties and forces. The hand as tool is completely absent. The outcome compels us to acknowledge that even the most skilled and nimble hands could never have created this.’
Excerpt from Ole Jensen’s text about Serving Ceremony by Petra Dalström:
‘Serving Ceremony is an early piece by Petra Dalström. By now, so many years have passed since I saw it on display at the design fair in Milan that I can no longer remember all its details and complexity. What I will never forget, however, is my immediate joy at seeing a piece that so radically manifests the concept of design – as act, process, materiality, cycle, form, function and gesture – in a way where all elements are of equal significance, clearly visible and sensuous. Where nothing is hidden, and everything matters.’
Excerpt from Gitte Jungersen’s text about Balustervase (Baluster Vase) by Turi Heisselberg Pedersen:
‘Balustervase is an inner space, as vessels are, but equally, it is the air that wraps around the form. The swelling volume is, but if you observe it slowly and calmly, you may find that you are also seeing the air wrapped around it and sensing the air inside it. The vase was moulded using the simplest of methods, the ancient coiling technique, a common practice ever since the Stone Age. The Skarpsalling pottery vessel, a barrow find featured on a Danish postage stamp, was created using exactly the same method. Because it was hand-modelled, the symmetrical shape possesses a delicate quality of irregularity, the tiny variations lending the form a quivering, organic character. This is a shape coiled by skilled hands that knew exactly what they were doing. We are in good hands. Balustervase has a universal shape; it feels as if we have seen it before. It has long since realized that it is just one more vessel in a timeline that extends indefinitely and is fine with that. It is the opposite of Instagram. The opposite of loud and self-obsessed; it simply is.’
Contact
info@peachcorner.dk
Peach Corner
Howitzvej 67 A, st. tv.
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark
Photos by Ole Akhøj
