Contemporary Danish Ceramic

Denmark is a nation steeped in design history, including furniture, interior design, fashion, homewares, electronics and technology, projecting a specific and recognisable Danish style and aesthetic that has become world renowned. Clay though is one of the most abundant natural resources in Denmark with territories such as Bornholm rich in high quality clays for use in ceramics, as such the country has a strong tradition for ceramic practice from the blue and white signature of Royal Copenhagen and Bing & Grøndahl, to the expressive 20th century ceramics of Thorvald Bindesbøll, Gertrud Vasegaard and Axel Salto.

It would be easy for artists to continue these aesthetic traditions, tried and tested as they are in the artistic and design forums of the world. But Denmark, ever inquisitive, continues to innovate, with artists creating and expressing new ideas in clay whilst maintaining a distinctly Danish respect for aesthetics and technical excellence. This exhibition showcases the diverse breadth of contemporary making with clay in Denmark today. Demonstrating a boundary breaking approach to the material, the exhibited artists evidence the full potential of clay as a sculptural material, both in ambitious form and scale, and in the application and integration of colour, pattern and texture. The exhibition includes vessel-based objects, figurative and narrative sculpture and abstracted geometric and biomorphic sculptural forms from twelve leading Danish artists: Anders Herwald Ruhwald, Annelie Stokke Grimwade, Heidi Hentze, Jørgen Haugen Sørensen, Lotte Westphael, Marie Herwald Hermann, Malene Hartmann Rasmussen, Martin Bodilsen-Kaldahl, Morten Løbner Espersen, Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen, Steen Ipsen and Turi Heisselberg Pedersen.