Edmund de Waal’s ceramic installations go on show in New York
Tenacity isn't the first word that comes to mind when one thinks of porcelain, but it's pretty tough stuff, with a delicate texture that belies its resilience in the face of chemical insults and thermal shocks. This sly strength comes as no surprise to Edmund de Waal, who remains enchanted with the medium some three decades after switching from stoneware to Limoges.
'Porcelain is incredibly resonant, culturally and historically. It's deep in the DNA of trade and of meaning and the passage of objects from one part of the world to another,' says de Waal, surrounded by hundreds of his hand-sized vessels in vitrines that line the walls of Gagosian Gallery in New York. 'It's a seductive, beautifully immersive material to use, and therefore you're always on the cusp of losing yourself in it.'
The delicious precariousness of working with porcelain - an unforgiving material with no patience for creative deliberation - is conveyed in 'Atemwende,' De Waal's first exhibition with Gagosian and in a country that knows him best for his 2010 family memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes. The 20 new works, which stretch over two floors and weave between them, are simultaneously mesmerizing and inscrutable, inviting contemplation while hinting at the obsession that generated them.
'Each piece is a rhythmical series of breaths, and then it's a bringing together of spaces, of pauses,' explains de Waal of his highly iterative process, which always begins at the potter's wheel in his London studio. 'And then the spacing of one and another and another and another, and making sense of something through repetition.'
He borrowed 'Atemwende' ('breathturn') from Paul Celan, who used the term in a 1967 poetry collection to describe the moment when words transcend literal meaning. De Waal's vessels - arrayed in purposeful rows that pulse with meaning, and presented in vitrines varying in scale, material, configuration, and colour - evoke everything from musical staffs and Morse code to the work of Giorgio Morandi and (through blurry glass) Gerhard Richter.
And while de Waal continues to be fascinated by the colour white, here enlivened by hints of gilt, he has also embraced black, a move inspired by the work of Kazimir Malevich. 'I had to think hard about the black square instead of the white square, and work out what black did in the world,' he says. 'It's been years of quietly, secretly working on black glazes.' Among the eight all-black pieces is the title work, an otherworldly cabinet of 302 porcelain vessels that beckon viewers to consider them from multiple vantage points.
As he moves effortlessly among references to Steve Reich and Donald Judd, the history of Chinese civilization and the collections of eighteenth century Europe, de Waal settles on a term that encapsulates his oeuvre and the immersive material he adores. 'Porcelain has a real connectivity with passionate minimalism,' he says with a smile. 'And I suppose passionate minimalism is probably where I am too, actually.'
ADDRESS
Gagosian Gallery New York
980 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10075
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Alessandro Michele is Valentino’s new creative director
Former Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele is named the successor to Pierpaolo Piccioli at the Roman house
By Jack Moss Published
-
New Byredo store opens in London’s Covent Garden
Byredo has unveiled a new Covent Garden store, its second bricks-and-mortar destination in London
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Alternative Easter eggs: chocolate-free but cracking gifts and indulgences
The humble egg, Easter's favourite ingredient, celebrated in five alternative forms, from a picnic cutlery canteen to a fabulous foamy dessert
By Caragh McKay Published
-
‘LA Gun Club’: artist Jane Hilton on who’s shooting who
‘LA Gun Club’, an exhibition by Jane Hilton at New York’s Palo Gallery, explores American gun culture through a study of targets and shooters
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates Black cinema
‘Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971’ at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) brings lost or forgotten films, filmmakers and performers to a contemporary audience
By Anne Soward Published
-
BLUM marks 30 years of Japanese contemporary art in America
BLUM will take ‘Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood’ to its New York space in September 2024, continuing its celebration of Japanese contemporary art in America
By Timothy Anscombe-Bell Published
-
Todd Gray’s sculptural photography collages defy dimension, linearity and narrative
In Todd Gray’s New York exhibition, he revisits his 40-year archive, fragmented into elaborated frames that open doors for new readings
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
Frieze LA 2024 guide: the art, gossip and buzz
Our Frieze LA 2024 guide includes everything you need to know and see in and around the fair
By Renée Reizman Published
-
New York artist Christopher Astley showcases an alternative natural world
At Martos Gallery in New York, Christopher Astley’s paintings evoke an alternative natural world and the chaos of warfare (until 16 March 2024)
By Tianna Williams Published
-
The Whitney plots Harold Cohen’s artistic AI adventures
‘Harold Cohen: AARON’, at the Whitney Museum of American Art celebrates the artist’s software – the earliest AI program for artmaking – as an artwork in its own right
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Ludovic Nkoth’s vibrant paintings reflect on migration
Cameroon-born, New York-based Ludovic Nkoth uses acrylic paint to strike a balance between abstraction and figuration
By Ugonna-Ora Owoh Published