by Natalie Baerselman le Gros, curator and writer
Essay written for the exhibition 1 March – 4 May 2025 at Messums West
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. The importance given to creative exploration in Denmark’s early education system has formed a culture that values skill, the well-made and aesthetically considered and through this, artists, designers, and makers have created globally influential styles and objects.
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 domestic forums of the world. But Denmark, ever inquisitive, continues to innovate, and the artistic and sculptural potential of the material has been increasingly explored by artists eager to create, outside of the material’s historic load. They do so with the same sense of ambition for newness and dynamic innovation as the groundbreaking artists and designers before them, whilst maintaining an exceptional level of material expertise and attention to detail.
This exhibition showcases the diverse breadth of contemporary making with clay by a selection of its best artists in Denmark, creating some of the finest work in contemporary clay today. Demonstrating a boundary breaking approach to the material of ceramic, the exhibited artists embrace 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, Malene Hartmann Rasmussen, Marie Herwald Hermann, Martin Bodilson-Kaldahl, Morton Løbner Espersen, Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen, Steen Ipsen, and Turi Heisselberg Pederson.
