EXHIBITION 2016 “GLAZE – CHEMISTRY, MASS AND MYTH”
Summer exhibition at Hempel Glass Museum April-October 2016
GLAZE – chemistry, mass and myth – the possibilities of materials
The special exhibition of 2016 focuses on the interaction between glass and clay, between mass and surface, between form and decoration and the characteristics of these two materials. The exhibition tells of tendencies in the development after 1980 till the present and displays works by glass artists and ceramic artists who work freely within the traditional barriers between craft and disciplines in the handicraft. Time has come to show some of the fantastic, opulent and sensual glazed items that several of our internationally famous ceramic artists have created over the last years together with exciting examples of new approaches to ceramics by young glass artists.
The exhibition reverses things and the theme is widened to include activities linked to the glazes’ imitations of nature’s own surfaces (rock, lava, hoarfrost, moss, etc), the dream workshop of the alchemist trying to make gold, the chemical basis for the colours of the glazes and dramatic experiments from the glass and ceramic workshops.
The interaction between clay and glass dates thousands of years back in the history of culture. First came the clay; from prehistoric times our museums display skilfully processed jars and pots. Later came the glass for everyday use, as art and as glaze on ceramic jars, mugs, pots and pans. The glazes have served functional needs by sealing the bowls as well as artistic purposes through painting and glazing all items, from everyday articles to giant vases at the princely courts and ornaments on buildings and rooms.
In connection with the world exhibitions from the middle of the 19th century, Japanese glazed ceramics were displayed and intensely admired, not least by the artists. The Japanese stoneware also inspired Danish artists and from that period and onwards, you may speak of actual ceramic art in Denmark, in the porcelain factories, the ceramic factories as Hjorth and Kähler and in the workshops of the individual ceramicists.
The exhibition focuses on the period from year 2000 and onwards, where ceramic artists and glass artists take new directions and experiment at full speed in conceptual works, involving other materials and processes in their works of art.
All the glass artists of the exhibition use new ways in processing the raw material glass and thus obtain results that are not possible by using traditional blowing and casting techniques. The ceramic artists and the glass artists are open to the textural effect of the materials as a basic tool and through experiments with materials and technique, new expressions have developed. The experiment may turn into a work of art, and the process is evident in the final creation.
In the exhibition, questions are asked about the materials and how glass and ceramics are interpreted in traditional applied arts. Experiments are shown with new materials and ways to create form in the interstice between glaze and mass. Will the result be glaze as form instead of surface or has glaze turned into glass?
The basis for the exhibition is the materials and the craft with focus on the experiment and creating form.
Hempel Glass Museum selected and invited five glass artists and four ceramic artists to present both artworks and examples of the many trials and experiments that are a part of their creative process.
The artists are Bente Skjøttgaard (ceramic), Christina Schou Christensen (ceramic), Gitte Jungersen (ceramic), Ida Wieth (glass), Karen Lise Krabbe (glass), Maria Koshenkova (glass), Pernille Braun (glass), Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen (ceramic) and Terese Waenerlund (glass).
See the exhibition newspaper here