Edmund De Waal
29 Apr - 16 Jul 2016
© Edmund De Waal
Irrkunst, 2016
137 porcelain vessels and porcelain shards in 5 birch ply and plexiglass structures
3 sections: 301.8 x 300.5 x 153 cm
2 sections: 301.8 x 105 x 153 cm
Irrkunst, 2016
137 porcelain vessels and porcelain shards in 5 birch ply and plexiglass structures
3 sections: 301.8 x 300.5 x 153 cm
2 sections: 301.8 x 105 x 153 cm
EDMUND DE WAAL
Irrkunst
29 April – 16 July 2016
We are pleased to announce British artist Edmund de Waal's first solo exhibition with Galerie Max Hetzler.The exhibition will be inaugurated during Gallery Weekend 2016 and will be on view across both gallery locations in Berlin.
Recognised for his delicate porcelain vessels meticulously arranged in carefully composed groups displayed in vitrines or shelves, Edmund de Waal creates his own dialogue between tradition and modernity, blank spaces and opulence, minimalism and architecture. His unique ceramic objects, coloured in subtle nuances and irregularly shaped, form the base of his installations and combine ideas of repetition, rhythm and composition with references to literature and music.
De Waal first came to know the city of Berlin through the writings of Walter Benjamin, particularly his autobiographical fragments in A Berlin Childhood around 1900. The exhibition title, Irrkunst, has been taken from Benjamin’s concept of the art of getting lost, the art of noticing what has been disregarded.
In the Bleibtreustrasse gallery, offering a room with a view on Walter Benjamin's former school, the artist will show works that reflect Benjamin's childhood, his passion for gathering objects and the idea of collecting as memory work. Here, amongst others, de Waal will present a major new series of vitrines. Furthermore, a selection of original notes and manuscripts from the Walter Benjamin Archive, Akademie der Künste, Berlin will be on view at Bleibtreustrasse and illustrate Benjamin's own way of working as well as de Waal's deep fascination with the œuvre of this thinker.
In the second venue at Goethestrasse – a former post office – de Waal will explore ideas of departure and loss through one large-scale installation in wood and porcelain, a response to the space being for things gone astray, the undeliverable. Moreover, Goethestrasse will include a temporary library of writings by and about Walter Benjamin, where visitors will be able to read and reflect.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue published by Holzwarth Publications.
Edmund de Waal was born in 1964 in Nottingham, he currently lives and works in London. De Waal's work was presented in several solo and group exhibitions at important institutions, such as Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (2016); Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht; Royal Academy, London; Barbican Art gallery, London (all 2015); Theseus Tempel, Vienna; Turner Contemporary, Margate (both 2014); National Gallery, London (2013); Alison Richard Building, Cambridge (2012); Tate Britain, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London (both 2009); Tate Liverpool (2004) and LACMA, Los Angeles (2000), among others.
Also known for his writings, Edmund de Waal won several literary prizes with his bestseller The Hare with Amber Eyes (2010). His new book The White Road, a narrative history of porcelain, will be published in German in fall 2016 by Hanser Verlag.
We would like to thank the Walter Benjamin Archiv, Akademie der Künste, Berlin for their generous support.
Irrkunst
29 April – 16 July 2016
We are pleased to announce British artist Edmund de Waal's first solo exhibition with Galerie Max Hetzler.The exhibition will be inaugurated during Gallery Weekend 2016 and will be on view across both gallery locations in Berlin.
Recognised for his delicate porcelain vessels meticulously arranged in carefully composed groups displayed in vitrines or shelves, Edmund de Waal creates his own dialogue between tradition and modernity, blank spaces and opulence, minimalism and architecture. His unique ceramic objects, coloured in subtle nuances and irregularly shaped, form the base of his installations and combine ideas of repetition, rhythm and composition with references to literature and music.
De Waal first came to know the city of Berlin through the writings of Walter Benjamin, particularly his autobiographical fragments in A Berlin Childhood around 1900. The exhibition title, Irrkunst, has been taken from Benjamin’s concept of the art of getting lost, the art of noticing what has been disregarded.
In the Bleibtreustrasse gallery, offering a room with a view on Walter Benjamin's former school, the artist will show works that reflect Benjamin's childhood, his passion for gathering objects and the idea of collecting as memory work. Here, amongst others, de Waal will present a major new series of vitrines. Furthermore, a selection of original notes and manuscripts from the Walter Benjamin Archive, Akademie der Künste, Berlin will be on view at Bleibtreustrasse and illustrate Benjamin's own way of working as well as de Waal's deep fascination with the œuvre of this thinker.
In the second venue at Goethestrasse – a former post office – de Waal will explore ideas of departure and loss through one large-scale installation in wood and porcelain, a response to the space being for things gone astray, the undeliverable. Moreover, Goethestrasse will include a temporary library of writings by and about Walter Benjamin, where visitors will be able to read and reflect.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue published by Holzwarth Publications.
Edmund de Waal was born in 1964 in Nottingham, he currently lives and works in London. De Waal's work was presented in several solo and group exhibitions at important institutions, such as Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (2016); Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht; Royal Academy, London; Barbican Art gallery, London (all 2015); Theseus Tempel, Vienna; Turner Contemporary, Margate (both 2014); National Gallery, London (2013); Alison Richard Building, Cambridge (2012); Tate Britain, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London (both 2009); Tate Liverpool (2004) and LACMA, Los Angeles (2000), among others.
Also known for his writings, Edmund de Waal won several literary prizes with his bestseller The Hare with Amber Eyes (2010). His new book The White Road, a narrative history of porcelain, will be published in German in fall 2016 by Hanser Verlag.
We would like to thank the Walter Benjamin Archiv, Akademie der Künste, Berlin for their generous support.