‘Renowned artists and author Edmund de Waal steps into the double role of curator and collaborator for this exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield, a landmark show dedicated to the Danish ceramicist Axel Salto… Thought the two never met, this is a conversation across time united by fire and clay.’ ELLE Decoration UK
The artist and author Edmund de Waal (b.1964, Nottingham) has curated the first major exhibition of acclaimed Danish ceramicist Axel Salto (1889 – 1961), considered one of the greatest masters of 20th-century ceramic art.
Salto was a radical polymathic figure who crossed boundaries from one discipline to another, producing an extraordinary body of ceramic work alongside paintings, wood- cuts, drawings, book illustration and textiles. Salto is internationally renowned for his highly individual and expressive stoneware inspired by organic forms, characterised by budding, sprouting and fluted surface textures that appear to ripple and burst with life.
Salto’s ceramics will be shown alongside lesser-known and unseen works on paper, illustrations, writings and textiles, with a major new installation by de Waal reflecting on Salto’s enduring influence.
‘This November, I open my new exhibition Playing with Fire at The Hepworth Wakefield – a dialogue with Axel Salto, the incredible Danish artist whose pots and poetry have inspired me for thirty years. Wakefield has a very special place in my heart. Forty five years ago – during my apprenticeship – I met Bill Ismay, the greatest collector of studio pots, a librarian, a man who lived modestly in a back street of the city…’ Edmund de Waal
Events
Curator's Talk: Edmund de Waal
Thursday 15 January, 6pm, £20 / £18 / Members £7 (includes exhibition entry)
In the press
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Exhibition supported by
Headline Supporter:
Major Supporters:
The Playing with Fire Exhibition Circle:
Ian McVeigh
& those wishing to remain anonymous
In-Kind Supporters:
