special exhibition

 
 

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22. 06.–27. 07. 2014

"Extreme Porcelain"

 

Ken Eastman About Swiss Ceramist Arnold Annen, born in 1952, whose art works will be exhibited at Galerie Marianne Heller in Heidelberg, Germany from June 22 – july 27, 2014

Tradition can be terribly sticky. A person who starts out as a traditional commercial artist usually stays on this path for his or her entire life. Once a craftsperson has embarked on this solid path, it is rare that he or she will display whatever it takes to break out of this confining amalgam – consisting, in the best case, of a mixture of solid craftsmanship and backward-looking naive design – into the wider spaces of artistic freedom. There are admittedly exceptions to this rule among the ceramists. The Swiss ceramist Arnold Annen is such an exception – and a stunning exception at that!
Annen, who had to manufacture functional ceramics at the beginning of his career, has since gained the reputation of being one of the world’s most innovative (and most extreme) “porcelain artists” – employing a unique technique and producing works with unique shapes and dimensions. Following the call to ceramics to many parts of the globe, Annen has quasi reproduced in his work the cultural development of ceramics from a traditional craft to an art form in barely two decades. As his approach, at once eclectic and ontogenetic, evolved in a breathtaking manner, he greedily absorbed every ceramic idea to which he was exposed and refined it to inimitable perfection.

Arnold Annen has received countless awards and honors for his porcelain magic. Most recently he was cited at the SOFA CHICAGO for the “Best Artwork 2013”. His work can be found in numerous galleries and museums around the world. Since 1994 he has been a member of the “International Academy of Ceramics” in Geneva. Despite this worldwide acclaim, he has remained very down to earth. This is actually not all that surprising: Annen would never have reached the pinnacle of his profession if he had not had a great respect for tradition. However, tradition is a sticky medium. The less talented get stuck in it; the more talented know how to use it for their own ends. And it doesn’t hurt if you are a bit of an extremist as well!

 

Examples:

Arnold Annen
Arnold Annen
Arnold Annen

 

Arnold Annen
Arnold Annen
Arnold Annen

 

Arnold Annen
Arnold Annen
Arnold Annen

 

Arnold Annen
Arnold Annen
Arnold Annen

 

 
Arnold Annen
 
 

opening:

Sunday June 22, 2014 11:30 - 18:00
Opening speech: Dr. Sally Schöne, Hetjens Museum Düsseldorf

opening hours:

Tue - Fri 11:00 - 13:00 & 14:00 - 18:00
Sat 11:00 - 18:00
Sunday July 27, 2014 11:00 -18:00

exhibition site:

Galerie Heller
Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 2
Im Stadtgarten
D-69117 Heidelberg

Tel: 06221 - 61 90 90
info@galerie-heller.de

 

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