Ausstellung

---

Founded in 1983, Gruppe 83 is now in its fifth decade of existence - no other artists'
association has lasted as long, especially not in the field of contemporary ceramics. Once a
registered association linked by its statutes to its existing membership of the Académie
Internationale de la Céramique (AIC) in Geneva, a sub-organization of UNESCO that has
brought together the world's ceramic elite since the 1950s, it represented the crème de la
crème of contemporary ceramics in Germany - at least to a considerable extent, if never in its
entirety: being a member was a jealously envied honour. 42 ceramists were members of this
association, which had no program beyond nationality and material, for more or less as long
as it existed, bundling the unstoppable differentiation of the entire ceramic world as if in a
burning glass and at the same time suffering from it. The artistic-aesthetic positions and self-
images were always far apart, ranging from craftsmanship to fine art. This could never be
reduced to the famous one denominator: Advantage or disadvantage...? Much has changed in
over 40 years: Fluctuations due to people joining and, yes, leaving. In 2013, the group gave
up its ties to the Geneva institution as well as its official association status: They had become
free-floating, as it were. Does that detract from the cause...? Not at all: The current exhibition
at the Marianne Heller Gallery in Heidelberg, in which 15 positions of Gruppe 83 are
presented, shows that and how this can be achieved without strict regulations and at the same
time with the highest standards of ceramic quality and aesthetic plurality. Is uncontainable
plurality a shortcoming...? The longevity of Keramiker-Gruppe 83 proves the opposite: it lies
in the clay itself, which as an eternally protean material opens up endless possibilities - just
like life itself. Long live Group 83! Dr. Walter Lokau

Karin Bablok - Petra Bittl - Cathy Fleckstein - Christa Gebhardt -
Hermann Grüneberg - Sonngard Marcks - Martin McWilliam - Anke
Müffelmann - Svein Narum - Renée Reichenbach - Ines Rother - Elisabeth
Schaffer - Vera Vehring - Fritz Vehring - Friederike Zeit