During the month that my installation was up at Rønne Library, I made myself busy! The first weekend that the European Ceramic Context biennial opened was a buzz, with so many openings all over the island and artists, art lovers, curators and collectors from all over the world. I also visited the studios of two of the ceramists who were in my Fantastic Tales show. Charlotte Thorup, who has a enviably beautiful house and studio set-up, complete with rose-filled vegetable garden and sea views in Svaneke, a postcard-perfect village, and Heidi Hentze, who has a lovely home and studio full of ceramics and antiques in Nexø.
Once I left Bornholm, I spent nearly a week at Guldagergård, where I did the wood firing. I had to deliver boxes of artwork to 10 artists who were in my show at The Ceramic House. First stop was Christin Johansson, who lives in Holbæk Hojskole, where she teaches ceramics and lives in a wonderful cottage on the grounds of a huge 18th century complex. Hojskolen are a particularly Danish concept, kind of like residential adult education, where anyone can go for several weeks to several months to learn something new – quite excellent I think. Christin is currently in receipt of 3-year development grant from the Danish Arts Council, so she has the luxury of spending this whole year simply developing her own work.
After that I spent a week in Copenhagen, where I delivered boxes of work to Lone Skov Madsen and Turi Heisselberg Pedersen in their Frederiksberg studio and had a reunion at Viktoria studio with Helle Hansen and Pia Lund Hansen and Anne Nielsen, whom I stayed with just north of Copenhagen. I visited Priscilla Mouritzen, wood firing queen, in her open studio, and Sten Lykke Madsen’s fantasy-creature-filled house to deliver work back to.
I visited Louisiana (Museum of Modern Art and in my opinion one of the best museums I have ever visited), where there was an incredible installation by Olafur Eliasson where he has turned half the rooms of the museum into a riverbed. Louisiana is a special, beautiful place. I also enjoyed Janet Cardiff’s sound walk around the gardens.
I stayed with Karen Harsbo, who was also in Fantastic Tales, who lives very near Louisiana in a kind of collective, and what a fabulous place – a huge mansion split into about 6 flats – with a studio in the grounds. Karen is professor of ceramics at the Royal Academy and she also gave me a tour of the Academy. There was an intriguing exhibition on about Rose English that I loved.
I went to an exhibition opening at Copenhagen Ceramics, a lovely artist-run space in Frederiksberg, which I was very grateful to be able to attend, especially as it is sadly coming to the end of its 3-year plan. I also popped in to visit Ann Linnemann. Ann has a fabulous set up with studio, gallery and shop in one of the most fashionable streets in Copenhagen and has regular monthly exhibitions. The show I saw featured beautiful work by Jane Reumert and Jonathan Keep among others. And so the journey continued…
