Hide & Hair

contemporary ceramics acquisitions 2015 - 2021

The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics in Leeuwarden will present an eclectic selection of contemporary acquisitions from 13 February 2021 to 17 October 2021 that includes a ceramic pink wig by Per B. Sundberg (1964, Sweden), the architectonic sculptures of Shahpour Pouyan (1979, Iran) and 3D-printed vases by Olivier van Herpt (1989, The Netherlands). All the works were acquired over the past six years under the watchful eye of Tanya Rumpff, curator of modern and contemporary ceramics. Hide & Hair: contemporary ceramics acquisitions 2015 - 2021 is a testimony to Rumpff’s love of ceramics. She will be leaving Princessehof in the autumn.

For this group exhibition, Tanya Rumpff selected works by Cristian Andersen, Erik Andriesse, Adriana Baarspul, Claude Champy, Tal R, Navid Nuur, Johannes Nagel, Nicholas Pope, Olivier van Herpt, Oscar Santillan, Shahpour Pouyan, Per B Sundberg, Rachel de Joode and Johnny Rolf. Sundberg’s Wig II is the latest addition to a collection of contemporary acquisitions and donations initiated by Rumpff. ‘What I find so special about these works is the unexpected, the unattainable and the mysterious. A ceramist never knows what will come out of the kiln; they’re never really completely in control. And that is precisely what I find fascinating about ceramics. It has something alchemical, as if a magician is at work’, says Rumpff.

Experiment

The objects selected for Hide & Hair represent a broad, international collection area. Besides a multiplicity of forms, functions and origins, the selection also shows the extent to which contemporary ceramists experiment in their working methods. For example, the combination of photography and sculpture by Rachel de Joode (1979, The Netherlands), who photographs the surfaces of clay, plaster, skin and earth and prints them on ceramics, or Sky Excavation by Oscar Santillan (Ecuador, 1980), which is made of clay from four different extraterrestrial soil types (Venus, Mars, Mercury and the Moon). Santillan and astronomers collaborated on the composition of the raw materials. The exhibition is an ode to contemporary ceramics in all its manifestations, from organic to experimental and from East to West.

Personal stories

More than any other medium, ceramics are, after all, of all times and of all people: they are used and cherished, practical and alluring, and the mirror their cultures of origin. The artists choose ceramics for its directness, its malleability, and the mutability of the material, which after the unpredictable firing process can no longer be manipulated at all. Apart from the works themselves, the stories surrounding the acquisitions are also highlighted. All the objects were carefully selected and added to the collection by curator Tanya Rumpff. She shares her fascination with ceramics and the reasons why she chose these objects.