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Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, breathturn, I, 2013 476 porcelain vessels in aluminum and plexiglass cabinet, 90 ½ × 118 ⅛ × 4 inches (229.7 × 300 × 10 cm)© Edmund de Waal. Photo: Mike Bruce

Edmund de Waal, breathturn, I, 2013

476 porcelain vessels in aluminum and plexiglass cabinet, 90 ½ × 118 ⅛ × 4 inches (229.7 × 300 × 10 cm)
© Edmund de Waal. Photo: Mike Bruce

Edmund de Waal, atmosphere, 2014 286 porcelain vessels in 9 aluminum and plexiglass vitrines, each: 11 ⅞ × 118 ⅛ × 9 ⅞ inches (30 × 300 × 25 cm)Installation view, Turner Contemporary, Margate, England© Edmund de Waal. Photo: Mike Bruce

Edmund de Waal, atmosphere, 2014

286 porcelain vessels in 9 aluminum and plexiglass vitrines, each: 11 ⅞ × 118 ⅛ × 9 ⅞ inches (30 × 300 × 25 cm)
Installation view, Turner Contemporary, Margate, England
© Edmund de Waal. Photo: Mike Bruce

Edmund de Waal, the ten thousand things, for John Cage, XX, 2015 3 porcelain vessels and Cor-Ten steel block in aluminum box, 17 ¾ × 17 ¾ × 7 ½ inches (45 × 45 × 19 cm)© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, the ten thousand things, for John Cage, XX, 2015

3 porcelain vessels and Cor-Ten steel block in aluminum box, 17 ¾ × 17 ¾ × 7 ½ inches (45 × 45 × 19 cm)
© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, the reader, 2016 56 porcelain vessels, 13 alabaster blocks, and 5 Cor-Ten steel blocks in aluminum, wood, and plexiglass vitrine, 84 ¼ × 102 ⅜ × 5 ⅜ inches (214 × 260 × 13.5 cm)Installation view, Artipelag, Gustavsberg, Sweden, 2017© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, the reader, 2016

56 porcelain vessels, 13 alabaster blocks, and 5 Cor-Ten steel blocks in aluminum, wood, and plexiglass vitrine, 84 ¼ × 102 ⅜ × 5 ⅜ inches (214 × 260 × 13.5 cm)
Installation view, Artipelag, Gustavsberg, Sweden, 2017
© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, during the night, 2016 55 porcelain vessels, porcelain shards, tin boxes, lead shot, lead, and Cor-Ten steel elements in plexiglass and aluminum vitrine, 84 ¼ × 102 ⅜ × 5 ½ inches (214 × 260 × 14 cm)© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, during the night, 2016

55 porcelain vessels, porcelain shards, tin boxes, lead shot, lead, and Cor-Ten steel elements in plexiglass and aluminum vitrine, 84 ¼ × 102 ⅜ × 5 ½ inches (214 × 260 × 14 cm)
© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, during the night, 2016 (detail) 55 porcelain vessels, porcelain shards, tin boxes, lead shot, lead, and Cor-Ten steel elements in plexiglass and aluminum vitrine, 84 ¼ × 102 ⅜ × 5 ½ inches (214 × 260 × 14 cm)© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, during the night, 2016 (detail)

55 porcelain vessels, porcelain shards, tin boxes, lead shot, lead, and Cor-Ten steel elements in plexiglass and aluminum vitrine, 84 ¼ × 102 ⅜ × 5 ½ inches (214 × 260 × 14 cm)
© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, music in thirteen parts, 2017 11 porcelain vessels and 2 alabaster blocks in aluminum and plexiglass vitrine, 23 ⅝ × 55 ⅛ × 11 ⅞ inches (60 × 140 × 30 cm)© Edmund de Waal. Photo: Mike Bruce

Edmund de Waal, music in thirteen parts, 2017

11 porcelain vessels and 2 alabaster blocks in aluminum and plexiglass vitrine, 23 ⅝ × 55 ⅛ × 11 ⅞ inches (60 × 140 × 30 cm)
© Edmund de Waal. Photo: Mike Bruce

Edmund de Waal, that pause of space, 2019 8 porcelain vessels, 6 porcelain tiles with gold leaf, and alabaster block with gold leaf, in gilded aluminum and plexiglass vitrine, 22 ⅞ × 30 × 11 inches (58 × 76 × 28 cm)© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, that pause of space, 2019

8 porcelain vessels, 6 porcelain tiles with gold leaf, and alabaster block with gold leaf, in gilded aluminum and plexiglass vitrine, 22 ⅞ × 30 × 11 inches (58 × 76 × 28 cm)
© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, no speaking is left in me, 2013 14 porcelain vessels on an aluminum girder, 12 3/16 × 39 ⅜ × 9 9/16 inches (31 × 100 × 24.3 cm)© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, no speaking is left in me, 2013

14 porcelain vessels on an aluminum girder, 12 3/16 × 39 ⅜ × 9 9/16 inches (31 × 100 × 24.3 cm)
© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, the first day and the first hour, 2013 26 porcelain vessels in 7 wood, aluminum, and glass vitrines, 15 ¾ × 66 ⅝ × 6 11/16 inches (40 × 169.2 × 17 cm)© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, the first day and the first hour, 2013

26 porcelain vessels in 7 wood, aluminum, and glass vitrines, 15 ¾ × 66 ⅝ × 6 11/16 inches (40 × 169.2 × 17 cm)
© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, Eisenach, 2013 36 porcelain vessels in 12 wood, aluminum, and glass vitrines, 15 ¾ × 171 ⅝ × 6 11/16 inches (40 × 436 × 17 cm)© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, Eisenach, 2013

36 porcelain vessels in 12 wood, aluminum, and glass vitrines, 15 ¾ × 171 ⅝ × 6 11/16 inches (40 × 436 × 17 cm)
© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, thirteen, 2013 26 porcelain vessels on 13 aluminum brackets, Each: 6 × 3 × 3 inches (15.5 × 8 × 8 cm)© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, thirteen, 2013

26 porcelain vessels on 13 aluminum brackets, Each: 6 × 3 × 3 inches (15.5 × 8 × 8 cm)
© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, there is a land called Lost, 2013 52 porcelain vessels in 3 wood, aluminum, and plexiglass vitrines, Each: 13 ¾ × 51 ¼ × 10 ¼ inches (35 × 130 × 25.5 cm)© Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, there is a land called Lost, 2013

52 porcelain vessels in 3 wood, aluminum, and plexiglass vitrines, Each: 13 ¾ × 51 ¼ × 10 ¼ inches (35 × 130 × 25.5 cm)
© Edmund de Waal

About

I’ve always loved the idea of the mutability of things. . . . Nothing is forever. . . . There’s an inherent instability about how objects work in space.
—Edmund de Waal

In his visual art and literary works, Edmund de Waal uses objects as vehicles for human narrative, emotion, and history. His installations of handmade porcelain vessels, often contained in minimalist structures, investigate themes of diaspora, memory, and materiality.

Born in Nottingham, England, de Waal apprenticed with the renowned potter Geoffrey Whiting from 1981 to 1983, an experience that catalyzed his interest in bridging Chinese and Japanese ceramic traditions with medieval English techniques. De Waal went on to receive a BA in English literature from the University of Cambridge in 1986, followed in 1991 by a Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation scholarship, which he used to obtain a postgraduate diploma in Japanese language from the University of Sheffield and to study at the Mejiro Ceramics studio in Tokyo. While in Japan he began writing a monograph on Bernard Leach, the “father” of British studio pottery.

Upon returning to London in 1993, de Waal shifted his focus from stoneware to porcelain and began to experiment with arrangements of objects, such as teapots, bottles, and jugs. Groupings or “cargoes” of irregular porcelain vessels would become central to his work, fluctuating in scale and breadth over the years. One of de Waal’s first major architectural interventions came in 2002 with The Porcelain Room at the Geffrye Museum (now the Museum of the Home), London, in which he arranged 650 vessels on shelves and within cavities in the floor and ceiling of a chamber illuminated by a porcelain window.

Thinking of the crafting and placement of ceramic vessels as a form of poetry, de Waal has continued to transform spaces with his objects. Signs & Wonders (2009) at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, saw 425 glazed porcelain vessels positioned on a red shelf along the inner ledge of the museum’s uppermost cupola—a love letter of sorts to the museum’s collection and a celebration of its new ceramics galleries. In 2019, the exhibition elective affinities juxtaposed de Waal’s vessels with illustrious works from the Frick Collection, New York.

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Elisa Gonzalez and Terrance Hayes

to light, and then return—: A Night of Poetry with Edmund de Waal, Elisa Gonzalez, Terrance Hayes, and Sally Mann

Gagosian presented an evening of poetry inside to light, and then return—, an exhibition of new works by Edmund de Waal and Sally Mann, inspired by each other’s practices, at Gagosian, New York. In this video—taking the artists’ shared love of poetry, fragments, and metamorphosis as a point of departure—poets Elisa Gonzalez and Terrance Hayes read a selection of their recent works that resonate with the themes of elegy and historical reckoning in the show. The evening was moderated by Jonathan Galassi, chairman and executive editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Axel Salto looking at the sculpture The Core of Power in the kiln, 1956

Axel Salto: Playing with Fire

On the occasion of the forthcoming exhibition Playing with Fire: Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto, Edmund de Waal composed a series of reflections on the Danish ceramicist Axel Salto and his own practice.

Five white objects lined up on a white shelf

to light, and then return—Edmund de Waal and Sally Mann

This fall, artists and friends Edmund de Waal and Sally Mann will exhibit new works together in New York. Inspired by their shared love of poetry, fragments, and metamorphosis, the works included will form a dialogue between their respective practices. Here they meet to speak about the origins and developments of the project.

Edmund de Waal, stone for two hands and water, 2021, Hornton stone, bamboo, and water, 27 ⅜ × 56 ¾ × 23 ⅝ inches (69.5 × 144 × 60 cm), installation view, Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, Perry Green, England

The Thinking Hand

Edmund de Waal speaks with Richard Calvocoressi about touch in relation to art and our understanding of the world, and discusses the new stone sculptures he created for the exhibition This Living Hand: Edmund de Waal Presents Henry Moore, at the Henry Moore Studios & Gardens. Their conversation took place at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, in the context of the exhibition The Human Touch.

Edmund de Waal and Theaster Gates

Artist to Artist: Edmund de Waal and Theaster Gates

Join the artists for an extended conversation about their most recent exhibitions, their forebears in the world of ceramics, and the key role that history plays in their practices.

Installation view, Edmund de Waal: some winter pots, Gagosian, Davies Street

Edmund de Waal: some winter pots

Join the artist in his ceramics studio as he describes the impetus behind his exhibition in London and the importance of touch in the creation of these new works.

Edmund de Waal working in his studio.

Edmund de Waal: cold mountain clay

At his studio in London, Edmund de Waal speaks about his new body of work, created in the silence and solitude of lockdown. Composed of layers of porcelain slip inscribed with lines of verse by the poet Hanshan, these works are presented in cold mountain clay, de Waal’s first exhibition in Hong Kong.

Edmund de Waal, London, 2019

Edmund de Waal: psalm

Edmund de Waal speaks with Alison McDonald about the components of psalm, his two-part project in Venice. He details the influences behind the exhibition and reveals some of his hopes for the project.

Rainer Maria Rilke, 1928. Photo: Lou Andreas-Salomé

Rainer Maria Rilke: Duino Elegies

Bobbie Sheng explores the symbiotic relationship between the poet and visual artists of his time and tracks the enduring influence of his poetry on artists working today.

Anselm Kiefer, Volkszählung (Census), 1991, steel, lead, glass, peas, and photographs, 163 ⅜ × 224 ½ × 315 inches (4.1 × 5.7 × 8 m)/

Cast of Characters

James Lawrence explores how contemporary artists have grappled with the subject of the library.

Sally Mann and Edmund de Waal at the Frick Collection, New York, November 8, 2019.

In Conversation
Edmund de Waal and Sally Mann

Sally Mann joins Edmund de Waal onstage at the Frick Collection in New York to converse about art, writing, and the importance of place in their respective bodies of work. 

Edmund de Waal and Jan Dalley, FT Weekend Festival, London, September 7, 2019

In Conversation
Edmund de Waal and Jan Dalley

At the FT Weekend Festival 2019 in London, Edmund de Waal sat down for a conversation with Financial Times arts editor Jan Dalley. They spoke about the relationship between words and sculpture in his practice, and about two recent projects: the two-part exhibition psalm, in Venice, and Elective Affinities, at the Frick Collection, New York.

Fairs, Events & Announcements

Gagosian’s booth at ART SG 2024. Artwork, left to right: © ADAGP, Paris, 2024, © Jonas Wood, © Rick Lowe Studio. Photo: Ringo Cheung

Art Fair

ART SG 2024

January 19–21, 2024, booth BC06
Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore
artsg.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in the second edition of ART SG, with a selection of works by international contemporary artists including Harold Ancart, Georg Baselitz, Ashley Bickerton, Amoako Boafo, Dan Colen, Edmund de Waal, Nan Goldin, Lauren Halsey, Hao Liang, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Tetsuya Ishida, Alex Israel, Donald Judd, Y.Z. Kami, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Rick Lowe, Takashi Murakami, Takashi Murakami & Virgil Abloh, Nam June Paik, Ed Ruscha, Jim Shaw, Alexandria Smith, Spencer Sweeney, Stanley Whitney, Jonas Wood, and Zeng Fanzhi. The works on view, which embrace a wide variety of subjects and approaches, find artists infusing traditional genres such as history painting, portraiture, and landscape with new and surprising ideas that traverse cultural and temporal boundaries. 

Gagosian’s booth at ART SG 2024. Artwork, left to right: © ADAGP, Paris, 2024, © Jonas Wood, © Rick Lowe Studio. Photo: Ringo Cheung

Roy Lichtenstein display at the Gagosian Shop, New York, 2023. Artwork © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Photo: Mauricio Zelaya

Visit

Madison Avenue Fall Gallery Walk 2023

Saturday, October 28, 2023, 11am–5pm
New York
madisonavenuebid.org

Join Artnews and the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District on an autumn walk to visit over fifty galleries that line Madison Avenue from East 57th to East 86th Streets. The Gagosian Shop, which offers an exclusive and extensive selection of artist’s books, exhibition catalogues, posters, and prints, is featuring a display dedicated to Roy Lichtenstein and offering a 10% discount on all Gagosian titles and posters. It is also the final day to see to light, and then return—, an exhibition of new works by Edmund de Waal and Sally Mann inspired by each other’s practices, at the 976 Madison Avenue gallery behind the Shop.

Roy Lichtenstein display at the Gagosian Shop, New York, 2023. Artwork © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Photo: Mauricio Zelaya

Albert Oehlen, Untitled, 2022 © Albert Oehlen

Auction

The Art of Wishes 2023

Monday, October 9, 2023
Raffles Hotel, London
www.artofwishes.org.uk

Founded by philanthropist and Make‐A‐Wish patron Batia Ofer, the Art of Wishes is a charitable initiative that brings the international art community together to raise funds for Make-A-Wish UK, a nonprofit organization that grants the wishes of children with critical illnesses. The sixth annual Art of Wishes benefit auction and gala will take place at Raffles Hotel in London. The auction will be hosted on Artsy, with a preview of the artworks open to the public from October 4 through 7 at Christie’s London. Twelve works by leading international artists such as Edmund de Waal, Jadé Fadojutimi, Albert Oehlen, Stanley Whitney, and others will be included.

Albert Oehlen, Untitled, 2022 © Albert Oehlen

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Museum Exhibitions

Edmund de Waal, the burning now, 2023, installation view, CLAY Keramikmuseum Danmark, Middelfart, Denmark © Edmund de Waal

On View

Playing with Fire
Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto

Through August 11, 2024
CLAY Keramikmuseum Danmark, Middelfart, Denmark
claymuseum.dk

Playing with Fire is an exhibition of work by the acclaimed Danish ceramist Axel Salto (1889–1961), curated by Edmund de Waal. Considered one of the greatest masters of twentieth-century ceramic art, Salto is renowned for his highly individual and expressive stoneware inspired by organic forms. A significant number of Salto’s ceramic works from the collection of CLAY Keramikmuseum Danmark and the Tangen Collection at Kunstsilo in Kristiansand, Norway, are shown alongside lesser-known and previously unseen works on paper, illustrations, writings, and textiles. A major new installation by de Waal reflects on Salto’s enduring influence.

Edmund de Waal, the burning now, 2023, installation view, CLAY Keramikmuseum Danmark, Middelfart, Denmark © Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, five stone wind (for John Cage), 2023 © Edmund de Waal

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RA Summer Exhibition 2023

June 13–August 20, 2023
Royal Academy of Arts, London
www.royalacademy.org.uk

Held annually since 1769, the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition is the world’s largest open-submission art show. It brings together art across all mediums—print, painting, film, photography, sculpture, architecture, and more—with some 1,600 works on display, many for the first time. Work by Georg Baselitz, Michael Craig-Martin, and Edmund de Waal is included.

Edmund de Waal, five stone wind (for John Cage), 2023 © Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal, atmosphere, 2014, installation view, Turner Contemporary, Margate, England © Edmund de Waal. Photo: Mike Bruce

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Edmund de Waal in
Strange Clay: Ceramics in Contemporary Art

October 26, 2022–January 8, 2023
Hayward Gallery, London
www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Strange Clay is the first large-scale group exhibition in the United Kingdom to explore how contemporary artists have used clay in unexpected ways. The artworks, by twenty-three artists working across recent decades, range from small abstract works to large-scale installations, vary in finish and technique, and address topics including architecture, social justice, the body, the domestic, and the organic. Work by Edmund de Waal is included.

Edmund de Waal, atmosphere, 2014, installation view, Turner Contemporary, Margate, England © Edmund de Waal. Photo: Mike Bruce

Edmund de Waal, the night office, 2022, installation view, Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, England © Edmund de Waal. Photo: Chris Lacey

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Edmund de Waal
we live here, forever taking leave

June 15–October 23, 2022
Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, England
waddesdon.org.uk

This exhibition showcases new and celebrated works in porcelain by Edmund de Waal. Powerfully thoughtful, the installations explore the interconnected relations between faith, history, displacement, learning, and archives—themes that feel more relevant than ever and that are woven into Waddesdon Manor’s own fabric and existence.

Edmund de Waal, the night office, 2022, installation view, Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, England © Edmund de Waal. Photo: Chris Lacey

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Press

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