Artist Spotlight
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. Much of his practice is concerned with collecting and collections—how objects are brought together and dispersed—and with the application of craft and placement to the physical and conceptual transformation of interior space. Manifest across his work is a distinct aesthetic philosophy that puts the hand, touch, and thus the human above all else.
Launched in 2020, Artist Spotlight is presented once a month as a regular part of the gallery’s programming. Each Artist Spotlight highlights a work by an individual artist—made available exclusively online for forty-eight hours—together with new editorial features and selected archival content.
Artist Spotlight: Edmund de Waal features a new sculpture by the artist. For more information, please contact the gallery at collecting@gagosian.com.
#GagosianSpotlight
Photo: Tom Jamieson
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: 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Related Exhibitions
Related News
Honor
Edmund de Waal
Isamu Noguchi Award 2023
Edmund de Waal has been selected to receive the Isamu Noguchi Award for his contribution as both a writer and artist. Established in 2014 and presented annually, the award perpetuates Noguchi’s legacy by acknowledging highly accomplished individuals who share his spirit of innovation, unbounded imagination, and uncompromising commitment to creativity. Honoring those whose work exhibits qualities of artistic excellence, the award also recognizes work that carries significant social consciousness and function. De Waal will receive the award during the annual benefit gala at the Noguchi Museum, New York, in September 2023.
Photo: Tom Jamieson
Reading and Book Signing
Edmund de Waal
Tuesday, December 13, 2022, 7pm
Burlington Arcade, London
Join Gagosian for an evening with Edmund de Waal in celebration of de Waal +, his takeover of the Gagosian Shop in Burlington Arcade. The artist will give a short reading and then sign copies of his books, which will be available to purchase at the event. Composer Simon Fisher Turner, de Waal’s friend and collaborator, will be signing a limited number of copies of A Quiet Corner in Time, the 2020 album that marked the first time de Waal worked closely with a musician.
Edmund de Waal. Photo: Tom Jamieson
Shop Takeover
Edmund de Waal
November 8–December 23, 2022
Gagosian Shop, London
Edmund de Waal is taking over the Gagosian Shop in London’s historic Burlington Arcade with de Waal +, which brings together recent artworks, treasured objects, and a selection of books curated by the artist.
“I’ve always wanted to take over a bookshop,” de Waal remarks. “I’ve filled it with books, of course. And music and photography, pamphlets recording projects created over the last decade, writing on artists I adore and poetry that sustains me, collaborations with dancers and composers, editions I have made for the British Art Medal Society and for the Victoria & Albert Museum. And I’ve added some pots that I have just made.”
In his interlinked sculptural, writing, and research practices, de Waal studies and utilizes objects as vehicles for human emotion and history. His installations of handmade porcelain vessels, often contained in minimalist structures, investigate themes of diaspora, memory, and materiality.
In addition to working across mediums, de Waal has also collaborated with museums, poets, performers, musicians, and other artists. Offering viewers a glimpse of his varied interests and inspirations, de Waal says, “I hope you come and find a corner to sit and read.”
Edmund de Waal, clogged only with music like the wheels of birds, I, 2022 © Edmund de Waal. Photo: Alzbeta Jaresova
Museum Exhibitions
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
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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
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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
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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