Den Frie, Copenhagen, 2014 / exhibition designed in collaboration with Ricardo
Gomes of KWY / pottery by Julian Stair / photographs by Lior Zilberstein
+ Frida Gregersen / production assistance: Luise Marter
Columbarium
From the archive: This exhibition design project was carried out in collaboration with the potter Julian Stair and Ricardo Gomes of KWY as part of the exhibition titled “techne, n.: A convergence between art, craftsmanship and architecture” at the Den Frie museum in Copenhagen which was curated by Ben Allen and Ricardo Gomes in 2014. “The walls are built from plastered building blocks and articulated with Den Frie’s sculpture gallery space. The jars are displayed either in niches, on partially deconstructed walls or on ledges”.
In 1930 the Modernist critic W.A. Thorpe wrote about the relationship between pottery and architecture: “Furniture is structure (i.e., architectural), designs and colour are flat. But an interior is more than surface and space. It is also a void or hollow place; and the way to decorate voids is with volumes.” Starting with a series of ceramic cinerary jars from Stair’s work Columbarium, KWY has worked with the artist to design a structure that will serve as a display chamber. The walls are built from plastered building blocks and articulated with Den Frie’s sculpture gallery space. The jars are displayed either in niches, on partially deconstructed walls or on ledges - each is intended to encourage a distinct perception of the works and explore the positive or negative spaces that the architecture creates around them.