mima - Kettle's Yard

This solo exhibition is Edmund de Waal’s most ambitious to date. The works were conceived in direct relationship to the architecture of the two very different museums that would house them. The installations were designed to be transferable between historical Kettle's Yard and the contemporary Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art. The works are described as 'site sensitive' rather than 'site specific': they are made with a space in mind, but they do not define that space, nor are they made for that space alone.

Edmund de Waal at mima
10 August – 11 November 2007

At mima the exhibition is designed to articulate details of the building, ranging from the monumentality of the central cube gallery, to the slate floor, and the limestone cladding of the external walls. Wunderkammer for example takes it's dimensions from the size of the gallery doors; Predella is inspired by Italian renaissance altarpieces, and draws parallels between the spaces of a white cube gallery and the reverential tranquility of an ecclesiastical setting. The height of the building, and its hidden spaces, are expressed in All you can see, a bold red shelf that holds a series of pots just too high for the viewer to see them fully.
www.visitmima.com - Exhibition supported by The National Lottery through Arts Council England and in partnership with Kettle’s Yard.

Edmund de Waal at Kettle's Yard
26 May - 22 July 2007

Using the variety of spaces in the gallery and extending into the house with its permanent collection, de Waal has created a series of installations which complement the pure yet homely feel of Kettle's Yard. This is a transformative place filled with beautiful objects, where light and shade play a vital part in the reading of the space, these same concerns are also central to the understanding of de Waal's porcelain installations. There are pots on shelves, in a skylight, in boxes, running along the street-front window sill and filling whole rooms. Smaller installations, such as 'Ghost' replace existing pots and find their way into bookshelves and cupboards.
www.kettlesyard.co.uk - Exhibition supported by The National Lottery through Arts Council England and in partnership with mima.

 

There is a fully illustrated book to accompany the exhibition with photography by Helene Binet, essays by Jorunn Veiteberg and Helen Waters and a conversation on architecture and installation with David Hills of DSDHA. The book has been designed by the graphic design agency Spin. It is available from both Kettle's Yard and from mima.
You may also view it here - download file