no beginning - no end

About

Brutto Gusto is pleased to present No Beginning, no end the fifth solo exhibition by Johannes Nagel, showcasing the ceramist’s latter production of 2021 and 2022.

Although conceived with the archetypal shape of vessels in mind, Johannes Nagel’s sculptures wander far from the utilitarian aspect of the object. He performs a transformation of the ceramic vessel into free plasticity and deconstructs both the historic and contemporary meanings of the term „vase“. They are too disparate for flowers –  they draw all attention to themselves with their breaks, irregularities and fragile equilibrium. 

Traditional processes of pottery are the starting point for his experimentations, from where he shatters conventions with innovative methods and deconstructionist techniques. The gaps in the surface are a defining feature of many of the pieces produced by slip-casting porcelain in sand, in which he forms hollow negative spaces with his bare hands. The sculpture forms where the clay meets the edges of the mold— it paints a vivid image of a vessel forming in a void. No longer does a vase only hold empty space— it fills it and the evidence of this act is left scored into its surface. It’s a technique Nagel invented himself and which introduces additional layers of chance and gesture onto a medium already subject to the high level of indeterminacy involved in glazing and firing.

In No Beginning, no end, Johannes Nagel reverences his ultimate expression, which is a place of truth and tangible, tactile presence. The gesture of an individual is located precisely at the interface between mental design and practical realization on the material itself – where consciousness meets the world.  They are all original, genuine, no copies, no fake. Ever aiming for more singularity, now he flirts at some level with the graffiti sub tone.
_________________

JOHANNES NAGEL.

Johannes Nagel (1979 Jena) studied at University of Art and Design Burg Giebichenstein, in Halle where he was also an assistant professor. He began his career as a potter as an apprentice to Japanese-born Canadian ceramist, Kinya Ishikawa in Val-David, Quebec. He has since developed an international dossier of shows, awards, and residencies. Nagel's work is shown and collected internationally, and may be glimpsed in a diverse set of museum collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum London, The Ariana,  Geneva, Museum Princessehof, Leeuwarden and the Keramion Frechen