Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen

About

Accumulations of life remnants, still-lives of contemporary existence, architectures or altars meant for libations of consumerist society… As static as they are, Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen’s sculptures are intimately linked to pulsating life. A crowbar, old dentures found in an abandoned factory, a toaster, a piece of electric cable, a small shapeless cushion or even traces of nicotine on the wall; the inspirations are limitless. Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen is fascinated by the nooks of life, including those that exist in silent rejection or that could be described as ugly.

With an audacious ease that can be slightly provocative, Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen builds, piles, surrounds and hangs matter in rooms with an often precarious equilibrium. Skilled colorist, the artist navigates between the monochrome that unifies the artwork’s components and – on the contrary – the plurality of colors and textures, to bring out the personality of each element. A cunning feel for matters and materials manifests when the ceramic volumes include an old table leg, a glass tile, a log or a metallic element. In her world, total freedom and curiosity with an edge of playful humor reign: Take this… and take that… and then I add an extra…The artist is at ease in the chaos of potentials.

With rv in the open air, the desire for oxygen and vitality are very much present. Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen invites us to an imaginary picnic where games, spontaneity and the immediate can unfold as they are reunited with earth, the fundamental. A dream – maybe – but an essential dream that Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen wishes to materialize to create a connection between beings… Funny birds will fly from an unknown location, the earth will reveal remains buried under the moth and ceramic feasts will open our appetite.

background

Since graduating from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in the ceramics section (Bornholm island) in 2012, Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen (born in 1987 in Denmark) has participated in numerous exhibitions in institutions and galleries in her native country of Denmark, where she is considered to be one of the most remarkable artists of her generation. Her work was presented for the first time at the Galerie Maria Lund during the exhibition Terres – Copenhagen Ceramics Invites (2013) in the context of Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), in collaboration with the Palais de Tokyo. The following year, the gallery welcomed Chaotiquement vôtre (Chaotically yours), an exhibition where she dialogued with Danish artist Esben Klemann. In the meantime, Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen was invited to be part of At first glance this division would appear to be more rational (2015 - Galleri Format, Oslo), the 18e Biennale Internationale de céramique de Châteauroux (2015),  Hempel Glasmuseum (2016 – Denmark), and of the 24e Biennale Internationale de Céramique de Vallauris in the context of d’Objets ? ...Objections ! (2016). In 2017, her work was presented in the national Danish selection MINDCRAFT17 (Milan), in Everyday Life - Signs of Awareness, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Japan) and in Beyond Icons at the Danish institution Koldinghus. In 2019, her work was featured in the international exhibition Ceramic Momentum – Staging the object at the Clay Museum of Ceramic Art (Denmark).

Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen has been distinguished by several prizes: the Silkeborg Kunstnerlegat Prize (Museum Jorn), the Anni & Otto Detlevs Keramikpris (travel stipend) New Talent, European Ceramic Context 2014 - Bornholm and more recently the Ole Haslunds Kunstnerlegat (2019).

Her work is part of public collections in Denmark and Sweden.