Harvest Moon is on view at Taste Contemporary, Geneva

Harvest Moon is on view at Taste Contemporary, Geneva

October 29 – November 21, 2020

Taste Contemporary presents Harvest Moon, a group show featuring the work of Akiko Hirai, Ernst Gamperl, Kazuhito Takadoi and Ptolomy Mann.

The Japanese artist Akiko Hirai has received international acclaim for her interpretation of the Moon Jar. In 2013, she was one of just five artists invited to create work for an exhibition at the Korean Cultural Centre that explored the contemporary response to this celebrated object while in 2019 her piece, The Moon Jar “The life of…” was shortlisted for the LOEWE Craft Prize. It was described by the judges as ‘an expressive and energised gestural interpretation of the iconic form of the moon jar’ and a work that ‘shows an understanding and respect for the heritage of ceramics further reimagined with a highly personal approach.’ Moon Jars by Akiko Hirai are now in a number of prestigious collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. For Harvest Moon, Akiko Hirai has specially created a series of five new Moon Jars.

Also from Japan and now living and working in the UK, the work of Kazuhito Takadoi combines the formality of Eastern discipline with abstraction from Western art. His work is both minimal, yet opulent, simultaneously fragile yet strong. Inspired by the rich woodland surrounding his birthplace of Nagoya, Japan, he grows and hand picks grasses, leaves and twigs from his garden, sowing each blade through the paper. As the grasses dry and mature they embark on a subtle colour shift, comparative to seasonal change. Harvest Moon features three works that fully demonstrate this artists extraordinary skill and technique.

In contrast, the US born artist Ptolemy Mann, who also lives and works in the UK, captures powerful ‘colourfields’ within her hand dyed and woven painterly works that express a deep sense of craftsmanship and precision through an abstract narrative. While known for her large-scale works, including site-specific commission for the 9th floor restaurant in the Blavatnik building at the Tate Modern, London, she also creates intimate pieces such as the piece from the Albedo Series shown in Harvest Moon.

Winner of the 2017 LOEWE Craft Prize, German artist Ernst Gamperl has achieved an extraordinary understanding of wood. Guiding the raw material as he creates his sculptural works, he allows the tree to have its say in a journey that involves a more robust conversation. As a viewer we are drawn to instinctively reach out and touch the wood, to feel a visceral connection with form that at times appears to be only degrees away from its original incarnation. While his trees continue to speak in his finished work, Ernst remains in control throughout the making process. Harvest Moon includes three recent large-scale works by Gamperl.

Contact
+41 79 406 65 82
info@tastecontemporary.com

Address
Rue Abraham Constantin 6
1206 Geneva
Switzerland

Photos courtesy of the artists and Taste Contemporary