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Magdalene Odundo New Exhibition, The Hepworth Wakefield, Gallery Walk, Wakefield, West YorkshireThursday 14th February 2019
‘For me, the pieces contain what it is to be human’ …Magdalene Odundo at the Hepworth Wakefield. Photograph: Charlotte Graham/The Hepworth Wakefield
‘For me, the pieces contain what it is to be human’ …Magdalene Odundo at the Hepworth Wakefield. Photograph: Charlotte Graham/The Hepworth Wakefield

Magdalene Odundo review – that pot's got my nose!

This article is more than 5 years old

Hepworth Wakefield
With their distended bellies and elongated necks, Odundo’s spectacular ceramics evoke the human form – it’s like meeting up with old friends

Esteemed ceramicist Magdalene Odundo has a soft spot for teapots. Not that she has ever made one, but she loves to collect them on her journeys around the globe. Two of these finds appear at the outset of The Journey of Things, her new exhibition at the Hepworth Wakefield. For Odundo, teapots represent how ceramics are central to culture and community. From China to England, people gather around them to socialise. And yet, as these examples demonstrate, a traditional Chinese teapot with its dark exterior and weighty clay is very different from a Staffordshire stoneware iteration.

Under its little lid, a teapot encapsulates all the things Odundo loves about ceramics. They have an unusual form, they can be made using various techniques and materials and they are functional. But, above all, they are objects infused with centuries of tradition. These interests are the driving force behind the exhibition, which unites more than 50 of Odundo’s works plus a large collection of ceramics, photographs, paintings, textiles and sculptures that have influenced her during her 40-year career. Although there are some important names attached to this show – Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Edgar Degas – it is the object itself that Odundo values. Many of the pieces are by unknown artists.

Influences … Little Dancer by Edgar Degas at The Journey of Things Photograph: Charlotte Graham/The Hepworth Wakefield

The four gallery spaces feature large concrete-effect plinths in the same tone as the floor, like mountains raised up from the ground. Designed by architect Farshid Moussavi, the plinths are set at a reasonable height and stepped against the walls, ensuring we connect with most of the works eye to eye. Many of Odundo’s signature black-and-orange burnished pots congregate in the centre of the room in small groups. With their curvaceous centres and elongated necks, her creations are reminiscent of the human body, and, by lifting them up, it is like meeting a group of friends. In recognising a rounded stomach in a base or spotting a nose or waistline in the neck of a vase, we begin to consider ourselves as vessels, too, capable of carrying ideas, traditions, cultures and, in some cases, a child. “For me, the pieces contain what it is to be human,” says Odundo.

Early in Odundo’s career, potter Michael Cardew encouraged her to return to Africa (she is originally from Kenya) to engage with African ceramic practices. During her time at Cardew’s pottery training centre in Abuja, Nigeria, she learned the Gbari way of handling clay, forming the basis of her creative process. But she also identified the singular connection between the Abuja community and the objects they were crafting. She has travelled the world and visited museums to explore the function and cultural value of these pieces. Many of the works in show exemplify this. A Ghanaian akua’ba, or fertility doll, reveals how Asante people ushered in the conception of future generations; a figurine from Mali details how androgyny is important to the Dogon religion, and a lekythos from ancient Greece demonstrates how oil was used in funerary rites in antiquity.

There is layer on layer of history and skill in this exhibition, which spans 3,000 years. Detailed curatorial notes guide us through Odundo’s interest in dance, spirituality, the female form, vernacular crafts and much more. The level of information could feel overwhelming, but spending some time in the presence of these spectacular objects will ensure you never look at your coffee cup in quite the same way again.

  • Magdalene Odundo: The Journey of Things is at the Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, until 2 June, then the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, East Anglia University, Norwich, from 3 August to 15 December.

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