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Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl - Artists + Designers - Hostler Burrows

Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl (Danish, b. 1954) is a ceramic artist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has worked with a myriad of spatial themes and ornaments that frequently reoccur in his formal vocabulary, and which emerge through a methodical, gradual, and experimental serial process. Notably, the knot as a shape has been a leitmotif offering possibilities for various sinuous, rhythmic cadences and abstract narratives. The hand-built architectonic works appear as “spatial drawings”—solid, twisting and turning through space. Kaldahl’s interest also lies in the potential of the object to make a direct emotional impact on the viewer. The motif is always clear in its simplicity and easily decoded while remaining open to interpretations.

Kaldahl first trained as a potter in the 1970s. In 1990, he graduated from the master’s program at the Royal College of Art in London. He is a co-founder of the artist-run exhibition platform Copenhagen Ceramics (CC), launched in 2012. Kaldahl’s works are represented in several public and private collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Danish Museum of Art & Design, The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, and the Musée des Arts Decoratifs. 

Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl - Artists + Designers - Hostler Burrows

Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl was Associate Professor from 2009 – 2020 at SuperFormLab at KADK, The Royal Danish Academy, School of Design. He is a co-initiator of the artist run exhibition platform, Copenhagen Ceramics (CC) in 2011. CC ran a gallery in Copenhagen from 2012 – 2014, showing 27 exhibitions. Since then CC continues to curate shows, e.g. the large international show of 23 artists Ceramic Momentum – Staging the Object at CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art, Denmark ( from May 10 through Nov 3 2019), and most recently Bend, Bubble and Shine – a show of nine Danish ceramic artists at Hostler Burrows Gallery in New York and Los Angeles. 

 

CV

MARTIN BODILSEN KALDAHL
b. 1954, Denmark

EDUCATION
1990    Royal College of Art, London

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024    Cuts, Stripes and Knots: A Ceramic Retrospective, CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art,
                Middelfart, Denmark
2023    Probing the Floor, Sniffing the Air, HB381, New York, NY, USA
2022    Digressions Tubulaires, Galerie NeC, Paris, France
2020    Spatial Drawings, Taste Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
2018    Spatial Drawings, Ann Linnemann Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2017    Spatial Drawings, Galerie NeC, Paris, France
2016    Possible Gestures, Gallery Format, Oslo, Norway
2014    X-Scapes, Copenhagen Ceramics, Denmark
            New Works, Gallerie NeC, Paris, France
2012    Other Objects, Copenhagen Ceramics Exhibition Space, Denmark
2011    Puls Contemporary, Brussels, Belgium
            Stump – the Lobbed Branch, Ann Linnemann Studio Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2008    The Digital Clay, Danish Museum of Art and Design, Copenhagen, Denmark 
2005    Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl, Puls Contemporary Ceramics, Brussels, Belgium     
2003    Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl, Gallery Nørby, Copenhagen, Denmark
            Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl, Clara Scremini Gallery, Paris, France
2002    Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl, Puls Contemporary Ceramics, Brussels, Belgium
2001    Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl, Clara Scremini Gallery, Paris, France
2000    Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl, Puls Contemporary Ceramics, Brussels, Belgium
1999    Udstillingssted for Ny Keramik, Copenhagen, Denmark
1997    Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl, Gallery Nørby, Copenhagen

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021   Matter at Hand, Hostler Burrows, New York, and Los Angeles, USA
           Bend, Bubble and Shine, Hostler Burrows, New York, and Los Angeles, USA
           Odd & Even, Maison Louis Carré, Paris, France
           Wunderkammer, Peach Corner Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2019   Five Cubed, Taste Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
           100 Years of Danish Ceramics, Sophieholm, Denmark
           Marsden Woo Gallery, London, England
           Ceramic Momentum – Staging the Object, CLAY Museum, Middelfart, Denmark
2018   Marsden Woo Gallery, London, England
2017   Danish Design at the House, Sydney Opera House, Australia
2016   Hot Danes, Puls Contemporary Ceramics, Brussels, Belgium
           Copenhagen Ceramics Invites, Galeria Salvatore Lanteri, Milan, Italy
2015   Marsden Woo Gallery, London, England
           Random Growth, Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London, England
2012   European Union Council Building, Brussels, Belgium
2011   Living with Ceramics, Puls Gallery and Ambersand House, Brussels, Belgium
2010   Contemporary British Studio Ceramics -  The Granier Collection, Mint Museum,
                Charlotte, USA
           KOM, Cypress Gallery, Leuven, Denmark
           Ceramics, Art Museum of Skanderborg, Denmark
           Danish Ceramics, Mariagerfjord Kunstforening, Hobro, Denmark
2007   END. An International Ceramics Exhibition Project, Danish Museum of Art and Design,
                Bomuldsfabriken Kunstal, Arendal, Norway
           Drud and Køppe Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
           Biennial for Crafts and Design, Trapholt Art Museum, Denmark
2006   Musée Magnelli, Vallauris, France
2005   Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, USA

2004   Clara Scremini Gallery, Paris, France
           SUPER DANISH, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Canada
2003   Scandinavian Design Beyond the Myth, Traveling European Exhibition 2003-07
           Gallery Nørby, Copenhagen, Denmark
2002    From the Kilns of Denmark, Traveling Exhibition, 2002-04
            Le Tradition de Demain – Innovation au Quotidien, La Maision du Denmark, Paris, France
2000    Danish Porcelain 1775-2000, The Danish Museum of Decorative Arts, Copenhagen
            Tableware of the Future, Royal Scandinavia A/S Showrooms, Copenhagen and Trapholt,
                 Denmark
1999    Keramik aus Dänemark, Munich, Germany
            National Arts Council Exhibition, Copenhagen, Denmark
1997    Danish Ceramics 1850-1997, Sophienholm, Denmark
1996    Clara Scremini Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
1996    Danish Art and Design, St. Petersburg, Russia
1994    Charlottenborg Efterårsudstilling, Copenhagen, Denmark
            Inaugural Exhibition, Grimmerhus Ceramics Museum, Denmark
1993    Young Contemporaries, Copenhagen, Denmark

AWARDS
Annie and Otto Johs Detlefs Ceramics Prize 2017
Inga and Eyvind Kold-Christensen Foundation. DK. Honorary Award, 2011
Ole Haslunds Kunstnerfond, DK. Honorary Award, 2005
The Sotheby Award, Collect, London, 2005
The Danish National Bank Jubilee Fund , 2010,05,03,01,96,94
National Arts Council, DK. stipends: 2011,10,09,07,04
Crafts Council Annual Award, DK (Kunsthåndværkerrådets Årspris), 2001
The Design Foundation, Ministry of Culture, DK, 1997
The National Arts Council, DK. 3-year-Grant, 1997
Danish Contemporary Art Foundation, 1996
The Sir Eduardo Paolozzi Travel Scholarship, RCA, 1989. Trip to Mali, West Africa

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
Danish Museum of Art and Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
National Museum, Oslo, Norway
Röhsska Museet, Gothenburg, Sweden
MIMA, Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art, United Kingdom
Danish Arts Foundation, Copenhagen Denmark (1994, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2012)
Trapholt Art Museum, Denmark
CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art, Middelfart, Denmark
The Arts Association of 14. August, Denmark (1998, 2009)
Annie and Otto Joh. Detlefs Foundation, Denmark
Diane and Marc Grainer Collection, Washington, USA
Private collections

MEMBERSHIPS
AIC/IAC - International Academy of Ceramics

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