Fernando Casasempere

Fernando Casasempere (b. 1958, Chile) works with clay, ceramic, and industrial matter, redefining the possibilities of these materials for contemporary sculpture. Through a fascination with the imprint left by humans on the earth, Casasempere draws on archaeology, geology, landscape, and classical and modern architecture to subvert sculptural archetypes while speaking to urgent global, ecological, and social concerns through the lens of his native Chile.

Casasempere has exhibited extensively in the UK, Chile, North America, Japan and Europe and is renowned for monumental installations including the critically acclaimed Out of Sync at Somerset House, London – which inspired Paul Cummins’ and Tom Piper’s WWI commemorative centenary installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at Tower of London – and Back to the Earth at New Art Centre, Salisbury. Forthcoming commissions include permanent works near London’s Tottenham Court Road Station and at Henrietta House. 

Selected group exhibitions include the Museum of Royal Worcester, Worcester, UK; Frieze Sculpture Park, London, UK; Sculpture in the City, London, UK; Sotheby’s Beyond Limits Exhibitions, London, UK; New Art Centre, Salisbury, UK; and the Jerwood Foundation, Alcester, UK. Selected collections include the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Harvard Museum, Cambridge, MA; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; The Contemporary Art Museum, Osaka, Japan; The International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy; and the San Diego Museum of Art.

Fernando Casasempere was born in Santiago de Chile and trained at Scola Forma and Escuela de Arte y Oficios, Barcelona. He moved to London in 1997, where he currently lives and works.