Nele van Wieringen – författare

Inspired by the Dutch sculptor Joseph Mendes da Costa (1863–1939) and Ernst Barlach (1870–1938), Hans Wewerka (1888–1915) conquered the realm of figurative sculpture while he was still a student in Höhr, an unusual discipline among the area’s vernacular ceramics. He observed society outside [draußen in German], in all realms of public life, with great sensibility: gossip mongers, potato sellers, a dancing couple. Wewerka created likenesses taken from real life. His artistic approach and his acute awareness of form made him an exceptional creator of modern earthenware who had already gained international recognition during his lifetime. This first, comprehensive monograph featuring a catalogue of works documents Hans Wewerka’s previously unknown career and traces his connections to modernist art, such as the Berlin Secession and artists like Rudolf Bosselt, Käthe Kollwitz, and Ernst Barlach.Text in English and German.

When words are bereft of their power and meaning, art is able to communicate in its stead. It has its own means of visualising multiplicity, commenting on events, or connecting thoughts. This is evidenced in a variety of ways in the 2024 ceramic work honoured with the Westerwald Prize and exhibited as part of the award ceremony. Whereas Irina Razumovskaya (b. 1990, First Prize) illustrates pain and complexity through her emotive surface designs, the sculptural objects by Nora Arrieta (b. 1989, Second Prize) bring forth fairy-tale-like or even apocalyptic visual worlds. Bodil Manz (b. 1943) dominated salt-glaze pottery with her clear, geometric style, winning the Town of Höhr-Grenzhausen Prize, while Beate Gatschelhofer (b. 1994) was awarded the New Talent Prize for her bold, colourful take on ceramics.Text in English and German.

The moving life of Jan Bontjes van Beek (1899–1969) is closely associated with 20th-century German history. A “strikingly blonde sailor who could dance and play the violin,” he joined the Worpswede artist’s colony in 1919 and later found a home with the Breling family in Fischerhude, who introduced him to ceramics. With the support of his second wife, the architect Rahel Weißbach, he moved to Berlin in 1933, where his studio became a well-known meeting place for artists. Despite having been arrested by the National Socialists and his daughter Cato executed, he could not endure the GDR’s Socialist Unity Party regime either and stepped down from a teaching post at the East Berlin Weißensee art school in 1950. He broke into teaching in West Berlin and, finally, in Hamburg continued his ceramic work, which provided the free thinker with a firm footing. Like no other, he emphasised materiality in form and dynamism in colour. During tumultuous times, he sought out the perfect balance for his vessels, and ultimately for himself.Text in English and German.