Thomas Bohle
10 November 2018 – 4 January 2019
Opening Saturday 10 November 2018 from 6pm, in presence of the artist
Untitled, 2012, black matt glaze & ox blood glaze, d.71 cm h. 22 cm.Photo Frigesch Lampelmeyer.
At the 2016 “Frank Nievergelt – A Passion for Ceramics” exhibition held in Geneva’s Musée Ariana, Austrian-born Thomas Bohle was among the most noticed artists to be displayed. His double-walled ceramics covered with matt and glossy glazes testify a timeless artistic expression.
Thomas Bohle was born in 1958 in Dornbirn, Austria. While in England in 1984, 26-year-old Thomas Bohle, sat at a potter’s wheel for the first time. The contact with clay and the experience of creating with his own hands carried him away and marked the beginning of his artistic journey. In 1987, he pursued a pottery apprenticeship and reinforced his experience by working in various studios before opening his own studio in 1991. A study trip to Japan was followed with exhibitions in Tokyo and Shanghai (2004), where the artistic value of his work became particularly recognized. In 2006, Thomas Bohle was awarded a grant from the Free State of Bavaria. A worldwide recognition gradually began to emerge, confirmed with his artwork being exhibited in London and Brussels.
Some twenty recent works displayed at the Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste show creativity and a mastery that make Thomas Bohle a major player in contemporary ceramic art.
“What interest Bohle are double-walled constructions in which the markedly different exterior and interior forms build a striking contrast that is also often accentuated by a juxtaposition of colours. The structure of the form is often conceived so as to allow the glazes to run down the vertical walls and form thick drops along the lower edge. Open-flame firing in a reducing atmosphere of 1280° allows the ox blood and celadon glazes in particular to develop their splendid beauty. […]
As a representative of a strict world of vessels he absorbs the outside stimuli and distils from them his own distinct voice. […]His works are precious blossoms in the jungle of today’s art production. With his work he succeeds in showing that the ceramic vessel is still brimming with as much potential for artistic expression as ever.”
Frank Nievergelt,
Collector.
Extracts from the catalogue exhibition ” A Passion for Ceramics – The Franck Nievergelt Collection” at the Ariana Museum, Geneva, 8 April – 25 September 2016.
