Clay II – World Art in Charlottenburg

With the exhibition “Clay II”, Galerie Brutto Gusto in Berlin once again turns its attention to the diversity of contemporary ceramic art. Three artists with fundamentally different signatures come together: Johanna Schweizer, Wietske van Leeuwen and Freeba Omidi-Sabet. What they share is an engagement with ceramic art beyond pure function – as sculptors, storytellers and form-finders.

Three ceramic worldviews, stylishly staged at Galerie Brutto Gusto. Photo def image, Berlin.

Johanna Schweizer

Beautiful form has never been the concern of Johanna Schweizer, born in 1946 in Breda in the Netherlands. Although her boxes, vases and cups bear a recognizable resemblance to vessel forms and give an impression of functionality, her objects tend much more toward ceramic sculpture.

Built by hand from slabs or kneaded lumps of coarse grogged clay, her objects are often large in scale, sometimes double-walled and assembled from several individual elements. Johanna Schweizer’s background as a printmaker and illustrator is clearly evident in her surface treatment: linear motifs in pigment or strips of porcelain often have a narrative quality, at times a characteristic roguish humor or an archaic note.

Johanna Schweizer, Untitled 1998. 38 x 39.5 cm. Photo def image, Berlin.

According to the curator Sonja Herst, Johanna Schweizer’s work is grounded in personal ideas of tradition, aesthetics and the craft of ceramics, reinforced by an instinctive affinity with clay. The sources of inspiration for her formal language lie in the traditions of ancient and non-European cultures. This has contributed to the constant evolution of Johanna Schweizer’s work. Its unique expressive power and the coherent dialogue between form and surface – which continues to develop – are compelling.

Wietske van Leeuwen

In terms of art history, Wietske van Leeuwen, born in Rotterdam in 1965, works in the tradition of the Milanese Renaissance painter Giuseppe Archimboldo (c. 1527–1595). In contrast to his spectacular portraits – collages of vegetables, grain, fruit, fish, books or baskets immortalized in oil paint – Wietske van Leeuwen creates her three-dimensional collages and assemblages from clay.

Wietske van Leeuwen, an example of her assemblages of natural forms. Photo def image, Berlin.

The range of her objects, fruits and living creatures extends from roemer glasses and coiled rope to lemons and bell peppers, shells and snails, and on to the stalks of wild plants such as hogweed. Layered, glazed and fired, they become original bowls and lidded vessels that are unique in the international ceramics scene. Authors often compare her work to patisserie, but her pieces are far more contemporary showpieces or table decorations that function as conversation pieces, writes Thimo te Duits of Rotterdam.

Freeba Omidi-Sabet

The latest discovery of Geer Pouls, one of the gallery owner of Brutto Gusto, is Freeba Omidi-Sabet, born in 1970. The Afghan ceramic artist discovered her passion for art in Germany, which has been her second home since she was thirteen. During her fashion design studies she developed into a ceramicist as an autodidact. In doing so, she transferred the techniques of draping and construction she had learned in her studies to her sculptural ceramic works.

Freeba Omidi-Sabet Golden, 2025, 37 x 38 cm. Photo def image, Berlin.

This self-chosen path enabled her to find a distinctive artistic language, shaped by a deep connection to the material and her innate creativity. Through her preference for oriental yet minimalist forms, Freeba Omidi-Sabet developed a particular passion for reinterpreting the Asian moon jars.

The central theme of Freeba Omidi-Sabet’s work is the moon jars known from Asia, but in earthy tones with unfinished openings. Photo def image, Berlin.

With its globally unique mix of sophisticated gallery and flower shop, Brutto Gusto has once again succeeded in putting on an exhibition in Berlin that is well worth seeing. One wonders why this charming concept has found no imitators in other metropolises.