Erna Aaltonen

Symphony of the Spheres

4 juillet – 3 septembre 2015

Exposition Erna Aaltonen. Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste. Toucy Juin 2015. Photos © Anne Nguyen Dao

For summer 2015, Galerie de l'Ancienne Poste is pleased to present an exceptional exhibition in France by Finnish ceramist Erna Aaltonen mondialement reconnue pour ses sculptures arrondies montées à la main : les formes minimalistes et élégantes de ses pièces représentent pour de nombreux collectionneurs internationaux la quintessence de l’esthétique contemporaine finlandaise. A cet égard, l’artiste a reçu en novembre dernier le Grand Prix du Design de l’Etat finlandais et en ce printemps 2015 elle vient de recevoir en Italie la médaille d’or du Musée International de la Céramique de Faenza pour l’ensemble de son œuvre, dans le cadre de la Biennale Internationale de Céramique de Faenza. Les œuvres d’Erna Aaltonen sont présentes dans de nombreuses collections publiques et privées en Europe, aux Etats-Unis, en Chine, au Japon et en Corée.

Exhibition catalog
Erna Aaltonen in THE EYE

Pure forms inspired by nature, finely worked surfaces as sober as graphs, subtle nuances of colour which change with the light, both classic and very contemporary, the pieces of Erna Aaltonen (born in Loimaa in 1951) have the elegant sobriety of timeless masterpieces [...|
For Erna Aaltonen, the effects of the material occupy a primordial place and it is this skin of textured clay, finely engraved, incised, striated, scratched (with a metal saw) which gives the work its personality, its sensuality, its mystery. In a remarkable graphic play the carved lines dance and converge toward the summit of the object infusing it with dynamic movement. [...]
The ceramist likes pale pastel colours, neither too strong nor too sharp. Rather soft tones – shades of beiges or greys, ochre, greens and dull blues, as though weathered with time. Each sculptured object, both strong and fragile, discretely imposes its presence in the space. Everything here is in harmony, the work of Erna Aaltonen immediately seductive is propitious to contemplation - to meditation.
Guillaume Morel
Journalist and art critic
Excerpt from Excerpt from the exhibition catalogue.