DANIEL DE MONTMOLLIN
Brother of Taizé, Inhabited Stones
16 September 2011 - 30 October 2011
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The ceramic poem begins with a sort of meditation on the mineral world. Brother Daniel
As part of the 12th “Parcours Céramique Carougeois”, and to celebrate the ninetieth birthday of the artist Daniel de Montmollin, the Baur Foundation, museum of Far Eastern Art has invited him to exhibit in their galleries. Daniel de Montmollin, brother of Taizé, has acquired an international reputation for his research on organic ash-based enamels and every one of his exhibitions is a feast for the lovers of ceramic art.
A potter, poet, philosopher, and humanist at the crossroads between art and science, he creates works rooted in Nature, in the earth and its metamorphoses. His “contemplation of the multiple colours of earth and rocks, an unending source of secrets” has lead him to explore the links between minerals and enamels. The magic of his art resides in his remarkable treatment of glazes, recognizable on first sight yet constantly renewed.
Now celebrating his 90th birthday, brother Daniel is still continuing his experimental work, and his never-ending enthusiasm and inquisitiveness have lead him to discover new compositions of enamel. This discoverer of matter, “awaiting these new stones which the potter dreams of inventing as he roams through the mineral world”, offers us an exhibition of “stone-pottery”, of polished pebbles which reflect the beauty of Nature. A few photographs of work in the studio punctuate the visitor’s passage through the exhibition.