Gerald and Gotlind Weigel (born 1925 and 1932 respectively) have made bowls, bottles, vases and other shapes which are concentrated and deceptively simple in form, yet still have the tremor of life, a sense of distilled energy we find in the best German work of the 1960s and 70s. There are echoes of early Chinese and Art Nouveau forms and surfaces but also a very 20th century precision and craft, combined with a sculpturally organic fluidity.
Both trained in Germany, and since 1961 the Weigels have shared studios and are now based in Gabsheim. Along with Margarete Schott, Ursula and Karl Scheid and Beate Kuhn, they are members of the 'London Group', German potters who first showed at Henry Rothschild's Primavera Gallery in the late 1960s. Their shared aesthetic is very different in feel to much British studio pottery, having an almost urban and industrial refinement, reflecting the more interdisciplinary nature of Continental ceramics and design.
David Whiting |
