Charlotte Mayer & Almuth Tebbenhoff

In March 2012 Pangolin London will hold a joint exhibition of sculpture and works on paper by two highly established and diverse female sculptors; Almuth Tebbenhoff and Charlotte Mayer.

Almuth Tebbenhoff has never been afraid to experiment with new processes or materials. Born in Germany and originally trained as a ceramicist, Tebbenhoff is known to work in clay, wood, bronze, stone and steel. Though she focuses on sculpture, she often uses drawing as a method to feed concepts into her unique and colourful creations. She says:

“The concerns are similar, whichever material I use: balancing opposing forces and creating new harmonies. I find inspiration in the natural world around me and in astronomical space. Because it is so incomprehensibly vast, I make small models that are abstractions of my feelings: about love, life, death, sex, soul, God, art, myself... all this whilst being sucked by gravity on to a spinning ball, hurtling through space at 66,000 mph.”

Almuth Tebbenhoff’s earlier pieces were often monochrome and geometric but more recently her work has developed a much freer mode of expression. They continue to explore the abstract but enjoy a bolder use of space and it will be interesting to see how this is brought into the new work that will be on show for the first time in the exhibition.

Both artists draw their ideas from the natural world however their methods of making vary greatly; in contrast to Tebbenhoff’s use of drawing as a starting point, Mayer prefers to work directly from found objects in her studio.

Charlotte Mayer was born in Prague in 1929 but settled in London to study at Goldsmiths School of Art and later the Royal College of Art.  As an artist she has said to have been inspired by the various architectural forms around her but it is evident now that nature both physically and conceptually also influences and integrates itself into her three dimensional forms. She says:

“Most of my sculptures have been cast in bronze or are fabricated in stainless steel. However the original works were made from materials found in the studio or in the countryside. They may be tree trunks, leaves, the stalks of umbellifera, balsa scantlings, and wax. Each material offers new ways of working and contributes to the realisation of the theme in mind. Thereby the making of sculpture is, for me, an adventurous business: a very physical activity and one which involves most of the senses.”

Mayer’s use of complex and challenging constructions, organic surfaces and her tireless attention to detail makes her pieces instantly recognisable and her many public, private and corporate commissions worldwide are evidence of her success.

Both artists are valued members of The Royal British Society of Sculptors and have also exhibited at the Cass Foundation sculpture park in Goodwood; just small tributes to the high regard in which both these artists stand.  They have previously shown together in exhibitions such as Fe2 05 at the Myles Meehan Gallery and Women Make Sculpture at Pangolin London last Spring.