Magdalene Odundo: Difference between revisions

| name = Magdalene Odundo<br /><small>[[Order of the British Empire|DBE]]</small>

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1950}}

Magdalene Odundo was born in [[Nairobi]], Kenya, and received her early education in both India and Kenya. She attended the [[Kabete National Polytechnic]] in Kenya to study Graphics and Commercial Art and later moved to England in 1971 to follow her chosen vocation in Graphic Design. MagdaleneAfter training in [[Farnham]], [[Surrey]],<ref name=Observer /> she completed her qualifications in foundation art and graphics at the [[Cambridge CollegeSchool of Art.]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Joris|first1=Yvonne G. J. M.|title=Magdalene Odundo|date=1994|publisher=Cip-Gegevens Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag|page=68}}</ref> where she began to specialise in [[ceramics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wallpaper.com/art/magdalene-odundo-the-journey-of-things-hepworth-wakefield-exhibition|title=A new exhibition celebrates the global sweep of Kenya-born British artist Magdalene Odundo|first=Tom|last=Morris|work=Wallpaper|date=14 February 2019|access-date=9 July 2020}}</ref>

After a while in England she discovered pottery, and in 1974–75 she visited Nigeria, visiting the Pottery Training Centre in [[Abuja]], and Kenya to study traditional hand-built pottery techniques.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Angaza Afrika: African Art Now|last=Spring|first=Chris|publisher=Laurence King|year=2008|isbn=978-1-85669-548-0|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/angazaafrikaafri0000spri/page/234 234]|url=https://archive.org/details/angazaafrikaafri0000spri/page/234}}</ref> She also travelled to [[San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico]], to observe the making of [[black-burnished ware|black-burnished]] vessels. In 1976, Odundo received a BA degree from [[Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College|West Surrey College of Art & Design]] (now [[University for the Creative Arts]]).<ref name=resume>[http://magdaleneodundo.com/resume.html Magdalene Odundo resumé.]</ref> She then earned a master's degree at the [[Royal College of Art]] in London. She taught at the [[Commonwealth Institute]] in London from 1976 to 1979 and at the Royal College of Art in London from 1979 to 1982, before returning to teach at [[Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College|Surrey Institute of Art & Design]] (now University for the Creative Arts) in 1997, becoming Professor of Ceramics in 2001.<ref name=resume /> In March 2016 she was inaugurated as an [[Emerita Professor]] of the [[University for the Creative Arts]], with a celebration event held at the Farnham campus against the backdrop of her important work in glass, ''Transition II''.<ref>[http://www.uca.ac.uk/news/magdalene-inauguration-ceremony/ "UCA Emerita Professorship awarded to international contemporary artist"], UAC, 4 March 2016.</ref> She lives and works in Surrey.

Odundo's best-known ceramics are hand built, using a coiling technique. Each piece is burnished, covered with slip, and then burnished again. The pieces are fired in an oxidizing atmosphere, which turns them a red-orange. A second firing in an oxygen-poor (reducing) atmosphere causes the clay to turn black; this is known as reduction-firing.<ref name="source 1">{{cite book|last1=Birmingham Museum of Art |title=Birmingham Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection |publisher=Giles |year=2010 |location=London |pages=80 |url=http://www.birminghammuseumstore.org/bmapu.html |accessdateaccess-date=2011-06-24 |isbn=978-1-904832-77-5 |url-status=dead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910171150/http://www.birminghammuseumstore.org/bmapu.html |archivedatearchive-date=2011-09-10 }}</ref> She uses the same types of techniques used by the Ancient Greeks and Romans and likes to take inspiration from countries likesuch as China and Mexico.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Joris|title=Magdalene Odundo|date=1994|page=7}}</ref> Her graphic design skills still remain with her as she often sketches her interest in natural forms and the design of form to help her with her ceramic creations.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Joris|title=Magdalene Odundo|date=1994|page=45}}</ref> Many of the vessels Odundo creates are reminiscent of the human form, often following the curves of the spine, stomach, or hair.<ref name="source 1" /> Furthermore, the shape of expression of her vessels are symbolic of the female body; one of her most famous pieces is a black and ocher vessel with a curved base and elongated neck resembling the form of a pregnant woman. Her work is now a part of permanent collections of nearly 50 international museums including:

* [[Art Institute of Chicago]]

* [[The British Museum]], London

* [[Metropolitan Museum of Art|The Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York

* [[Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum|Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum]], New York<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Berns|first=Marla C|date=28 July 2014|title=Odundo, Magdalene|url=http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7002263776|journal=Grove Art Online|volume=|pages=|doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001article.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7002263776T2263776|doiisbn=978-broken1-date=2020884446-0105-224 }}</ref>

* [[National Museum of African Art]], Washington DC<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Soppelsa|first=Robert T.|date=Winter 1996|title=Ceramic Gestures: New Vessels by Magdelene Odundo|journal=UCLA James S Coleman African Studies Center|volume=29|issue=1|pages=74|jstor=3337453}}</ref>

In 2006, her work was presented in an exhibition titled "Resonance and Inspiration" at the [[Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art]] of the [[University of Florida]]. This was her first solo exhibition in the US since 1997 and her first solo appearance in Florida. This exhibit was also the first time her drawings and sketches were presented alongside her vessels.<ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Poynor|firstfirst1=Robin|last2=Moon|first2=MacKenzie|date=Summer 2007|title=Resonance and Inspiration: New Works by Magdalene Odundo by Magdalene Odundo|journal=African Arts|volume=40|issue=2|pages=86–87|jstor=20447830|doi=10.1162/afar.2007.40.2.86|s2cid=57569614}}</ref> Her free-form drawing style replicates the same shape and form as her vessels, serving as a glimpse into how Odundo perceives her three-dimensional works in two dimensions.

In 2019 there was a major exhibition that centred aroundon a group of more than 50 of her works, alongside other works of art that Odundo saw as relating to or influencing her work; the exhibition was titled 'The Journey of Things'.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/15/magdalene-odundo-the-journey-of-things-review-hepworth-wakefield|title=Magdalene Odundo review – that pot's got my nose!|last=Clugston|first=Hannah|date=15 February 2019|website=The Guardian|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref> The show was displayed in two locations: [[The Hepworth Wakefield]], West Yorkshire and then the [[Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts]], East Anglia.<ref name=":1" />

== ReceptionRecognition and honours ==

Odundo has been recognized as a significant player in contemporary ceramics, making her name a large contributor to African Art in the US during the 90's1990s. As saidobserved by [[Gus Casely-Hayford|Augustus Casely-Hayford]], "[She draws] on something of the wisdom and experience of the Leach, or a line borrowed from ancient European antiquity, to create a trans-global, trans-temporal visual system of her own; modern, yet simultaneously old, African yet resolutely European..."<ref name=":0" />

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