Magdelene Odundo Wedgwood masterpiece on show at Houghton Hall exhibition

Wedgwood Artist in Residence Magdalene Odundo has produced a powerful Jasperware piece that tells a stirring story about the enduring legacies of slavery and protest. Now this design is on show as part of a special retrospective of her work hosted at Houghton Hall, Norfolk.

GRAND SURROUNDINGS

Presented against the traditional grandeur of the state rooms at the Palladian Houghton Hall – built by the United Kingdom’s first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole - Magdalene’s exhibition features a curation of work from her incredible career in addition to eight special new pieces created for this exhibition.

Her Wedgwood masterpiece plays a prominent part in this prestigious showcase, which celebrates three decades of artistic endeavour from Magdalene.  

“We are honoured to be showing Dame Magdalene Odundo's ceramic and glass work at Houghton,” said Lord Cholmondeley, owner of Houghton Hall. 

“Some of the pieces have been especially created for the exhibition and it will be fascinating to see how Dame Magdalene's installations and interventions in the State Rooms will interact with William Kent's exuberant eighteenth-century decorative scheme.” 

Sponsored by the Loewe Foundation, the private cultural foundation, Odundo’s exhibition runs until 29 September 2024 and follows previous prestigious events at Houghton Hall from major names such as Antony Gormley (2024), Henry Moore (2019) and Damien Hirst (2018). 

MAGDALENE ODUNDO

Magdalene Odundo is one of the world’s most eminent and admired contemporary ceramic artists. She was born in Kenya in 1950 and studied at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology and the Royal College of Art in London. 

Odundo is widely revered for her handmade sculptures, which explore diasporic identity and often reference her cultural heritage. Her artworks are prized for their elegant forms and rich, natural colourings. She is renowned for her interrogation of our complex contemporary society, and how tradition and innovation overlap and interact in our interconnected world.