This week, Hostler Burrows in Los Angeles opens Matter at Hand, an exhibition spotlighting new work by ten exceptional contemporary Danish artists. The West Coast iteration is a relaunch of the gallery's successful show of the same name in the New York outpost this past fall.

All the work on display celebrates a passion for material investigation, from Anne Brandhøj’s wooden pieces, which honor the inherent narratives in the so-called imperfections born of nature—knots and cracks and evidence of encounters with insects and fungus—to Astrid Krogh’s explorations of the world below the sea, the patterns and networks that exist among seaweed and marine plants. And while each artist approaches their practice in a completely distinct manner, every one demonstrates a mastery of craft and medium.

Describing the ten participants—Brandhøj, Krogh, Stine Bidstrup, Yuki Ferdinandsen, Bjørn Friborg, Hanne G, Jakob Jørgensen, Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl,  Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen, and Maria Sparre-Petersen—gallerist Juliet Burrows says, “These are artists who have become experts in one material and have developed an extreme level of skill and understanding of the properties and possibilities of that chosen medium. Through years of investigation and experimentation, they have each arrived at the unique processes that have resulted in the works in the show.”

A gorgeous catalog featuring process images by Dorte Krogh, artist profiles by Charlotte Jul, and an essay by Glenn Adamson accompanies the show, offering additional insight into the artists’ practices. As Adamson writes in his essay, entitled To Will One Thing: “...these objects do exemplify a philosophy: a way of being in the world. Whether clay or wood, metal or glass, each represents the direct engagement between a living, thinking person and the obdurate, external, and uncaring domain of materiality. The very fact of the objects’ excellence attests to the absolute commitment that was brought to these encounters.”

And it is both the exceptional quality of this work, and importantly, the dedication to craftsmanship that forged it, that make this show feel particularly poignant against our current backdrop. As Burrows tells us: “So much of our world has become digital and virtual, both as a result of continuous advances in technology, and more abruptly as a consequence of the pandemic. At a time when it feels like so much is trending towards the metaverse, and there seems to be no end in sight for social isolation, there is something both thrilling and nourishing about experiencing artworks that are based in the physical world, that were made by an artist’s hands, and that we can touch, hold, and understand. The artists in this show are grounded in connections—to nature, to community, to material—and that feels important in this moment in time.”

Matter at Hand runs February 17th - March 31st at Hostler Burrows Los Angeles. The exhibition is mounted with the support of the Danish Arts Foundation. ♦