Carmen D’Apollonio investigates the entire spectrum from abstraction to figuration through her practice. Self-taught in the ceramics discipline, D’Apollonio’s approach to her acclaimed sculptural lighting and vessels celebrates the fusion of craftsmanship with functionality. “My work is simple; it often gives way to humor. As if clay had its way of being, its own personality,” she explains.
Born in Switzerland in 1973, D’Apollonio previously worked as an art director for short films and commercials in the mid-nineties. In 1996, she began working with the artist Urs Fischer, and assisting him for over a decade. In 2006, she founded the fashion brand Ikou Tschuss (ikou means “let’s go” in Japanese and tschüss is “bye-bye” in Swiss German), which combined modern textiles with traditional artistry. D’Apollonio established her own studio in Los Angeles in 2014.
D’Apollonio’s process begins with sketching, which she then translates into clay—evolving the three-dimensional form as she goes. Her titles such as I Wish You Were Beautiful (2019) or Here Comes the Light (2019) range from the comic to the plaintive and offer narrative fragments entirely in tune with their suggestive, open-ended compositions.
She lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
carmen d'apollonio
los angeles, california
studio@carmendapollonio.com
katherine vogel
friedman benda
ny/la
212-239-8700
gallery@friedmanbenda.com
tobias mueller
mueller modern
switzerland
t+41 44 272 5000
info@muellermodern.com
linn lühn gallery
germany
t+ 49-(0)151-22373974
info@linnluehn.com
Select Exhibitions and Projects
2024 Supernature, Palazzo Capris, Turin, Italy
2024 Hello it’s me again (solo), Friedman Benda, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Enthroned, curated by Jessica Silverman and Marc Benda, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 I’m not a shrimp (solo), Friedman Benda, Los Angeles, CA
2022 The New Figuration, curated by Glenn Adamson, Friedman Benda, New York,
2021 Don’t Wake the Snake (solo), Friedman Benda, New York, NY
2020 What Would Have Been, Friedman Benda, New York, NY
2019 Summer, Friedman Benda, New York, NY
2019 Carmen D’Apollonio (solo), Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany
2018 3 days with Carmen D ́Apollonio (solo), Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany String Figures, pt. one (with Andy Kassier), Linn Luḧ n, Dus̈ seldorf, Germany Matt Blacke Inc./ Cliff Fong, Los Angeles, USA
2017 The More I See, Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany
2017 Schöner Wohnen Galerie Jur̈ gen Becker, Hamburg, Germany