Lithium Bliss (110)

Andersen’s Contemporary is pleased to present Lithium Bliss, the third solo exhibition in the gallery by Danish artist Anders Herwald Ruhwald - an exploration of how the green economy materializes.

In Lithium Bliss, we step into a sensuous, sculptural world where materiality, transformation, and environmental consequence intersect. Five large-scale soft ceramic sculptures glazed in turquoise, blue, rose, and dusty yellow seem to echo the vast lithium extraction sites and mounds. On the gallery walls, a blue colour runs in fine strains from the ceiling to the floor in a viscous flow, allowing the liquid to reveal its physical properties as well as the surface structure of the walls.

With Lithium Bliss, Anders Herwald Ruhwald questions and problematizes the realities of aesthetic materials in the green economy. To this end, Ruhwald has developed a set of lithium-based glazes for the sculptures. Lithium is a key component in battery production, an essential element in the shift to green energy; however, the extraction of this material has substantial environmental impacts. Vast amounts of water are needed at the extraction sites, often covering thousands of hectares of land, displacing local communities and leaving large areas prone to erosion.

By naming the exhibition Lithium Bliss, Ruhwald draws attention to the dualistic character of this material—its promise of a greener future—while also acknowledging its darker implications. The word bliss suggests a sweet, euphoric state, but one that often carries a hidden cost. The artist explores how these changing processes are not only reshaping our environment but also transforming our perception and experience of the world around us.

Ruhwald is known for working with installation and sculpture, often using ceramics as a key element. Ruhwald is drawn to clay for its ubiquity, as well as its dual applications in both design and sculpture. He usually employs both of these histories in his work, while challenging traditional perceptions of the material and its spatial implications.