Carpenters Workshop Gallery Paris presents From California with love, a display of ceramic works and large-scale abstract canvases by Los Angeles-based artist Roger Herman (b. 1947), a multifaceted figure who has left a distinctive mark on contemporary notions of art, craft and design. Continuing from a solo exhibition presented in London in February 2024, the Paris exhibition explores how Herman seamlessly intertwines ceramics and painting to unveil an assemblage of colour, texture, material, processes and form.

Herman is known for his polyphonous orchestrations that embrace imperfection and incompleteness, in a practice that has evolved over five decades. Featuring recent works produced from 2015 onwards, the exhibition celebrates the gestural, spontaneous vibrancy of Herman’s colourful creations, illustrating why he came to be known as the West Coast parallel of 1980s neo-Expressionism.

At the core of the exhibition is a series of dynamic and multifaceted handcrafted ceramic pieces sculpted from wheel-thrown clay, which exude energy and highlight the artist’s experimental approach. They include Untitled 154 (2023) and Untitled 160 (2023), which are adorned with vivid colours and varying textures, reflecting Herman’s fascination with the transformative power of colour during the glazing process – a theme that he has passionately explored since the late 1990s.

More than functional vases, the irregular shapes, spontaneous voids and protrusions of these pieces transcend traditional ceramic design techniques, with vibrant, quickly executed expressionistic compositions applied beneath glossy glazes. Evoking a unique and unpredictable painterly expression that celebrates imperfection, spontaneity and intuition, each piece is marked by an approach that treats the clay as a blank canvas, allowing brush strokes, dashes and lines to build texture and colour in innovative ways.

Complementing the ceramics is a series of large-scale paintings that echo the same expressive, experimental energy, testifying to the artist’s instinctual relationship to colour and composition across different mediums. They include Pink sky, green window (2023) and Untitled – yellow, green, red (2023), which feature abstract, evocative and boldly colourful painterly gestures. These paintings share a cohesive space with the ceramics in the gallery, illustrating how Herman’s instinctive artistic methods developed through his experimental work with clay, kilns and glazes.

Born in Germany and relocating to the US in 1977, Herman quickly became immersed in California’s vibrant art scene, which greatly influenced his subsequent work. With works ranging from figurative to abstract, Herman’s journey reflects a commitment to pushing the boundaries of traditional mediums, evident in the unpredictable and experimental nature of his works. His focus on colour and glazing processes, as well as his dedication to embracing imperfections, resonates with broader movements in contemporary art that challenge conventional norms. As a teacher at UCLA, Herman has been a prominent figure in the artistic community, with his work featured in galleries worldwide and held in prestigious collections such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).