Bio
Originally from Hamburg in Germany, Desa Philippi has lived in London most of her adult life. Initially choosing an academic career and working as an art historian and writer for many years, she later changed direction and started working with clay, eventually leading to an MA in Ceramics & Glass from the Royal College of Art in London.
Her practice is experimental, and materials and process based. It is concerned with the experience of and emotional connection to place, the relationship between remembered and imagined places, and the transformation of physical environments.
Her work has been shown in the UK and internationally, including Clay in Vivo, ASC Art House Gallery, London, 2025; Biennale of Contemporary Ceramics, Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Santorini, Greece, 2024; Transparent as a Dragonfly, Bermondsey Project Space, 2024 and Arte Borgo Gallery, Rome, 2023; Tapped, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, USA, 2022-2023.
Education
1984 BA hons. History of Art, Westfield College, University of London
1985 MA Social History of Art, University of Leeds
2019 City Lit Ceramic Diploma
2021 Royal College of Art, London, MA Ceramics & Glass
Residencies
2023 R.A.R.O. Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct-Nov
2023 Bildhauerwerkstatt Berlin, BBK Kulturwerk, June/July
Awards
2020 Charlotte Fraser award at RCA Ceramics and Glass
2026 Charlotte Fraser Ceramics and Glass Award shortlisted
Exhibitions (selection)
2026 Clay in Vivo, APT Gallery, London, Oct
2026 Holt Art Projects, Allen Hall Gallery, Norfolk, Jul-Aug
2026 Now I make a leaf of voices, Waterloo Festival London Group, London Jul-Sep
2025 Clay in Vivo, ASC Art House Gallery, London, Sep
2025 Royal Society of Sculptors Summer Exhibition, Burgh House, London, Jul-Sep
2024 Barbican Arts Trust, ArtWorks Open, ArtWorks Project Space, London, December
2024 Biennale of Contemporary Ceramics, Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Santorini, Greece, Jun-Oct, Catalogue
2024 Shape of Things to Come, Gallery 475, 475 Fulham Road, London, May
2024 Transparent as a Dragonfly, Bermondsey Project Space, March, Catalogue
2023 Transparent as a Dragonfly, Arte Borgo Gallery, Rome, October, Catalogue
2022 Tapped, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, USA, Dec 2022-Jan 2023
2022 Stone Lane Gardens Sculpture Exhibition, Devon, Jul-Oct
2022 Legacy, The Crypt Gallery, London, Sep
2021 Metanioa, Cromwell Place Gallery, London, Dec
2021 Showcase, Royal College of Art, online Jun- July
2021 Cabinet of Curiosities, as part of The Power of Material: From Virtual to Physical, Design Museum, London, April
2019 Art in Clay, Hertfordshire, August
2019 Menier Gallery, London, July
2019 Monochrome – Interpretations in Clay, 3 persons show, Gallery One Paved Court, London, April
2017 Desa Philippi - A journey in Porcelain (solo exhibition) Arthouse Aberystwyth, Wales, Jun- Jul
2017 Art and the Politics of Eating, Gallery Different, London, June
2017 Barbican, Library Exhibition Space, Barbican Centre, London - Mar-Apr
2016 The Art Stable, Dorset, December
2016 Innovation in Ceramic Art, Cambridge, November
2015 New Ashgate Gallery, Surrey, Nov-Jan
2015 CRAFT – Redefining the Handmade, Olympia, London, January
2015 Craft Centre and Design Gallery Leeds, City Art Gallery, Leeds, Jan-Apr
2015 Quercus Gallery, Bath, Jul-Aug
2015 Innovations in Ceramic Art, Guildhall, Cambridge, October