The gallery was established in Rotterdam by Dutch artist, gallerist, and ikebana-master, Geer Pouls in 1988. Moving to Central Berlin in 2007, Pouls–in collaboration with Japanese flower expert Takayuki Tomita–has continued to run a business that is best described as a crossbreed between a gallery and a florist shop.

At Brutto Gusto intermittent exhibitions by recent and contemporary pioneers in glass and ceramic art among others, are intersected with unique floral arrangements. An association of art and nature is at the core of the gallery’s curatorial practice. 

Brutto Gusto Artists

From the outset, Brutto Gusto has sought to exhibit and promote ceramics and glass, along with other object-based arts. Its roster consists of an international selection of world-class artists who are in these technically difficult fields. 

Among them are glass artists such as Japanese-Italian glass-maker Ritsue Mishima, whose markedly rough and ornate colourless glass objects afford her a special place in the contemporary Venetian glass scene; and Italian master of the rare colourful but laborious murrina technique, Massimo Micheluzzi. 

The gallery also works with a wide selection of ceramicists and clay sculptors such as long-established Dutch artist and creator of surreal clay vases Guido Geelen, and internationally recognised Danish Ceramicist Morten Løbner Espersen, as well as Dutch sculptor William Speekenbrink, whose ceramic, metal and wax works often make politically-charged statements referencing the disquieting and menacing imagery of war, through mediums typically reserved for ornament and beauty.

For some of Brutto Gusto’s, such as installation and multi-media artists Frank Bruggeman, and Martin Weimar, nature is the medium; both create installations that position particular flowers and plants in specific settings.

Not limited merely to these areas often relegated to the category of crafts Brutto Gusto also represents a mixture of more conventional artists, often responding to floral subjects, such as Luzia Simons who produces radiant scanogram prints of fresh tulips.

Brutto Gusto Exhibitions and Art Fairs

Brutto Gusto holds around four exhibitions a year–groups and solo shows that showcase its artists work enhanced by curated floral accompaniments. Preview (2007), the gallery’s first show in Berlin,  presented a diverse selection of artists ranging from Mishima–a glass artist–and American ceramic sculptor Nicole Cherubini to American conceptual installation Robin Winters and Dutch painter Ben Sleeuwenhoek.

Brutto Gusto’s exhibitions can also focuses on particular artforms such as Spring in Berlin (2019), which focused on the art of glassmaking. Furthermore, in solo exhibitions, the gallery explores new directions explored by its artists such as  Espersen’s playful impression of ornate spherical Korean Moon Jars in Pearls, Bombs & Moonjars (2020).

Brutto Gusto participates in several major art fairs including Art Berlin, Cologne Fine Art & Design and, Amsterdam Art Fair.