Studio Arhoj

Anders Arhoj on his namesake ceramics atelier in Copenhagen

The ghosts of Studio Arhoj grabbed me.

Haunting a table at Denmark’s Louisiana Museum, they conjured a youthful delight so powerful, I immediately adopted one, and then another; my ghost needed a pal. And so began a collecting obsession with the work of Anders Arhoj, an artist producing expressive ceramic sculpture alongside his tight-knit crew of potters who make artful snackware. From Chug Mugs to Brick buddies, absolutely everything Arhoj produces oozes joy. Studio Arhoj represents just one of Anders’s many talents as a designer, author and artist.

Kristin Farr: I like to imagine hosting a dinner party served exclusively on Arhoj objects, but I fear the aesthetics of my food could never live up to the beauty of your tableware. Do you get this comment a lot?

Anders Arhoj: No, never actually! In these Instagram days, many people, including chefs, really love to plate their food on something that plays along with it, instead of just being a white canvas. You can make some bold and dramatic dishes with magenta pink cherries on an Yves Klein-blue ceramic plate, or black ice cream in a shockingly sunbeam-yellow bowl. It’s about having fun and staging your dish to tell a story.

Tell me about the popular “mysterious mistakes gone good,” one-of-a-kind objects in your shop. There must be funny stories behind these creations.