NARRATIVE VOICE

At England's historic Houghton Hall, a major commission marks an artistic departure for Dame Magdalene Odundo

- MITCHELL OWENS

To go to Houghton Hall is to experience British country house grandeur at its most powerful and luxurious: lofty halls, exuberant carvings, acres of ancestral portraits and giltwood furniture, all set in a park populated by herds of white deer. Seat of the Cholmondeley family for centuries, the Norfolk pile has also become one of the nation's most galvanizing stages for contemporary art, thanks to David Cholmondeley, the filmmaker seventh marquess of the line, and his wife, Rose. The couple has commissioned edgy works of art for their landscape-a James Turrell among them--and staged exhibitions of even more. Now, it's Dame Magdalene Odundo's turn to put her temporary stamp on the interiors.

The acclaimed British Kenyan artist and academic has populated five state rooms with curvaceous ceramic creations old and new, from a birdlike sculpture in satiny black finish to a sensual tea set whose leaflike extrusions make it seem half alive. The star is a tabletop display in the Marble Parlour (once the formal dining room) that was created for the exhibition and, unlike the other sculptures, presents a challenging narrative at odds with the venue's gentility.