THE CURATOR’S VIEW – MAY 2013

http://beveregallery.com/exhibitions?exhibitID=193 

Having just visited Ceramic Art London, which is my favourite ceramic show, I was impressed with the number of makers who had used the last year to develop their work and in some cases, completely change their style. Change is a tricky business for established makers. Buyers will be looking for the familiar and makers want to harness their creativity and move on. Producing the same work year after year is anathema to those who became studio potters in the first place because their chosen medium offered so many creative opportunities. I talked with potters at CAL, who philosophically took the view that if current work wasn’t selling, there was nothing to lose by changing. This will be controversial for some, but making a living as a potter was never easy; if you do what you always did, then you’ll get what you always got!

This month’s group of featured makers reinforces the Bevere commitment to quality and diversity.

 RobinWelch is the doyen of studio potters and we have had the chance to handpick his pieces for this feature, following a visit to his Suffolk home and studio. As I write, I have been reflecting on what it is that attracts me to his work. He is fundamentally an artist. His pots evoke different responses from different perspectives; they are open to personal interpretation; colour contrasts may be striking or they may subtly reflect the landscapes which inspire him. This is abstract expressionism in clay.

Elke Sada has been shown by us for some time. She won the Ceramic Review Award at Ceramic Art London 2012 and her painterly decoration and use of vibrant colour combinations always catches the eye. This group of her latest work will not disappoint.

Maria de Haan is new to Bevere and her Japanese influenced tableware will, I predict, gain an increasing number of admirers. The interest in studio domestic  pots has been enhanced by innovative makers like Maria, as well as the appreciation by food lovers that these pots bring an added something to the simplest of meals.

Bevere Gallery is sponsoring the Annual GCSE and A level arts prizes at Worcester Grammar School. The ‘trophy’ in each case will be a Mike Bromage

 A Selection of Mike Bromage's  Pots

ceramic piece with a small painting by Mike for the fortunate winners to keep permanently. In anticipation of the presentation of these awards in June, we are showing a small group of Mike’s ceramics and paintings throughout May.

For those of you that enjoyed and indeed purchased work by 
 Margaret Curtis's when last featured, we will be also showing a small group of her latest pieces.

This has been a packed blog this month; however, I need to light the blue touch paper on a very important exhibition coming up in June. It is called Ceramics Now and involves four galleries across England who between them will be showing the work of sixty CPA members. We will be showing a significant number of those including a number of established names that we have not shown before. We are excited about this event, which is the first of its kind, and we hope that it will generate new interest in ceramics as well as highlight the important role that galleries have in promoting as well as selling the best in studio ceramics. It opens on the first Saturday in June at Bevere – put it on your calendar now – it is not to be missed!

THE CURATOR’S VIEW - April 2013

"This month we are once again demonstrating the virtues of diversity with three featured makers who are regularly shown at Bevere and have provided new bodies of work for this month.

Eric Moss is one of the distinctive voices in raku and his squid shapes and tactile pieces will be known to many of our visitors.

This latest group has some of those forms but there is more colour here and a new series called ‘knives’ which unites rocking pieces into interactive sculpture.

Matthew Marsh

is a Wolverhampton Graduate who first appeared in the Bevere 2010 Graduate Show and has been in the gallery regularly since then. There is a unique quality to Matthew’s work which embraces classical forms and yet through alteration and his striking decorative technique gives all his pieces an almost decadent quality.

John Maltby is amongst the best known of studio potters. His response to the growing demand for his distinctive and singular work has been met with burgeoning creativity which belies his age. We are genuinely delighted to be showing another hand- picked group of his sculptures. They will not disappoint.

Visitors will also be able to see new pieces from Alan Birchall, who has trained in Japan and gives a fresh feel to oriental inspired stoneware.

  Emily Kriste-Wilcox is another contemporary potter whose new work has a reflective quality and an elegant contemporary presence. I like Emily’s new work which is more nuanced with subtle shading and texture. It would be good to know what you think of them."
Stuart Dickens