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

THE CURATOR’S VIEW - March 2013

It is time for some blue sky and the occasional appearance of the sun. Spring may be near but the last vestiges of winter linger. I hope that our featured makers this month will lighten the gloom and herald a change in the weather.

Raewyn Harrison is new to Bevere. I first saw her work at Ceramic Art London and was impressed with her craft skills and her imaginative use of print on clay. This work is different and has already created great interest. New Zealand born, Raewyn combines English heritage with contemporary ceramics in a way that sits well in any setting.

Sculptures by Gaynor & Paul

Ostinelli and Priest have delivered a new group of work for this month. There is a growing interest in ceramic sculpture and the quality of Gaynor and Paul’s modelling is among the best. Their appeal is the character which they give their subjects. Even two pieces which may look similar have a different set of the eyes or a turn of the head. We are delighted to be featuring their work again.

Rachel Wood has also been a regular exhibitor at Bevere. She is currently in Australia undertaking a residency and before leaving, she has let us have a group of pots which were a pleasure to unpack. The influence of landscape is evident in texture and her colour palette. Although each pot varies in scale and look well in groups, they individually command attention. This is some of the best work we have had from Rachel, who is committed to developing her craft and opening up new possibilities.

 Collection from Louise's green/frog range

We will also be showing a new collection from  


Louise Darby
which shows her decorating skills to great effect.  






Gayle Ansell is just setting out on her ceramics career and we are much taken with her saggar- fired dishes.

Pete Higgs has new pieces in too and he is developing a series based on natural forms such as hazelnuts and conkers, in porcelain and raku.

The weather may not be anything different, but you can be sure that the gallery will always have something new and exciting to lighten the spirit.

Stuart Dickens- Ceramic Curator

Winner of The Bevere Gallery Graduate Award 2013

The winner of the Bevere Gallery Graduate Award this year is Valerie Price-West from  Carmarthenshire- the University of Wales

 

Congratulations to Valerie.  Her ceramic sculptures were truly worthy of this.


Quote from Valerie:-  "Having been voted best at Bevere Graduate Show 2013 by the public far out ways a first at my graduation. It's great to see that the type of work I make as well as the narrative behind it has been appreciated".
 
We are delighted with this win and look forward to working with her throughout the year.

Hundreds of visitors voted with all the Graduates receiving votes. 
 The close runner up was Ben Esthop. 

 The voting visitor who won the £100 to spend in the Gallery was Linda Botsman from Ledbury.  She was drawn from the hat by,  firstly two young family members- Cameron and Billy and their friend Harry (Supervised by Kim)  and then from these three Linda's voting slip was the one picked by Edward Baldwin who was runner up in our very first Graduate Award.

THE CURATOR’S VIEW – February 2013

Each year Bevere Gallery adds to the range and diversity of the makers it represents. Amongst the three featured makers in February, who offer real contrasts in style and technique,

we have the work of Barry Stedman who is showing in the gallery for the first time. His painterly decoration in unusual colour combinations certainly made an impact on me the first time I saw it and I hope that this small group of new work will evoke the same response in our visitors this month. 

Andrew Palin  
comes from a science background which perhaps explains his exploration of glaze effects and the precision of his work. His pots have developed over recent years and we always look forward to a new group of work from him. These are almost straight out of the kiln and onto the plinth, so this is Andrew’s latest work.

Suet-Yi Yip was a popular exhibitor in last year’s Graduate Show (2012) - you may remember her if you visited the gallery then. She is becoming increasingly well known for her fine draughtsmanship and fertile imagination within an oriental tradition. She has sold successfully during the last year, which is testament to her creative imagination and the appetite of ceramic enthusiasts for an original voice.

We also have a handpicked group of pots by Walter  Keeler, which will be on show for the first time this month. I never tire of his work. For me he is the epitome of the master potter and these pots simply and elegantly confirm that.  

Stuart Dickens

A Milestone - our 10.000th pot on the web - a Walter Keeler Mug

10,000 POT!

It is hard to believe, but we have just uploaded the 10,000^th pot on our website and it could not be more appropriate –a Walter Keeler mug. Walter is an elder statesman of studio pottery and I am delighted that one of his pieces marks this milestone.

We have shown his work for a number of years and had innumerable conversations with visitors to the gallery about this supreme craftsman.
 

Then why a humble mug, I here you cry? Well, this is what fate has determined should be number 10,000. It is not just a mug. It is a vessel that embraces all of the qualities that so many of us admire in Walter’s work. It is elegantly designed and beautifully proportioned – sitting so well in the hand. The lustrous ink wash glaze emphasises the shape and the volume of the pot. His signature mark is the only decoration. This is a simple mug – but as the great Hamada once said in response to a comment by one of his students about the simplicity of a particular pot – there is nothing simple about it at all.

Some of latest collection in The Gallery- includes "THE MUG"

                      Stuart Dickens

THE CURATOR’S VIEW - January 2013

Happy New Year!

I write this in the week when we put up the annual GraduateShow, which opens Saturday 5th January and runs until Saturday 26th January.

I am often asked how we select the exhibitors for this show, which are mainly ceramics graduates but also include jewellers, artists and an exceptional bowl maker from Herefordshire. Each year, we attend the New Designers Exhibition in London, which brings together all of the Applied Arts Graduates from that year. This enables us to compare and contrast the graduates in one place at the same time, which from a curator’s perspective is invaluable. We long list, from that first look, those makers who essentially fill two criteria – good craft skills and an individual voice. Back at Bevere we then make our final choice – not always an easy task.

It is invidious to pick out any one of the makers. Visitors will be able to select whom they like the best and possible win £100 for doing so. Suffice to say; there is exceptional new talent here which we hope will capture your imagination and interest. This is an important event for the gallery and an even more important show for the graduates.

As we have in previous years, we will be showing the work of graduates whose work continues to be shown at Bevere. We are also delighted to have another group of new pieces from Chris Taylor, who won last year’s vote to give every one of our visitors, but particularly those who voted for him, the chance to see his work one year on.

Do come and see this show. It is the perfect antidote to rain and grey skies!

                                                                                                                              Stuart Dickens