Thursday 22 October at 2pm
Radical Shifts: Curator Tour of Beneath the SurfaceJoin curator Katie Ackrill for ‘Radical Shifts: Freedom and Innovation in Studio Ceramics’, A Curator Tour of ‘Beneath the Surface’.
In the 1930s William Staite Murray said, ‘Pottery stands between painting and sculpture in the plastic arts, it inclines to either and includes both.’ Taking Murray’s quote as a starting point, this talk explores the relationship between studio ceramics and sculpture through artworks on display in ‘Beneath the Surface: A Century of Studio Ceramics in Britain’.
‘Radical Shifts’ explores artists who have challenged traditional methods of creating pottery from the post-war era up to the 2000s. It begins with pioneering artists like Hans Coper and Gordon Baldwin, who led the way with new sculptural approaches in the 1960s and ‘70s. We then look at how artists gained the freedom to move beyond domestic pottery and experiment more freely with clay, and the flourishing of female ceramists like Alison Britton and Carol McNicoll.
The tour also takes in some of the most recent artworks in the collection, made by artists who are still finding radical new ways to work with clay as an exciting sculptural medium, including Tessa Eastman, Fenella Elms and Grant Aston.
The tour lasts approximately 30 minutes, with time for questions afterwards.
Buy your tickets HERE.
Location: Museum & Art Swindon
Tickets costs £7.00
Last few tickets remaining!
Tuesday 1 December at 7pm
Curator Talk: The pots and partnership of Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie and Norah BradenJoin Helen Ritchie, Senior Curator of Modern & Contemporary Applied Arts, The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, for her talk ‘The pots and partnership of Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie and Norah Braden’.
Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie (1895–1985), granddaughter of 4th Earl of Radnor, grew up at Coleshill House, one of the grandest country houses in England. Eschewing family tradition, Pleydell-Bouverie established her own home and artistic enterprise on the estate—a cottage and pottery that she shared with female partner and fellow studio potter, Norah Braden (1901–2001). Their handmade stoneware pots were fired in a wood-fired kiln of Japanese design (only the second of its type in Europe) and decorated with delicately-hued glazes, made using plant ash from the estate. Their work was celebrated during the interwar period—praised by critics, exhibited by London gallerists alongside ceramics by their friends Michael Cardew and Bernard Leach, and acquired by collectors and museums.This talk will explore the experimental nature of their work and consider how these women reconfigured “country house” living in their quest for modernity, making space for their own queer, independent lives and artistic practice.The talk will last 45-60 minutes with time for questions with the curator afterwards.Buy your tickets here.
Location: Council Chambers – Museum & Art Swindon
Tickets costs £9.00
Tuesday 2 February at 7pm
Curator Talk: 100 Years of Winchcombe PotteryJoin independent curator Helen Brown for her talk ‘100 years of Winchcombe Pottery’.
Winchcombe Pottery, has shaped studio ceramics through Michael Cardew’s pioneering work, its production ware, and under Ray Finch, its training legacy. This talk will explore Winchcombe’s story from the early kiln disasters to wonderful handmade pots for every day. Along the way it will explore its international links, and its customers, from Gordon Russell to Cranks restaurants.
Helen Brown is an independent curator having worked for many years at Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum. She curated the first retrospective exhibition of Winchcombe Pottery at Cheltenham in 1998 which travelled to Stoke-on-Trent and Penzance. More recently she curated Radical Clay at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, and at Court Barn: ‘Michael Cardew: The Winchcombe Years’ in 2016, and with Mary Greensted, ‘Pioneers, 101 Years of the Leach Pottery’ in 2021 and this year ‘Mastering the Craft: Winchcombe Pottery at 100′
The talk will last 45-60 minutes with time for questions with the curator afterwards.
Buy your tickets HERE.
Location: Council Chambers – Museum & Art Swindon
Tickets costs £9.00
Image: Winchcombe Pottery standard ware, 1960 – 80, Mike Adlem Collection
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