9th July- 27th August 2016
Designs Gallery summer exhibition opens on Saturday 9th
July with the work of three potters, Archie McCall, Andy Priestman and Russell
Coates . All three are British makers
whose work has been heavily influenced by the Japanese ceramic tradition.
At first glance their work
seems unrelated, however as one looks more closely the simplicity of the form, the attention
paid to the pattern and surface glazes of their pots creates a sense of the
simplicity and strength of the Japanese craft. Teabowls, lidded jars, decorated
platters and pots are on display in the exhibition which runs until 27th
August.
Archie McCall’s interest in ceramics began out of curiosity after
first seeing Japanese tea bowls. He served a 3 year apprenticeship with John
Davey of Bridge of Dee, near Castle Douglas whose work was largely influenced
by the ‘East meets West’ philosophy of the potter Bernard Leach and then in
1974 he travelled in Japan and Korea before establishing his first pottery in Dumfries
& Galloway. He spent a number of years as Head of Ceramics at Glasgow
School of Art where he introduced the innovative part-time BA(Hons) degree
programme which is delivered through residential schools and on-line, distance
learning. He now works from his studio in New Abbey where he produces teabowls
and larger pieces, thrown in stoneware and richly decorated with glaze, pigments and luster.
Andy
Priestman’s high fired porcelain and stoneware pieces, whilst being perhaps
influenced by a more Northern European tradition have glazes inspired by the
stoneware and porcelain of China, Korea and Japan . Room 95 in the British Museum, which houses a
magnificent collection of Chinese ceramics with pots from the earliest years of
high fired pottery, is an inspiration for his work.
He has been making high fired pottery, both
porcelain and stoneware, for over forty years at Minniwick, near Glentrool.
Russell Coates’ unique style is influenced by Kutani Ware which he studied in Japan, He won the Mombusho scholarship to study enamelled porcelain under Professor Fujio Kitade of Kanazawa College of Art& Design in Ishikawa prefecture in Japan in 1971.He has lectured and taught pottery, including courses in Japanese enamelled porcelain ,since 1975 and works as a potter in Somerset. Russell has always been deeply interested in Japan and realized that ceramics/pottery was one of the most highly regarded of the creative arts in Japan and there was a long tradition of creative diversity.
