Tag Archives: exhibitions

TAJA – From the Deep Sea – Exhibition 21/03 – 27/04 2020

Renowned Japanese potter Taja (Yasuharu Tajima-Simpson), has been making pots in Devon for over 35 years and will show his latest work of fine porcelain pieces with celadon glaze. He makes a range of slab-built porcelain tableware as well as coil built, large one-off pieces. He uses his own blue celadon glaze called Seiji glaze (meaning literally porcelain blue in Japanese) which he developed with a grant from the Arts Council England. Recently he has added green and Tenmoku glaze to get a more dramatic effect interpreting colours from the deep sea. We are looking forward to show Taja’s latest work at this solo exhibition. The exhibition will run from 21st March to 27th April 2020. The opening view will be held on Saturday 21st March from 3pm to 6pm, all are welcome.

Small Oke (Japanese bucket) vase 22cm and Indivisual Deep Sea Jug 12cm
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Creatures Great and Small – Exhibition 2017

Creatures Great and Small – Exhibition at 45 Southside, 8th April to 23rd May 2017

At one time or another we have all had our hearts touched by furry or feathered friends. And so have our talented artists. Gwen Vaughan and Tracey Benton together with 45 Southside continues its series of exhibitions. Both artist are well known for their humorous and collectable work.

Tracey Benton is predominantly felt making and her favourite subject is our native wildlife, such as hares, foxes and more recently bees. Each piece takes hours of precise needle felting which gives them their shape. In the last stage she adds the defining features of the face, forming each creatures individual and adorable character.

Gwen Vaughan a ceramic artist is equally captivated by creatures great and small. Her quirky animals are captured with minimalistic features nevertheless they are very recognisable species. For her latest range she created cashmere jumpers for her figurines, making them softer to the touch. There are polar bears, whales, foxes, badgers, owls, dogs and of course little birds. Each of her creatures cleverly conveys a element of the nature of each animal. Gwen’s wolf in a sheep’s coat is a beautiful example.

The exhibition will run from 8th April to 23rd May 2017. The opening view will be held on Saturday 8th April from 3pm to 6pm, all are welcome.

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John Pollex Solo Exhibition 2016

After 15 years nationally and internationally renowned potter John Pollex returns to the Barbican with a solo exhibition at 45 Southside Gallery. His full portfolio of sculptural and functional thrown work is shown including some more recent pieces with a matt slip finish. Knowing John and his pottery for a long time and we are really excited to present his full range of work in our Barbican gallery. His colourful, highly collectable ceramics are both tactile and versatile. There is a pot for everyone in every price range.

The exhibition will run from 23rd of April to the 31st of May 2016. The opening view will be held on Saturday 23rd of April from 3pm to 6pm, all are welcome.

Winged Pot by John Pollex

Winged Pot by John Pollex, 24x14x10cm, £140

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Plymouth Art Weekender Is Here!

Plymouth Art Weekender is here! Visit 45 Southside Gallery on the historical Plymouth Barbican to view a large variety of hand made works created by some of the South Wests best artists. Our large collection of unique works encompasses ceramics, glass, textiles, metal, mixed media. Something for all tastes. So pop down and say hello.

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What’s new in June / July …

The display is always changing at our busy Barbican gallery. Our talented artists come up with new ideas and designs all the time. Here are some snapshots of our refreshed display.

Jenny Beavans new work July 2015, Energised Water, Saturation, Shallow Water Wave

Jenny Beavans new work July 2015, Energised Water, Saturation, Shallow Water Wave

Sarah McCormacks new Stroppy Clocks and Tapirs. She also now makes lovely drop earrings with lustre glazing.

Sarah McCormacks new Stroppy Clocks and Tapirs. She also now makes lovely drop earrings with lustre glazing.

Louise Thompsons Landscape Bowls

Louise Thompsons Landscape Bowls

Kate Packers new brooches and earrings

Kate Packers new brooches and earrings

Penny Hegenbarths ceramic wall fishes are casts from real fish.

Penny Hegenbarths ceramic wall fishes are casts from real fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Feast your senses on textiles

Textile1This must be one of the most sumptuous and tactile exhibitions we have ever had. Come and see for yourself tomorrow from 3pm with a chance to meet some of the artists.

It is British wool week this week, which is a good reason to feature Debbie Rudolph’s weaving.

We will feature the other artists, fellow weaver Sue Spooner, contemporary embroidery by Jane Price and Beverley Bailey, mixed media textiles by Helen Edwards as well as ceramic panels, which started as embroidery by Emma West, in the coming days here in our news page..

Textile11Artisan Weaver Debbie Rudolph lives in Cornwall and gained extensive weaving experience during a degree from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London followed by a weaving scholarship with the International Wool Secretariat. Debbie uses her experience to create wonderful materials, which she turns into scarves, cushions, purses and bags. She weaves on a 40 year old Swedish made ‘Lillstina’ Loom. Her designs use surface texture and a bold approach to colour to create visually exciting and tactile beautiful textiles which conjure up other cultures and eras, while remaining refreshingly contemporary.

Find out more about the event on Saturday 19th October here.

 

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Jane Price will be part of our textile exhibition in the autumn

box webHere at 45 Southside we are currently planning a textile exhibition from 18th October – 17th November 2013. Jane Price is one of the five artists who will be exhibiting. Part of the exhibtion will be three artists who have not exhibited with 45 Southside before, Debbie Rudolph, Sue Spooner and Emma West.

Jane has recently delivered some of her new work, a little taster of her textile work. Many of you will remember Jane for her stunning inlaid paper and three-dimensional mixed media pieces, but textiles and stitiching have always been part of her work.

Jane describes her latest work:jane price 8 pins

45 Southside encourages experimentation which is an encouragement to an artist. This gallery has accepted and welcomed my diverse works in paper and textiles. My current brightly coloured abstracts have channelled an interest in saturated colour combinations; the works are like paintings but are also embroidered.”

Being an artist involves developing new ideas, acquiring skills, responding to outside stimuli of time and place and implementing this acquisition of experience. Not repeating yourself is a challenge as it is a process of self discovery, but it is essential to keep studio practice vibrant. I believe in inclusion rather than exclusion and looking at drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, textiles, and papermaking are all enriching and interconnected disciplines! This cross fertilization is evident in the works I produce.”

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We have some lovely ceramics by Tim Andrews on show. Come and have a look!

Tim Andrews has gained an International reputation for his distinctive smoke-fired and raku ceramics. Many works are black and white with linear decoration or burnished with muted coloured slips. His pieces have been acquired for both public and private collections and are exhibited widely across the UK and abroad.

He says in his own artist’s statement: 

I have been ‘bashing clay’ for thirty five years now – a landmark that comes with a certain amount of reflection. I often describe myself as being a fundamentally lazy workaholic. A personal contradiction that reflects the nature of the job – or is it the other way round? The desire to push on in an attempt to ‘get it right’ seems to continue and the words of David Leach still seem to echo around the studio “…so are you any good today Andrews?”

Ceramics doesn’t recognise age and only nods its head occasionally towards experience. The raku firing process continues to surprise and frustrate me. Of all ceramic methods, Raku in particular prefers to remain feral by nature, refusing to be tied down or controlled. Of course that is its appeal as well as its frustration. I still find working within a limited colour palette provides endless possibilities. The same raw materials have been used for centuries: clay – river washed and stratified, metal oxides and minerals from the ground used to produce colour and depth in glazes. The historical and material gaps are small. Human intervention and expression transforms and imparts meaning that we can all engage with. Linear decoration using smoke and ‘resist’ remains a favourite technique – black, white and just a few glazes. The ‘soft’ burnished or glazed surfaces for me, lend a warmth and intimacy to the pieces, integrating form and decoration

However, raku potters are by nature explorers and a trip to China a couple of years ago rekindled my interest in porcelain and particularly celadon after a visit to the old Sung Dynasty kiln sites in Longquan. My most recent ceramics combine raku with black stoneware and porcelain. The technical and aesthetic challenges of putting together coherent pieces using different clay bodies and multiple firings in this way are… to say the least….stretching. My primary goal is always for the work to have integrity and enough presence to make it worth taking up space in this cluttered world. Some pieces involve the use of vessel forms within ‘saggars’. Traditionally, saggars were clay containers in which delicate ceramics were protected in the kiln. These new pieces explore ideas about containment and protection – and the notion of beauty and the way we perceive and value it.

“An artist’s work is deeply rooted in the psychology of the maker. In these new forms Tim Andrews has found his questioning spirit and one that escapes and refuses to be tied down to a single symbolic meaning”

Andy Christian

“…so are you any good today Andrews?” Well maybe another cup of coffee and some procrastination and I’ll see….

Tim Andrews’ stunning new owrk is on display at 45 Southside Gallery throughout March 2013.

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Sculpture, Jewellery, Drinking Vessels – Something for everyone in the Westcountry Potters exhibition

45 Southside Gallery and Westcountry Potters Association have joined forces to show work by a selection of the association’s members. The exhibition features studio pottery by Adrian Bates, Nicola Crocker, Taz Pollard and Mariette Rennie alongside association members already represented at 45 Southside including Alex McCarthy, Kati Vamos, Iris Milward, Abi Higgins, Anne Cope and Sonje Hibbert.The exhibition is now up and running and very popular already.

Mariette Rennie originally studied theatre and graphic design. She uses colour, textures and abstract shapes to create dimensional illusions. Her work reflects a long-standing fascination with abstract space, theatrically and architecturally. She creates striking contemporary stoneware sculptures.

Adrian Bates also comes from a design background. He says: “I have long been fascinated with lines and curves and how they relate to each other in a given form, and also with vessels and the idea of containment. I love the many aspects of working as a potter; from the making, mainly throwing and coiling, through glaze development to the almost alchemical transformation that takes place in firing. I work in stoneware clays – white with reactive glazes and crank with oxides. “ Adrian makes sculptural as well as functional pieces, which make clever use of curves and glazes to give a very fluid appearance.

Taz Pollard’s work is the result of her MA research at Bath Spa University, where she has created very technically challenging mixed media works combining plastic and ceramics. The pottery forms are very traditional, but given a modern twist through the use of colour or in combination with plastic. She describes her own work as ‘delightfully bonkers’ and ‘playful and curious’.Taz also makes a large range of elegant Japanese inspired functional ceramics like tea bowls and plates or bowls.

Nicola Crocker graduated from Petroc, where Taz Pollard teaches. She is inspired by her coastal environment in North Devon. “Interested in the nature of the clay; the forms I can produce from it, the colours and how the two can work together.” [Nicola Crocker] Her visually stunning and tactile work is the product of a very experimental way or working, particularly with surfaces.

Alex McCarthy also experiments with surfaces and the tactile qualities of clays and glazes. “Using the thrown vessel as a canvas I aim to explore gesture and expression through glaze surface and sourced clays. The surfaces are inspired by textures that surround us such as; tree bark, natural rocks, cracking paint and even marine life. The thrown vessel is used as a canvas to investigate the properties of these surfaces. Thick reduction glazes add depth whilst the gold lustre a sense of opulence.” [Alex McCarthy]

Alex sources his own dug clay from beaches around Devon and Cornwall. He has created a personal and unique palette of glazes. It is the range of textural qualities that can be obtained from different clays and materials taken from the ground that really excites him as a ceramicist and a human being.

The exhibition runs until the 19th November and also includes new work by Westcountry Potters Members already exhibiting at 45 Southside.

 

 

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