Joanna Bird’s summer exhibition
Joanna Bird lives in a gallery. At least, that is how it seems, as her house is full of the most exquisite ceramic and glass objects, beautifully displayed, with none of the clutter associated with normal life.
She used to sell work from international artists, specialising in studio ceramics, studio glass, objets d’art and conceptual art, from the Day & Bird gallery in Bond Street but when her art dealer husband Bunny Bird died in 2009 she decided to turn her home at 19 Grove Park Terrace, W4, into her gallery instead.
At any given point in the year friends round for dinner may find themselves sharing the large kitchen table with her latest acquisitions, but in early summer she fills the ground floor and the garden with work for her latest public exhibition.
‘Rites of Passage’ opens on Thursday 8 June and continues until Wednesday 19 June and will also include a series of evening events with artists talking about their work.
Images above: Bernard Leach Fritillary vase; Bernard Leach Hare dish
Rites of Passage
Why ‘Rites of Passage’?
“I’ve put together some of the masters of the British tradition with contemporary artists who have learned from them.”
Visitors will find examples of the work of Bernard Leach (1887 – 1979), regarded as the ‘Father of British studio pottery’ who established the Mingei folk art movement with Japanese potter Hamada Shōji, and philosopher and art critic Yanagi Sōetsu. They will also find the work of Matthew Cardew, Bernard Leach’s first pupil and other 20th century potters now considered as masters, Richard Batterham and Lucie Rie.
Among the contemporary ceramicists whose work will be on show are Emmanuel Boos, Carina Cisato, Hanne Heuch, Akiko Hirai, William Plumptre, Matthew Warner and Gregory Warren Wilson.
Image above: Work by William Plumtre using rope pattern inlay
It is interesting to trace their lineage as potters. William Plumtre learned from the Japanese master Tatsuzō Shimaoka, who in turn learned from Hamada. Emmanuel Boos studied at the Royal College of Art, specialising in glazes for his PhD, then was chosen to study with the French master Jean Girel at Sèvres.
There is a particular technique, a rope pattern inlay which Plumtre uses which illustrates his artistic inheritance from Tatsuzō. With Emmanuel Boos the cultural lineage is in the glazes.
“You can see it in his glazes” says Joanna. “The French have a history of fancy glazes – complicated, sophisticated glazes.”
Images above: Work by Emmanuel Boos
Learning from the best
Joanna is herself a potter. Having found out at Goldsmiths that she was not cut out for the Sociology degree she was studying, she discovered pottery and moved to Cornwall to learn her craft from Michael Cardew at his studio at Wenford Bridge.
“He was standing there in an African smock, regarding a lump of earth, with a robin on his spade and I thought ‘yes! this is where I want to be’.”
It was not an apprenticeship which would be recognised as such now. There were no formal targets or appraisals.
“He never said ‘you’re doing that wrong’ or ‘do it this way’. You could do whatever you wanted as long as it was in the spirit of Wenford.”
Images above: Dish by Michael Cardew; Bowl by Joanna Bird
“Being a potter makes you a philosopher”
She was with him for three years.
“He was a brilliant man. She studied Greats at Oxford and we spent evenings just talking and talking and talking about pottery.”
Michael Cardew is credited with developing the technique of wood firing in this country, having spent years in Africa, in Nigeria and Upper Volta and learned how to make pots without the aid of wheels or kilns.
“Bernard [Leach] had a go and abandoned it. Michael was determined.”
Their love of their craft was as much a philosophy as it was a practical discipline. They stood for the appreciation of beautiful work in any material and, like the Arts & Crafts movement before them, wanted good design to be accessible to ordinary people.
“Being a potter makes you a philosopher I think, because you never know what will happen ” says Joanna.
Cardew produced earthenware and stoneware and Joanna learned about making pots “from grass roots”. Devon is one of those areas of the country where there are seams of ball clay, which they mixed in a blunger, breaking it up with water and sea pebbles into a slip which they then sieved and mixed with high fired Staffordshire red clay.
“It came out a lovely aubergine colour.”
Joanna set up her own studio in Devon and worked as a potter for the best part of a decade before she met her husband, had children and realised running a studio in Devon and a family in London was not sustainable. Hence the transition to curator.
“It’s a natural thing having been a potter. I understand what they are trying to achieve.”
Hanne Heuch, keramikk
Images above: Work by Akiko Hirai and Hanne Heuch
Exhibition and talks
Having set up Joanna Bird Contemporary Collections in 1994 she is now recognised as an expert in the field of contemporary ceramics and glass. Private collectors and curators from museums all over the world regularly consult her on important acquisitions and she also lectures internationally. In 2012 she set up the Joanna Bird Foundation, with a mission to support emerging talents in the decorative arts.
You can hear Joanna talking about contemporary avant-garde work and its roots in 20th century art in one of a series of talks to accompany the exhibition:
Wednesday 14 June, 6.30 – 8pm – Artists in conversation
Julian Stair, Carina Ciscato & Matthew Warner
Wednesday 21 June, 6.30 – 8.00pm – Artists in conversation
Akiko Hirai & Gregory Warren Wilson
Wednesday 28 June, 6.30 – 8.00pm – Artists in conversation
William Plumptre & Joanna Bird
All of the contemporary work on display in her summer exhibition has been made specifically for it. The exhibition will be open from Thursday 8 June – Wednesday 19 July, Tuesday – Saturday, 10.00am – 5.00pm, or by appointment.
19 Grove Park Terrace, London W4 3QE
Images above: Work by Gregory Warren Wilson
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