“In works made in 2012, I explored the dualities of disjunction and flow. The hand built forms were completed by pouring slip, and then glaze, across their surfaces rather than drawing or painting marks. This approach, new for me though traditional in ceramic history, allowed me to play with the definite and indefinite, form and surface, and brings more risk and improvisation into the work. These forms are vertical, jar-like, and include spouts, pipes and handles, complicating possibilities for the runs of slip or glaze. Their titles are related to water.”

Scope, 2014 Earthenware, 48 x 40 x 33 cm

Alison Britton OBE Britain b.1948

Today a leading British ceramic artist, Britton was one of an influential group of students who came out of the Royal College of Art in the 1970s. Their radical work challenged and deconstructed notions of ceramics and particularly functional pottery – a movement that came to be known as ‘The New Ceramics’.

Britton has dedicated herself to making, studying and understanding pots. Her distinctive, sculptural works blur the line between art and craft. Vessels are hand-built from rolled slabs of clay not thrown on a wheel. Surfaces are expressively painted with marks referencing more modernist painting than the decorative patterns we tend to associate with craft or completed by pouring across slip then glaze.

Her pots exude authority and confidence, they are works that have been contemplated and carefully constructed by a dedicated maker. Britton’s work has always embraced awkwardness and it defies classification, her work is as much about sculpture and painting as ceramics or pots. Working from a London studio over four decades, she has an international exhibition profile, writes on current practice across a broad art and design field, and curates exhibitions. Her work can be seen in major public and private collections worldwide, including the V&A, London; Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh; Australian National Gallery, Canberra; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; and Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. She teaches at the Royal College of Art in London and is a Senior Tutor in the Ceramics and Glass department.

Alison Britton was awarded the OBE in 1990.

Education

1966 - 1967 Leeds College of Art 1967 - 1970 Central School of Art and Design, London 1970 - 1973 Royal College of Art

Teaching Posts

Royal College of Art, Senior Tutor

Selected Collections

National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, Norway The British Museum, UK Aberdeen Museum and Art Gallery, UK Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA UCW Collection, Aberystwyth, UK National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia Shigaraki Ceramic Sculpture Park, Japan Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden Boymans van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, the Netherlands The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia British Council Collection, UK Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Contemporary Art Society, London, UK Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland Crafts Council, London, UK Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland Hove Museum & Art Gallery, UK York City Art Gallery, UK Wurttembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart, Germany Kunst und Gewerbe Museum, Hamburg, Germany Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, Germany Princessehoff Museum, Leeuwarden, Holland Kruithaus Museum, Den Bosch, Holland Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Norway

Svenska Handelbanken, Stockholm, Sweden Trondheim, Norway Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Canada National Gallery of Victoria, Australia Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France Musée de Sevres, Paris, France

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2017 Things of Beauty Growing: British , Yale Center for British Art, Newhaven Connecticut, USA 2016 Alison Britten: Content and Form, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK 2012 Life and Still Life, new pots by Alison Britton shown with objects from her collection, Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK Standing and Running, Marsden Woo Gallery, London, UK 2007 Containing, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London, UK 2005 Barrett Marsden Gallery, with the Ed Wolf Collection of Alison Britton pots, London, UK 2003 Barrett Marsden Gallery, London, UK 2001 Galerie DM Sarver, Paris, France 2000 Barrett Marsden Gallery, London, UK 1998 Barrett Marsden Gallery, London, UK Crafts Council Shop at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK 1996 Craft Victoria, Melbourne, Australia and tour 1995 Form and Fiction, Marianne Heller Galerie, Sandhausen, Germany 1993 Osiris Gallery, Brussels, Belgium 1990 Alison Britton - A Retrospective, Two year tour organised by Aberystwyth Arts Centre, touring to Newport Museum, Aberdeen Museum, Carlisle Museum, Stoke on Trent, Cardiff Museum, York Museum, and Boijmans van Beuningen Museum, Holland Contemporary Applied Arts, London, UK 1988 Craft Centre Gallery, Sydney, Australia 1987 Contemporary Applied Arts, London, UK 1985 Miharudo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 1981 Prescote Gallery, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK 1979 The Work of Alison Britton, Crafts Council, London, UK 1976 Amalgam, London, UK

Selected Two-Artist & Group Exhibitions

2016 Kneaded Knowledge, The Language of Ceramics, Kunsthaus Graz, Austria Vase: Function Reviewed, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland Les Plaisirs de l’Assiette, 19 Rue Paul Fort , Paris, France Artgenève 2016 [represented by Taste], Geneva, Switzerland Artmonte-carlo [represented by Taste], Monte Carlo, Monaco 2015 Artgenève 2015 [represented by Taste], Geneva, Switzerland 2014 Cut and Run [with Jim Partridge], Marsden Woo Gallery, London, UK The Ceramic Object, Gallerie Format, Oslo, Norway Mixed Display, Marsden Woo Gallery, London, UK 2013 Cheongju Crafts Biennale, South Korea Mixed Display, Marsden Woo Gallery, London, UK 2012 Hélene Aziza, Paris The Perfect Place to Grow, 175 Years of the Royal College of Art, Royal College of Art, London, UK Tradition and Innovation: Five Decades of Harrow Ceramics, Contemporary Applied Arts, London, UK Mixed Display, Marsden Woo Gallery, London, UK 2009 Unforeseen Events [with Marit Tingleff], Marsden Woo Gallery, London, UK Our Objects, Glasgow School of Art and tour 2008 Ten Years Innit!, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London, UK 2007 END, Danish Museum of Art and Design, Copenhagen; Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway 2003 British Ceramics: Five Artists, Frank Lloyd Gallery, LA International, USA 2002 4 Years of Barrett Marsden Gallery, London, UK Galerie Marianne Heller, with Gordon Baldwin, Heidelberg, Germany SOFA Chicago 2002 [represented by Barrett Marsden Gallery], Chicago, USA 2001 Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts: Ceramics exhibition at Crafts Council SOFA Chicago 2001 [represented by Barrett Marsden Gallery], Chicago, USA 2000 Firing Imagination, British Council tour to Brazil of British Ceramics Britisk Keramik, Keramikmuseet Grimmerhus, Denmark Two Years of Barrett Marsden Gallery, London, UK SOFA Chicago 2000 [represented by Barrett Marsden Gallery], Chicago, USA 1999 541 Vases, Pots, Sculptures and Services, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Barrett Marsden Gallery and Galerie Binnen, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 25 Years of Contemporary Craft, Crafts Council Shop at the V&A, London, UK Commemorative Mugs for the Millennium, Besson Gallery, London, UK Constructions: Ceramics and the Memory of Architecture, Marianne Heller Gallery, Heidelberg, Germany 1997 Galerie Sarver, Paris (Two-artist). France

1996 'The British Are Coming', Indigo Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida USA Das Andere Gefass, Saarlandisches Kunstlerhaus, Saarbrucken, Germany On the Box, Oriel Gallery, Cardiff, Wales Objects of our Time, Crafts Council, London, UK 1993 The Raw and the Cooked: New Work in Clay in Britain, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, and tour to Barbican Art Gallery, London; Taiwan Museum; Swansea Museum; Shigaraki Ceramic Sculpture Park, Japan; Musée d'Art Contemporain de Dunkerque, France 1989 L'Europe des Ceramistes, L'Abbeye Saint-Germain d'Auxerre, France and tour 1988 Contemporary British Crafts, National Museums of Modern Art, Kyoto, and, Tokyo Galerie Het Kapelhuis, Amersfoort, Holland 1987 'The Vessel', Serpentine Gallery, London, UK 1986 British Ceramics, Dorothy Weiss, San Francisco, USA 1985 Fast Forward: New Directions in British Ceramics, ICA Gallery, London, UK British Ceramics, Kruithaus Museum, Den Bosch, Holland 1984 Westminster Gallery, Boston, USA (Two-artist) British Ceramics, British Council tour of Czechoslovakia 1983 Fifty Five Pots, Orchard Gallery, Londonderry, Northern Ireland British Ceramics, British Council tour of Czechoslovakia 1982 The Maker's Eye, Crafts Council, London, UK Galerie L, (Two-artist), Hamburg, Germany 1981 British Ceramics & Textiles, Scharpoord Cultural Centre, Knokke-Heist, Belgium 1980 Galerie Het Kapelhuis, Amersfoort, and Kruithaus Museum, (Two-artist) Den Bosch, Holland 1979 Jugs & Aprons (Two-artist), Aberdeen Art Gallery, Scotland 1978 Galerie Het Kapelhuis, (Two-artist), Amersfoort, Holland Five English Potters, Princessehoff Museum, Leeuwarden, Holland

Selected Awards

2016 Awarded medal for outstanding creativity and craftsmanship at London Craft Week 2008 Honorary Fellowship, University of the Arts, London 2007 Honorary MA, University College of the Creative Arts, Farnham. UK 2001 Shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Ceramics 1990 Awarded OBE Fellow of the Royal College of Art, London

Selected Bibliography

2016 Frieze Magazine, May 2016 Issue Crafts Magazine, Issue 239, March/April 2015 2015 V&A Magazine, December 2015 Issue, [preview of solo exhibition]

2012 Life and Still Life, exhibition catalogue, Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, England 2010 The Everyday and the Numinous: British Studio Pottery 1980 – 2009, Tanya Harrod catalogue essay for the Grainer collection, Mint Museum of Art, New York, USA 2005 Review of Barrett Marsden solo exhibition 2005, Shane Enright, Crafts Magazine, Issue 197 2003 Review of Barrett Marden solo exhibition 2003, Oliver Watson, Ceramic Review Issue 202 2000 Sources of Inspiration, Edward Lucie Smith, Crafts Magazine, Issue 167 2000 Complexity and Ambiguity, The Ceramics of Alison Britton, Linda Sandino, Barrett Marsden Gallery 1998 Thinking Aloud, Edmund de Waal, Ceramic Review, Issue Sept/Oct 1998 1996 Das Andere Gefass, Saariandisches Kunstlerhaus, Saarbrucken, Germany 1995 Profile by Gabi Dewaid, and Perception (Australia), No. 19 1993 The Raw and the Cooked, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England 1991 The Abstract Vessel, John Houston, Bellew Publishing 1990 Alison Britton, Ceramics in Studio, Tanya Harrod, Bellew Publishing, 1990 British Studio Pottery, The V&A Museum, Oliver Watson, Phaidon Christie's Ltd. 1988 Contemporary British Crafts, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan Alison Britton, Wendy Dubin, American Ceramics, 7/1 1986 The New Ceramics, Trends and Traditions, Peter Dormer, Thames & Hudson 1985 British Ceramics, exhibition catalogue, Kruithaus Museum, Den Bosch, Holland Fast Forward: New Directions in British Ceramics, exhibition catalogue, ICA, London, England 1983 British Ceramics, exhibition catalogue, British Council Fifty Five Pots, exhibition catalogue, Orchard Gallery, Londonderry, Northern Ireland 1982 The Maker's Eye, exhibition catalogue, Crafts Council, London, England 1979 The Work of Alison Britton, exhibition catalogue, Crafts Council, London, England

Selected Writing

2016 Review of Betty Woodman, ICA exhibition, The Burlington Magazine, May issue Essay ‘Homework’, Garry Fabian Miller exhibition catalogue, Making Thinking Living, Crafts Study Centre Essay ‘Curiosity and Speculation’, Karen Bennicke: Spatial Destabilization, Strandberg Publishing, Denmark 2013 Exhibition essay, Martin Smith, Static Field, Marsden Woo Gallery, London, England Seeing Things: Collected Writing on Art, Craft and Design, Occasional Papers 2011 Exhibition essay, Introducing: Nao Matsunaga, Marsden Woo Gallery, London, England 2010 ‘Laying the Table: synthesis, continuity, and the everyday’, catalogue essay, RJ Lloyd Collection of Devonshire Slipware, Burton Art Gallery and Museum, Bideford 2009 ‘The Fiction of Form’, Statement of Practice article, Journal of Modern Craft, Vol 2, Issue 1

‘Three by One’ introduction and editing of catalogue, Crafts Study Centre exhibition, A selection of work from three public craft collections, Crafts Study Centre and Crafts Council 2008 Essay, Philip Eglin, Hands off Berbatov, exhibition, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London, England 2007 ‘Confounding the Ordinary’, essay on Natasha Daintry, Ceramic Review, Issue 223 The Ed Wolf Collection of Alison Britton Pots, Barrett Marsden Gallery Online review, ‘Breaking the Mould, New Approaches to Ceramics’, Black Dog Publishing, electronic journal Interpreting Ceramics, www.uwic.ac.uk/ICRC 2006 Essays, To Hold catalogue, exhibition in Dublin, Brantwood Publishing 2005 Essay, Gwynn Hanssen Pigott, A Survey 1955 – 2005, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia 2003 ‘Jim Partridge’. Main essay in monograph, Manchester City Galleries/Lund Humphries ‘The Persistence of Craft’, Paul Greenhalgh, A&C Black, review in Ceramic Review, Issue 201 ‘Tangible Form’, essay, Nicholas Rena exhibition, Transit Space, Barrett Marsden 2002 ‘Overthrowing Tradition’, electronic journal Interpreting Ceramics, www.uwic..ac.uk/ICRC ‘:Urban Idyll/Ideal’, Lucie Rie, centenary publication, ed. Emmanuel Cooper 2001 ‘Roots and Routes for the Modern Potter’, catalogue essay The Snake in the Garden, exhibition, Aberystwyth Arts Centre Poetry and Grammar: the work of Martin Bodlilsen Kaldahl, catalogue essay, Denmark 2000 ‘Central Ceramics: Dora Billington and Gilbert Harding Green’, Making Their Mark, ed Sylvia Backemeyer, Herbert Press 2000 1999 ‘The Interrupted Surface’, essay, Clay Magazine, craft Victoria, Australia (Un)Limited, exhibition catalogue, Crafts Council. Texts on 10 contributing artists ‘Folding Forms and Closing Spaces’ catalogue essay, Ken Eastman, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, England 1997 'Clay and Asphalt: The Metropolitan World of Rie and Coper', Ceramic Review, Jan/Feb Issue 1997 'Comfort and Surprise', catalogue essay, Philip Eglin, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland 1996 Neil Brownsword: The Fine Line - Revelations in Clay, City Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on- Trent, England 'What You See is What You Get', catalogue essay, Emmanuel Cooper, Ruthin Crafts Centre 'Within Walls', catalogue essay, Martin Smith, Boymans van Beuningen Museum 1995 Monograph on Lawson Oyekan, Leicester City Art Gallery & East Midlands Arts 1994 'New Ceramics in Britain and the Context of its Development', Neue Keramik, Jan/Feb. Issue 1994 Catalogue essay, Angus Suttie exhibition, Contemporary Applied Arts, London, England 1993 'Use, Beauty, Ugliness and Irony', essay, The Raw and the Cooked, MOMA, Oxford 1992 'Sustaining Alternatives', introductory essay, International Crafts, Thames & Hudson 'The Manipulation of Skill on the Outer Limits of Function' essay, Beyond the Dovetail, Crafts Council, London, England 1991 Philip Eglin: A Staffordshire Tradition?, leaflet, South Bank 1989 Jim Partridge, Woodworker, catalogue essay, Crafts Council 1986 The New Ceramics, Trends & Traditions, introduction, Thames & Hudson 1985 'The Modern Pot', essay, Fast Forward exhibition, ICA

1984-1995 Exhibition leaflets and monographs, Contemporary Applied Arts, London, England American Crafts, ' 1920-198I', vol. 44, no. 2 Crafts, 'Sè vres with Krazy Kat', no. 61 1982 The Maker's Eye, Crafts Council, London, essay 1978 'Pots about Music', exhibition catalogue, Elizabeth Fritsch, Leeds City Art Gallery, England

______Taste Contemporary Craft Monique Deul Consultancy Rue Abraham Constantin 6 T: +41 79 406 65 82 1206 Geneva E: [email protected] Switzerland W: www.tastecontemporarycraft.com Updated: September 2017