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Gordon Baldwin
New works in ceramic and drawings
14 October to 12 November 2005
Gordon Baldwin is one of Britain’s most influential and innovative ceramic artists. Since the beginning of his professional career in the
1950s he has earned an international reputation for his expressive abstract forms which, regardless of their extraordinary variety, remain
rooted in the notion of the vessel.
His inspiration comes from other experimental art forms, rather than ceramic history, and ranges from the fields of surrealism and poetry to
composer John Cage‘s use of chance as an agent of determination. The sculpture of ancient Egypt and a specific stretch of the North Wales
shoreline are among other enduring points of reference.
In this new collection of works music has been an important catalyst. An imposing series of ‘Great Cups’, monochrome with vestigial handles,
are rhythmically pierced. Baldwin suggests that these are, in part, a response to the sparseness and simplicity of the minimalist music of
the American composer John Adams with its repetitive rhythms. Working on another recent series entitled ‘Vessels from a Quartet’ brought
to mind for him the way phrases of music can interlock, and he likens their surface markings to the sound of the Japanese Shakuhachi flute.
He also speaks of the emphatic lines, evident in other works, as representing his perception of Britten‘s ‘Spring Symphony’,
a work that he experiences as edged with black.
Drawing is a vital part of his practice and a means to explore and develop an idea that may or may not emerge as a three dimensional form.
He continues to work every day, and usually early in the morning, speaking of his work in existentialist terms as ‘...events, which seem
to have meaning and seem to give me a raison d‘être’.
Biographical notes
Born 1932, Gordon Baldwin studied painting and ceramics at Lincoln School of Art and at the Central School of Art & Design, London.
He has exhibited internationally and his work is represented in major public collections worldwide including: Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York; Melbourne City Art Gallery; Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shigaraki, Japan; Hanover City Museum; Museum Boijmans van Beuningen,
Rotterdam; Musee Bellerive, Zurich; Paisley Museum & Art Gallery; and the Victoria & Albert Museum. He was awarded an OBE in 1992 and an
Honorary Doctorate by the Royal College of Art, London in 2000.
Jacqueline Poncelet originally trained in ceramics but now works in a wider range of media. Her work is regularly shown in the contexts of painting
and sculpture as well as the applied arts. She has also worked with architects on projects for the public realm. These include a sand blasted glass
screen for The Queens Graphics Gallery at Holyrood House and acoustic panels for Ocean Music Trust Hackney. A retrospective exhibition of McNicoll’s
work Carol McNicoll: Contemporary Ceramics - Domestic Treasures toured the UK in 2003 - 04 and was accompanied by a book charting the development of
her work published by Lund Humphries. The work of both artists is included in major public collections in the UK and abroad.
For more information, transparencies, or to arrange an interview with the artist please contact
Juliana Barrett
Tel: 020 7336 6396
Fax: 020 7336 6391
email: press@bmgallery.co.uk
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