Tradition and Innovation: Five Decades of Harrow Ceramics

This spectacular and fascinating exhibition will celebrate the talents and achievements of the graduates of The University of Westminster's internationally acclaimed British art course: BA Ceramics, previously known as the Harrow Studio Pottery Course.

Bringing together recent works by more than 50 students and staff from the past five decades, the exhibition will explore the entire spectrum of creative concerns in contemporary ceramics, including functional tableware, architectural ceramics, abstract vessels, sculpture, site-specific installation, performance and video work. 

The list of exhibitors includes many internationally renowned artists, such as Jane Hamlyn, Richard Slee and Edmund de Waal, as well as exciting new talents:

● Functional designs by Walter Keeler, Alice Mara, Janice Tchalenko, Micki Schloessingk and Daniel Smith

● Elegant thrown forms by Kyra Cane, Jane Hamlyn, Joanna Howells and Prue Venables
 
● Abstract and experimental vessels from Alison Britton, Steve Buck, Delfina Podda, Sarah Scampton, Barry Stedman and Marie Torbensdatter Hermann

● Sculpture by Christie Brown, Christine Hurford, Mo Jupp, Aneta Regel Deleu and Richard Slee along with Matt Smith's subversive figurines and an installation by Lawrence Epps, winner of the Fresh Award at the 2011 British Ceramics Biennial

● Site-specific installation and architectural ceramics are represented by large scale projections featuring works by Dominique Bivar Segurado, Detta Fane, Naja Utzon Popov, Benedikt Strebel, Clare Twomey and Edmund de Waal

● Performance works on video come from Brigit Connolly, Philip Lee and Sylvain Thirouin

● Window display by ceramic/industrial designer Caterina Fadda of FaddaSantos

The exhibition has been curated by Tessa Peters, senior lecturer in the School of Media, Arts and Design at the University of Westminster, and will be accompanied by an 80 page fully illustrated publication which presents a history of the Harrow Ceramics Course against a background of changing social, aesthetic and educational ideas.

Admission is free
Opening hours: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 6.00pm

About Harrow Ceramics: Established in 1963 as the brainchild of eminent potters and visionary educators, Victor Margrie and the late Michael Casson, the Harrow Studio Pottery Course offered an innovative new training course for aspiring independent potters. Over five decades the course has evolved and, since 1990, has held degree status.  Around 820 students have trained on the Harrow course, including some of the most distinguished names in the field. The exhibition will coincide with the degree show of the last cohort of the University's BA Ceramics students. The University of Westminster Ceramics Research Group continues through the AHRC funded major research project, Ceramics in the Expanded Field.

About CAA: Founded in 1948 and registered a charity since 1967, CAA champions and promotes only the very best applied artists in their field. Today, CAA's Percy Street gallery is the premiere exhibition and retail venue for the appreciation, education and purchase of the best British craft.

Image credits (from top): Christie Brown: The Uncanny Playroom (photo: Sussie Alburg), Lawrence Epps: Employees (photo: Emily Cooper), Walter Keeler: Angular Teapot (photo: Dewi Tannat Lloyd), Kyra Cane: Fine Porcelain Bowl (photo: Sussie Ahlburg)