Exhibition | Jean-Nicolas Gérard | 2024

wlc jng slate Exhibition | Jean-Nicolas Gérard | 2024 Goldmark Gallery

We’re delighted to share this new exhibition of pots by Jean-Nicolas Gérard, a slipware potter from Provence in France. With a glaze palette of golden yellows and browns, white, blue, and black, Jean-Nicolas makes beautiful, functional earthenware pots, almost all of which are designed to be used in the garden or the kitchen for the cooking and presenting of food.

Jean-Nicolas Gérard was born in Brazzaville (Congo) in 1954 and his family returned to France in 1961. He started studying ceramics in 1978 and was Jean Biagini’s student at École des Beaux-Arts in Aix-en-Provence. He also trained with Claire Bogino. Gérard has gained international acclaim and exhibitions of his pots have been staged around the globe, including America, Australia, China and Japan.

He is one of those rare potters who brings genuine life and gusto to contemporary slipware, investing the tradition of terre vernissée with a fresh and expressive energy unlike any other. Many think that Gérard’s work has a spontaneity that so many others can only wish for.

‘To use the pots of Jean-Nicolas Gérard is to celebrate the centrality of food in human culture and, in our industrially mediated world, to be reminded of its importance in nourishing the mind and spirit as well as the body.’ Sebastian Blackie.

Trimmings | Phil Rogers | Tribute 2024

phil rogers exhibition tribute 2024 Trimmings | Phil Rogers | Tribute 2024 Goldmark Gallery

Join us at the gallery as Mike Goldmark reminisces about his relationship with Phil Rogers and his continuing influence.

Phil Rogers was, without doubt, one of the giants of British ceramics. When he died in December 2020 he bequeathed a wealth of memories, work in the collections of over 50 museums around the globe and the legacy of having mentored some of the outstanding new potters in the world – perhaps most notably the great young Danish Potter Anne Mette Hjørtshoj.

In Conversation | Anne Mette Hjortshøj & Mike Goldmark

wlc amh in conversation with mike jpg In Conversation | Anne Mette Hjortshøj & Mike Goldmark Goldmark Gallery

Join us to watch and listen to Anne Mette Hjortshøj & Mike Goldmark in conversation at the opening of Anne Mette Hjortshøj’s 2023 exhibition at Goldmark in the UK. Anne Mette chats about her ‘wild clay’ project, her collaboration with the restaurant NOMA and Kyoto, Japan, making and selling tableware. She takes questions from the … Read more

Exhibition | Richard Batterham

richard batterham wlc slate jpg webp Exhibition | Richard Batterham Goldmark Gallery

Richard Batterham (1936-2021) was one of the most respected post-war potters working in this country. Introduced to clay at 13 during his time at Bryanston School, Batterham apprenticed at the Leach Pottery (where he met his wife, Dinah Dunn) before establishing his own studio in Dorset in 1959. He remained there for over seven decades, expanding his workshop and honing the exceptional range of wares that became so synonymous with his name they had no need for a potter’s mark. His work earned him the esteem of major collectors, among them Sir David Attenborough and the food writer Nigel Slater, and is currently being celebrated this year with a major ongoing retrospective at the V&A Museum.

The pots in this exhibition all come from the private collection of Mike Dodd, a lifelong friend of Batterham’s and fellow Bryanston alumnus. They were bought over many years, to educate and inform Dodd’s own work as silent teachers. Now, Dodd has decided to hand them on to the next generation of potters and collectors, in the hope that they might continue to speak and find appreciation.

‘For me,’ Dodd writes, ‘Richard was an exceptional potter whose like only comes along very occasionally. Rounded and unpretentious in his approach, he was constantly observing, learning and refining either the clay, the glazes or the way he made things. His strong work ethic held a deep respect for potters from many cultures and gave us pots of unassuming and unselfconscious beauty and vitality. He insisted that the pots were not about him, but should reflect a deeper aliveness “to enrich and not to decorate”. And in keeping with this ethos, he chose not to sign or mark his pots, preferring that the they should speak for themselves.’

An Embarrassment of Riches

Acr23884162188736 2994714 jpg webp An Embarrassment of Riches Goldmark Gallery

But what he had achieved, agreed Gil Darby, late curator of ceramics at the Victoria & Albert Museum, matched the finest Sung Dynasty pottery held in international collections. After six years shipwrecked on the ‘Isle of Despair’, some 40 miles from the mouth of the Orinoco river, Robinson Crusoe fashions himself a masted canoe and … Read more

Trimmings | Working with a Gallery

amh trimmings gallery slate jpg webp Trimmings | Working with a Gallery Goldmark Gallery

Danish potter Anne Mette Hjortshøj talks about her relationship with Goldmark Gallery and how this has liberated her as a potter allowing her time to concentrate on developing her craft. She describes how the gallery acts as a translator; distilling the essence of her craft and representing this in a meaningful way to the public. She also acknowledges the influence of the Goldmark film archive which has given her insights into the working practices of fellow potters and resulted for her in a visit from the Queen of Denmark.

Masterclass | Phil Rogers | Centring, Trimming & Rope Decoration

pr rope trimming Slate jpg webp Masterclass | Phil Rogers | Centring, Trimming & Rope Decoration Goldmark Gallery

Phil Rogers shares his wealth of potting experience in this live demonstration at Goldmark Gallery. Here he explains the importance of learning to centre the bat and other objects on the wheel by knocking. He goes on to trim the bottom of a chawan, creates a footring and finishes by showing how to decorate by impressing with rope.

Exhibition | Phil Rogers | Earthly Matters

phil rogers ex jpg webp Exhibition | Phil Rogers | Earthly Matters Goldmark Gallery

Phil Rogers, one of the outstanding British potters of his generation, exhibited at Goldmark Gallery from 16 May 2020. This was the 5th major exhibition of his work at Goldmark and each show has built on the success of the one before. Goldmark was closed because of the Coronavirus however the exhibition was available virtually to the public with an online tour and new films featuring both an interview with Rogers and footage of him at work. The exhibition saw the publication of a new catalogue written by the Rev. Richard Coles, Vicar of Finedon, former member of 1980s pop group The Communards and presenter of Radio 4 programme Saturday Live. The film shows the culmination of an extraordinary career in ceramics by a potter who forged his own path pushing the boundaries of the traditions he was rooted in.

Exhibition | Svend Bayer | His Final Show

svend ex jpg webp Exhibition | Svend Bayer | His Final Show Goldmark Gallery

On Saturday 21st March 2020, Goldmark Gallery, Uppingham opened Svend Bayer’s final exhibition, with work that represented the very best he has made over the last three years. Bayer, 74, had been a potter for over 50 years and said that these pots were the last he would ever make. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the gallery was unable to receive visitors but set up the show nevertheless and it went on to become the most successful exhibition that both the gallery and Svend Bayer had ever had. Join Max Waterhouse in an exhibition walk-though.

Inspire Me | Ken Matsuzaki | Part 3

in conversation ken matsuzaki pa 2 jpg webp Inspire Me | Ken Matsuzaki | Part 3 Goldmark Gallery

In this third and final film Ken Matsuzaki looks to the future. He explains how the impact of the Tohoku earthquake on Mashiko and its potters triggered a desire in him to support the young potting community. Innovation and originality, he believes, are key objectives for the young craftsman and cultural exchange can foster this. Ken goes on to discuss his very special relationship with the chawan as a means of expression.