Stephen Bowers and Mark Thompson Ceramic Exhibition
This exhibition brings together two celebrated artists from South Australia, internationally acclaimed ceramicist, Stephen Bowers and Mark Thompson, one of Australia’s leading set and costume designers, in addition to being a painter and ceramic artist. Both these artists showcase ornate patterning in their ceramic work and are inspired by the history of art and design within their own unique style. The current exhibition presents a flock of plates by Bowers and a series of busts adorned with gilded beasts by Thompson.
Preview the exhibition at www.diggins.com.au
@lauraine_diggins_fine_art #LDFA #StephenBowers #MarkThompson #Australianceramics #Australianceramicart #Australianart
Venue: Lauraine Diggins Fine Art
Address: 5 Malakoff Street North Caulfield VIC 3161
Date: 26 October - 7 December 2024
Time: Tues - Fri 10am - 6pm
Ticket: free
Web: https://www.diggins.com.au/exhibition/stephen-bowers-and-mark-thompson/
: https://www.instagram.com/lauraine_diggins_fine_art/
: https://www.facebook.com/LauraineDigginsFineArt
Address: 5 Malakoff Street North Caulfield VIC 3161
Date: 26 October - 7 December 2024
Time: Tues - Fri 10am - 6pm
Ticket: free
Web: https://www.diggins.com.au/exhibition/stephen-bowers-and-mark-thompson/
: https://www.instagram.com/lauraine_diggins_fine_art/
: https://www.facebook.com/LauraineDigginsFineArt
Request Image Contact: ausart@diggins.com.au
Image Copyright / CDN: copyright the artist
Stephen Bowers Red Tailed Black Cockatoo 2024 earthenware, underglaze decoration and clear glaze diam. 33 cm
Concurrent ceramic exhibitions at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne - STEPHEN BOWERS: A Conference of Birds and MARK THOMPSON: sine qua non.
Internationally acclaimed ceramicist, Stephen Bowers presents a flock of birds across a series of plates, portrayed in bright saturated colours against complex, fragmented backgrounds inspired by designs from ceramics, engravings and textiles. With ornate patterning and inspired by the history of art and design, these works speak to the idea of pattern-in-nature and nature-in-pattern and reflect on the tensions of humanity’s appropriation of the natural world for our own use, the fragments representing this broken relationship. The rich mash-up of visual ideas on the backgrounds are playfully and skilfully rendered using meticulous brushstrokes often suggestive of those in industrial processes.
Thompson utilises the classical sculptural form of the bust for many of his fantastical works, often adorned with gilded beasts and showcasing decorative elements and a characteristic theatrical flourish. There is a reference to the tradition of ceramic creatures particularly of the eighteenth century, including the wonderful Juggling Pug with its links to the Order of the Pug, established in Bavaria around 1740 with resulting porcelain commissions of that time.
The exhibition is showing at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne and can be previewed on our website www.diggins.com.au where you can download an illustrated catalogue for each artist including scholarly text by Leslie Ferrin, Director Ferrin Contemporary, USA and John Neylon, arts writer including for InReview.
"Clay as a material is a wondrous thing. Its plasticity and physical attributes allow for the making of almost anything. But, as it dries and hardens, the maker can change nothing. The madness and folly is frozen. " Mark Thompson
Internationally acclaimed ceramicist, Stephen Bowers presents a flock of birds across a series of plates, portrayed in bright saturated colours against complex, fragmented backgrounds inspired by designs from ceramics, engravings and textiles. With ornate patterning and inspired by the history of art and design, these works speak to the idea of pattern-in-nature and nature-in-pattern and reflect on the tensions of humanity’s appropriation of the natural world for our own use, the fragments representing this broken relationship. The rich mash-up of visual ideas on the backgrounds are playfully and skilfully rendered using meticulous brushstrokes often suggestive of those in industrial processes.
Thompson utilises the classical sculptural form of the bust for many of his fantastical works, often adorned with gilded beasts and showcasing decorative elements and a characteristic theatrical flourish. There is a reference to the tradition of ceramic creatures particularly of the eighteenth century, including the wonderful Juggling Pug with its links to the Order of the Pug, established in Bavaria around 1740 with resulting porcelain commissions of that time.
The exhibition is showing at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne and can be previewed on our website www.diggins.com.au where you can download an illustrated catalogue for each artist including scholarly text by Leslie Ferrin, Director Ferrin Contemporary, USA and John Neylon, arts writer including for InReview.
"Clay as a material is a wondrous thing. Its plasticity and physical attributes allow for the making of almost anything. But, as it dries and hardens, the maker can change nothing. The madness and folly is frozen. " Mark Thompson