Simon Carroll: Suggestion and Statement

A new commission for Tate St Ives of work by ceramicist Simon Carroll. Born in 1964, Simon Carroll has become well known for his exuberant, often challenging ceramic vessels. Uniquely expressive, his pots deconstruct the history of ceramics – particularly nineteenth-century English slipware, whilst drawing inspiration from an ecclectic range of sources including Elizabethen ruffles, sombreros, Cornish wind-farms and his own experience of working on the land. Intuitively constructed, the pots take on a vitality of their own, breaking all conventions of the finished work; walls crack, bases list, classic lines are pummeled, references deliberately clash, surfaces are inconsistent.

A potter whose work is equally informed by his painting and printmaking as well as large-scale raked beach drawings, mark-making is an essential element of the artist’s visual language. Thus, the immediacy of his forms relates also to the build up of surfaces where areas are richly painted or dripped with slips and glazes. The resulting forms are energetic and engaging, with a surreal wit which not only challenges the boundaries of ceramics and sculpture but the audience’s perception of contemporary practice. Although still relatively unknown, Carroll has exhibited nationally and internationally is a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal Collecge of Art and is represented in both the V&A and Crafts Council Collections.

Exhibiting at:

• Tate St Ives (8 October 2005 – 15 January 2006)
• Brewery Arts, Cirencester (18 February – 1 April 2006)
• The Gallery, Ruthin Craft Centre (July – September 2006 TBC)
• Blackwell, The Arts and Crafts House, Bowness on Windermere (7 November – 31 December 2006)
• Collins Gallery, University of Strathclyde (17 February – 24 March 2007)
• Oriel Myrddin, Carmarthen (14 April – 26 May 2007)
• The Crafts Study Centre, Farnham (12 June – 15 September 2007)