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A catalogue to accompany the exhibition, Masters of Slipware.
We are delighted to present two masters, Clive Bowen & Masaaki Shibata, together for the first time in the United Kingdom, linking artists working in two distant parts of the world who share the same enduring passion for the language of clay. Masters of Slipware succeeds in joining two potteries from east and west: Sasayama (Tamba, Japan) and Shebbear (Devon). Together, in Clive’s words, these two masters ‘communicate through pots’ and both believe in the ‘values of craftsmanship and truth to materials above all else.’
The form and function of my work can be traced back to centuries-old pots such as English medieval jugs and early Tamba ware from Japan.
Clive Bowen studied painting and etching at Cardiff Art School before taking up an apprenticeship with Michael Leach at Yelland Pottery in North Devon from 1965 until 1969. In 1971 he bought a small agricultural property at Shebbear, near Holsworthy in North Devon and set up a workshop in the former farm outhouses. His pots are made in the local Fremington clay, a red earthenware clay in use for centuries for traditional North Devon wares. They are almost all wheel thrown with the exception of a few hand-pressed dishes.
Public collections include:
Victoria & Albert Museum, London; National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; Ulster Museum, Belfast; Crafts Council Collection, London; York City Art Gallery; Stoke on Trent City Museum; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Canada; Mingeikan, Tokyo; Mashiko Museum of Ceramics, Japan; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Masaaki Shibata was born in 1948 in Tokyo. He studied at Chuo University, Tokyo and then was apprenticed to Kazutaka Ikuta in Tamba for 4 years. In 1975 Masaaki Shibata established his Sasayama pottery in Tamba, Japan, where he is still based today. He has received numerous awards for his work over the intervening years and is now one of the most respected slipware potters in Japan.
Masaaki Shibata exhibited for the first time at The Scottish Gallery alongside Clive Bowen in Masters of Slipware: East & West in April 2020. Masaaki’s work also featured in A Japanese Design, August 2020.
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