Geoffrey Swindell English, b. 1945

Overview

Geoffrey Swindell at work in his studio

'Some people say my ceramics are like washed up sea creatures, some still alive, some just remnants turning slowly to dust. Others see unidentified objects from a far away galaxy, not sure whether they are organic or constructed, friendly or malevolent. My first experience as an artist was as a painter learning to paint classic illustrative images and then moving on to canvases that were purely abstract expressions of emotion through colour and texture. When I became a potter I carried this involvement with surface qualities through to my ceramics creating objects that are not just simply coated in glaze but have an essential and inseparable relationship of form and surface.

‘I make all parts of the pieces on the potters wheel creating a thick section to be trimmed and thinned with sharp steel tools when leather hard. Some pieces are textured by tapping the surface with a multi-pointed wire brush, ball ended tools and various sticks. The fine characterless texture and whiteness of Porcelain gives a good bright ground to enhance the colour rather like a pure white canvas. I use an Air brush to spray the surface of the forms with colours allowing me to build up overlapping layers of slip, glaze and oxides.'

Geoffrey Swindell was born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1945. He left school at 15 in 1960 and went to Art College to get enough experience to apply to become an apprentice face painter of Doulton figurines. After studying painting, a summer job at the pottery at Alton Towers inspired Geoffrey to become a potter. He completed his MA in Fine Art at The Royal College of Art in 1970, and lectured at Cardiff Metropolitan University until 2003.

Geoffrey’s work has been included in many international exhibitions and publications with solo shows in London and New York. Examples are held in over forty museums and public collections throughout the world including the Victoria and Albert in London and the National Museum of Wales. Geoffrey currently lives and works in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, and is continuing to work in his studio.

Biography

Geoffrey Swindell at work in his studio

Education
1960 – 1967       Studied at Stoke-on-Trent College
1967 – 1970       MA Fine Art, Royal College of Art.
1970 – 1975       Lecturer at York School of Art
1975 – 2003       Lecturer at Cardiff School of Art, University of Wales.

Awards

2007 Art in Clay, Studio Pottery Award

Solo Exhibitions (selected)

1972      Contemporary Applied Arts, London
1974      Oxford Gallery, Oxford
1974      Midland Group Gallery
1974      Sutton College, Surrey
1978      National Museum of Wales
1979      Oxford Gallery, Oxford
1980      Graham Gallery, New York
1985      Graham Gallery, New York
1988      Aberystwyth Arts Centre
1997      European Ceramics, Yorkshire
1999      Graham Gallery, New York.
2002      Newport Museum and Art Gallery, South Wales
2003      JG Contemporary (James Graham & Sons), New York
2006      James Graham & Sons, New York

Public Collections

Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester
Museum & Art Gallery, Nottingham
Museum and Art Gallery, Swindon
Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham
Museum and Art Gallery, Reading
Museum and Art Gallery, Bradford
Museum and Art Gallery, Newport, Gwent
Museum and Art Gallery, Portsmouth
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Holburne Museum, Bath

Royal Ulster Museum, Belfast
Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh
Castle Museum, Norwich
Abbot Hall, Museum, Kendal
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
Welsh Arts Council
Crafts Council, London
Yorkshire Education Authority
Boyman-van Beunigen, Rotterdam
Art and History Museum, Brussels
Princessenhof Museum, Leeuwarden, Holland
Museum of Applied Arts, Sydney, Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
Perth Museum, Australia
Museum of Hannover, Germany
Keramion Ceramics Museum Germany
Landes Museum of Decorative Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland

Bellerive Museum, Switzerland
County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Institute of Art, Chicago, U.S.A
The Mint Museum of Craft & Design, North Carolina. USA
Arizona State University,U.S.A
Taipei County, Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan