Artists Statement

CV

Concept

I like to make sculptures which suggest a mysterious function that is never explained.  Does it really have a function?  I try to engage viewers through humour and curiosity to create their own answers about the value and importance of the piece to them.


I start with everyday objects we use and recognize - an old lightbulb, a plastic toy, a bit of tubing - things that have been manufactured, things at a scale which we handle, and then redirect them.  To create ambiguity I divert from their familiar, mass-produced origins by using refined workmanship, adding elaborate surface decoration, platinum, gold, and a shiny finish to imply value and legitimacy.


Underpinning these intentions is my need as a studio ceramic artist to create, by traditional ceramic techniques, a beautifully constructed and decorated ceramic artifact that lasts. 


‘Honkbox’ is my most recent in a series of 3D visual graphic sculptures exploring inverted functionalism and notions questioning our relationship with the purely decorative arts in contemporary culture.


Technique

To make my work I start by making plaster moulds from found objects, hand-modelled shapes and lathe-turned shapes. I slipcast them into white earthenware clay components which I join when leather-hard, then decorate with sliptrailed, stencilled and brushed slips.  After the initial bisque firing I glaze with a combination of underglazes and earthenware glazes.  Finally, in a third firing I apply metallic lustres and liquid bright gold and platinum. 


Influences

My ideas grow out of my childhood fascination with 1950s and ‘60s

sci-fi like Robbie the Robot’s fake functionalism, or the quaint aerodynamics of Dan Dare’s ‘streamlined’ comic book space rockets.  The possibilities for transformation appeal to me in cartoon animation such as in Fantasia and the Fleischer brothers’ Hoppity Goes to Town.

John Tenniel’s odd yet familiar composite characters illustrating Alice in Wonderland, seen afresh, inspire me. 


My decorative style is influenced by my interests in the modish textiles and surface patterns of the 1950s such as Ridgway’s ‘Homemaker’ pattern, and in pre-Hispanic South American and Australian Aboriginal art. 

EDUCATION    


M.A. DESIGN (DISTINCTION): CERAMICS

Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire   (1980-82)


B.A. HONOURS (FIRST):  MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN

Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire   (1977-80)                     


ART FOUNDATION

Salisbury College of Art, Salisbury, Wiltshire   (1976)


GALLERIES  

Currently Exhibiting   


BELWOOD AND WRIGHT, Lancaster, Lancs

THE BISCUIT FACTORY, Newcastle upon Tyne

THE BOWIE GALLERY, Hay on Wye, Herefordshire

FOCUS GALLERY,  Nottingham

GALLERY 9, Bath

MARINE HOUSE at Beer, Devon

MICHAELMAS HOUSE, Market Bosworth, Warks

MOUNCEY FINE ART, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham

NEW BREWERY ARTS, Cirencester, Gloucestershire

OLD CHAPEL GALLERY, Pembridge, Hereford

PARKFIELDS GALLERY, Ross-on Wye, Hereford

THE ROPEWORK, North Lincolnshire         

SARK GLASS, Take 2, Sark, Channel Islands

THE SIMON DREW GALLERY, Dartmouth, Devon


GALLERIES     

Exhibited   


ARTIFEX, Sutton Coldfield

ART LEGACY GALLERY, Hampshire

BIRCHAM CONTEMPORARY ARTS, Holt, Norfolk

BESIDE THE WAVE, Falmouth, Cornwall

CRAWFORD ARTS CENTRE, St. Andrews

FENWICK GALLERY, Northumberland

GALLERINA, Darlington, Co Durham

GUMPS, San Francisco, USA

MAGLIS GALLERY, Dubai, UAE

OPEN EYE GALLERY, Edinburgh

RIVERSIDE GALLERY, Stonehaven

SHIRE HALL GALLERY, Stafford

   

                   

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

GALLERY AT BEVERE, Christmas Exhibition, Worcestershire (November 2010)

DARTINGTON CIDERPRESS GALLERY, Clocks (November 2010)

CANDLESTICK,  Simon Drew Gallery, Dartmouth, Devon (May 2010)   

BISCUIT FACTORY, Familiar Faces, New Collections (June 2009)

GALLERY AT BEVERE, Summer Exhibition, Worcestershire (August 2008)

SCAF, Ceramic Art Show. Stoke on Trent Museum and Art Gallery (Oct 2007)

ART IN CLAY FARNHAM  10,  The Maltings, Farnham (November 2006)

ART IN CLAY HATFIELD  12,  Hatfield House, Hatfield  (August 2006)

POTFEST IN THE PARK,  Penrith (August 2006)

CERAMICS SOUTH EAST, The Friars, Aylesford (June 2006)

TABLE MANNERS , Crafts Council Gallery London (Dec  2005)

ART IN CLAY FARNHAM  9,  The Maltings, Farnham (November 2005)

VIRTUAL AND REALITY,  Paddon and Paddon Gallery  (October 2005)

ART IN CLAY HATFIELD  11,  Hatfield House, Hatfield  (August 2005)

POTFEST IN THE PARK,  Penrith (July 2005)

ART IN ACTION,  Waterperry House, Oxfordshire,  (July 2005)

MARK DALLY CERAMICS, Solo Exhibition, Simon Drew Gallery (May 2005)

BRITISH CRAFTS,  Chiswick, London (November 2004)

ART IN CLAY FARNHAM  8,  The Maltings, Farnham (November 2004)

CERAMICS IN THE CITY,  The Geffrye Museum, London (September 2004)

ART IN CLAY HATFIELD  10,  Hatfield House, Hatfield (August 2004)

INHOUSE,  Landmark Arts Centre, Teddington, London (May 2004)    

POTFEST IN THE PARK,  Penrith (August 2004)

ART IN CLAY FARNHAM  7,  The Maltings, Farnham (November 2003)

WILHELMINA BARNS-GRAHAM/MARK DALLY CERAMICS, 

Crawford Arts Centre, St.Andrews, Fife (August-October 2003)

ART IN CLAY HATFIELD  9,  Hatfield House, Hatfield (August 2003)

POTFEST IN THE PARK,  Penrith (August 2003)   

ART IN ACTION,  Oxfordshire,  (July 2003)

DOG,  Simon Drew Gallery, Dartmouth, Devon (June 2003)

CLAYART,  Denbigh, Wales (May 2003)

BRITISH CRAFTS,  Chiswick, London (April and Nov 2003)

ART IN CLAY FARNHAM  6,  The Maltings, Farnham (November 2002)

THE TEA PARTY,  Bircham Contemporary Art, Norfolk (September 2002)

POTFEST IN THE PARK,  Penrith (August 2002)            

ART IN CLAY HATFIELD  8,  Hatfield House, Hatfield (August 2002)    

EARTH AND FIRE  8,  Rufford Craft Centre (July 2002)

MARK DALLY CERAMICS,  Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews (Nov 2001)

EARTH AND FIRE  7,  Rufford Craft Centre (July 2001)

MARK DALLY CERAMICS,  Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh (March 2001)

CHELSEA CRAFTS FAIR  2000,  Chelsea, London (October 2000)

TEATIME ON VENUS: MARK DALLY CERAMICS,  Riesco Gallery,

Croydon Clocktower Museum, Croydon  (July-October 2000)

BLACK&WHITEWARE/ AUBREY BEARDSLEY CENTENARY EXHIBITION, 

Victoria & Albert Museum, London   (1999)          

MARK DALLY CERAMICS,  West Midlands Arts, Birmingham  (1996) 

                                                      

                               

PUBLICATIONS


AGA LIVING,  Interiors pages (Oct/Nov 2009)

BBC HOMES AND ANTIQUES ,  Shopping pages (May 2005)

TIME OUT,  For Ceramics in the City (September 2004)

EVENING STANDARD NEWSPAPER,  Style pages (September 2004)

WORLD OF INTERIORS,  For Art in Clay, 10th festival (August 2004}

CONCEPT FOR LIVING,  21st Century Designer (March 2004)

COUNTRY HOMES AND INTERIORS,  Craft and Design (February 2004)

HOUSE AND GARDENS (USA),  (March 2001)

THE INDEPENDENT,  (October 2000)

HOUSE AND GARDENS (UK),  (Nov 1998)


   

INTERVIEWS

  

BBC RADIO STOKE, Ceramic industry in Stoke (Jan 2009)

BBC RADIO STOKE,  For Staffordshire Open Studios (June 2003)

BBC RADIO BIRMINGHAM,  For Designer Maker Show MAC (Nov 1999)

       


GRANTS and AWARDS

   

INTERNATIONAL CERAMICS COMPETITION, Stoke on Trent, Shortlisted,

Stoke on Trent  Museum and Art Gallery (Oct 2007)       

CREATIVE NETWORK, Trade Visit to New York, Travel Bursary  (Oct 2005)

FINALIST: GEORGE LITTLE AWARD,  Chelsea Crafts Fair (2000)

CREATIVE AMBITIONS GRANT,  West Midlands Arts (2000)

NEW DESIGNER BURSARY,  Country Living Spring Fair (2000)

CRAFT SHOWCASE EXHIBITION AWARD,  West Midlands Arts (1996)

BOOTHROYD BURSARY AWARD,  Staffordshire University (1979)   



COLLECTIONS (PUBLIC)   


CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS COLLECTION,  Stoke on Trent, Museum and Art Gallery (2002)

Mark Dally