This is by Laura Knight who is exhibiting her ‘Pottery Marks’ at Town House from 17 November – 3 December. I like the way she takes something old which has been in ordinary daily use for sufficient time that people take it for granted, eating off their willow pattern plates without thinking about it, and she takes it, turns it round in her hands and considers it, making us stop and look anew. Because we see something every day, it is easy to overlook the beauty of it: familiarity breeds not quite contempt, but perhaps indifference and it is good to be made to open our eyes to the freshness of that original design. In particular it’s difficult, perhaps, to appreciate how exciting the arrival of Chinese art and design was for Europeans in the mid eighteenth century and interesting to see how those new currents that influenced Chambers and Chippendale were then appropriated for general use, inevitably acquiring their own popular stamp. Laura brings it full circle making us appreciate the force of that original design.
Pottery Marks by Laura Knight at Town House.
18 November – 3 December 2011
Tuesday – Sunday 11.30 – 6
Private View 17 November 6 – 9