Jerwood Encounters: The Grantchester Pottery paints the stage
Jerwood Space
16 January - 22 February

Jerwood Encounters: The Grantchester Pottery paints the stage is the next exhibition in the Jerwood Visual Arts’ Encounters series curated by The Grantchester Pottery, an artist collaboration between sculptor Giles Round and painter Phil Root.

Founded in 2011 when Root and Round were in-residence at Wysing, The Grantchester Pottery takes the structural framework of an artist’s decorative arts studio, drawing historical precedent from Roger Fry’s Omega Workshops. Working from Wysing's ceramics studio, it seeks to produce a series of utilitarian ceramics together with other decorative household items such as printed & woven textiles, wallpaper, painted furniture and hand painted murals. It draws inspiration from Cambridgeshire and specifically on the rich heritage of Art & Literature that surrounds Grantchester as a historic meeting place for writers, poets, artists & philosophers. The Grantchester Pottery is a fictitious nod towards this specific history whilst at the same time using it as a basis for conceptual departure.

In this exhibition works by The Grantchester Pottery’s associated artists will be presented together for the first time and framed by an adaptable stage set designed by the company. As with the convention of stage theatre, all works will face the same vantage point, towards a hypothetical audience. The visitor enters centre stage and is immersed in the set of a three act melodrama singularly aligned for an ideal and impossible vista.

The exhibition will comprise printed fabric, paintings, tapestries, ceramics, sculpture, and the realisation of three large painted murals by The Grantchester Pottery directly onto the gallery walls.

Featuring work by Michael Fullerton, Sophie von Hellermann, Maria Loboda, Anne Low, Dietmar Lutz, Edwin Pickstone, Phil Root, Giles Round, Cally Spooner and Sam Windett.