Notes

“I am an artist who chooses to paint on ceramics. My large painted porcelain vessels embrace a love of colour and depict my immediate surroundings. Recent works are a collaboration with master hand-builder Ian Garrett. Working on a three-dimensional surface, of which half is obscured at any one time, allows for the narrative to be revealed as the viewer circles the work. This introduces time as a fourth dimension, in which imagery unfolds as static animation”. –John Newdigate, 2019

John Newdigate is one of South Africa’s most celebrated ceramicists and artists. Living in the Western Cape Newdigate strives to work in the present, recording contemporary issues in conjunction with the physical landscapes, plants, and animals that he encounters in his everyday surroundings. He is an exuberant colourist and specializes in painting hand-built, porcelain vessels using an original technique inspired by precise and spontaneous mark-making. Newdigate works in partnership Ian Garrett, who creates forms with subtle and taut curves that are an ideal surface on which to paint. Newdigate has exhibited in numerous exhibitions and included in collections at Iziko Museums of South Africa, Cape Town; South African Cultural History Museum, Cape Town; William Humphries Public Art Gallery, Kimberley; Renault South Africa Corporate collection, Johannesburg; and Anglovaal Industries Corporate collection, Johannesburg.

With special thanks to the artist for his contribution to this text.

Provenance

Donated by the artist. Courtesy of Ebony/Curated.