Image derived from For Highway 61 (Portrait of Bob Dylan)
Clive Bowen's pots are a fusion of three artistic cultures: the Orient, via his training under Michael Leach (son of Bemard); Africa, from contact with Michael Cardew, who described him as "... [although not a pupil,] one of us"; and Old English. While firmly his own man, Clive concentrates solely on utilitarian (rather than "studio") pots, all wood-fired, whose forms and decoration make him the torch-bearer for the all but lost West Country tradition. His work evolves slowly and he still operates at the same North Devon pottery he first set up in 1971. Even though he is described as "the finest slip-decorator in the country", he remains unaffected by his many achievements, such as a one-man show at the Tate St. Ives.
Before this, he was an art-student at Cardiff during the time when 'The Sixties" were being born. His paintings reflect the prevalent artistic concerns of that era's first flowering. Most are in oils, tesserae-style: colour variations on images of favourite musicians, eg Ellington, Monk, Brubeck, Elvis and Dylan. Combining fluidity with regularity and elements of "op-art", the sensuous curves of the abstracted shapes dance within the confines of their grids. Plainly the fluid elements were the 'natural' Clive, their linear flow echoed in the slip-trailing on his pots, now shown worldwide.
Clive Bowen's pots have been shown regularly here since the late 70s. We first put on a version of this exhibition in 1987 long before the widespread cultural 'revisiting' of The Sixties. In the light of recent interior design trends it's intriguing to find so called "typical" 90s colours in Clive's early work. With hindsight, it is clear that within this potters 'palette' of only a few glazes, there's a colourist trying to get out.
STOP PRESS: the exhibition also includes Clive's latest pastels and paintings from 1999 and 2000.
Free Admission, Easy Parking
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 Adapted from the original First Gallery leaflet |