On 8 March 2018,
Orexart in Arch Hill, Auckland, will host a book launch and exhibition of
ceramics by Vonney Ball. Published by Massey
University Press and written by Helen Schamroth, the richly
illustrated book, Vonney Ball: Ceramics,
traces the creative influences on Ball’s unique forty-year practice, both in
the UK and since she settled in New Zealand.
Vonney Ball’s output reflects a sound education in English
ceramics design, a singularity of purpose and a drive to keep making work.
Twenty years on from her arrival in New Zealand, her work connects cultural
experiences from opposite ends of the earth. Vonney Ball: Ceramics surveys her work and examines her influences,
from Bloomsbury to Māori art and design.
In conjunction with the book launch, Orexart presents a
survey exhibition that captures the essence of Vonney Ball’s practice as a
ceramic slip-caster and designer-maker. It will include pieces from her time at
Middlesex Polytechnic, London, in the 1980s, where she adapted industrial
methods to produce one-off or small batch works, resulting in innovative pieces
that may best be described as ‘classically inspired shapes with a contemporary
twist’.
Alongside the survey exhibition, Orexart will present for
sale a suite of elegant, new hand-painted ceramic works produced in her
Birkenhead studio.
Much of the photography in Vonney Ball: Ceramics is by Geoff Ball (no relation), including a rare
glimpse into the studio and aspects of the making process. Archival images complement the narrative,
which includes contributions by
London-based international industrial designer Ian Webb and Annie Sherburne, a
well-established jeweler and felt maker, who writes about working in the crafts
and design under the Thatcher government, and how ‘Thatcherism’ impacted on the
sector.
Vonney Ball has recently exhibited works in New Zealand at
the Waikato Contemporary Art Awards and also at Portage Ceramic Awards and the
Auckland Society of Potters.
Book launch and exhibition
opening 6:00pm Thursday 8 March 2018 at Orexart 15 Putiki Street, Arch Hill, Auckland.
Exhibition runs until 24 March.
For an introduction and sample pages of the book click here
Contact: Rex Armstrong +649 378 0588
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