Kevin Grealey
Kevin Grealey
The formal education for his career as a potter began 50 years ago and includes 2 years at the Central Tech. College, Art Branch, Brisbane with Carl McConnel and Milton Moon; 1 year part-time at Alberta College of Art with Walt Drohan and 4 years (B.Ed, Fine Art) at University of Calgary, Canada with John Chalke, including a Summer School Session with Marilyn Levine.
The journey has moved back and forth between fulltime practice as a potter and combinations of full-time and part-time teaching at TAFE Colleges, Teachers College, Australian Flying Art School, manager of Barambah Pottery, Cherbourg; workshops in kiln building for universities (Darwin, Launceston), McGregor College Summer Schools and numerous pottery groups in Australia.
He has worked as a consultant for the heavy clay industry in Australia and Vietnam and as a design consultant for the Ocean Marina and Cultural Theme Park in Hualien, Taiwan.
In 2002, he was Artist-in-residence at Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute, Jingdezhen, P R China and in 2003 was appointed international Advisor and Ambassador for Jingdezhen's Millennium of Porcelain celebration.
His work is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, The Powerhouse Museum, several State and Municipal Gallery, corporate and private collections.
In China, his work is represented in The Ancient Kiln Museum, Foshan, Guandong Province; Sanbao Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province; Museum of Ceramic History, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, Shanxi University Art Department Collection, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province; Xianglong Black Pottery Company Collection, Jinshong city, Shanxi Province and Wison Corporation Collection, Shanghai.
His work is also represented in many national and international professional journals and in several publications in Australia and P R China (ceramics and printmaking).
Training
• Kelvin Grove Teachers College General Teaching Certificate
• Central Tech. College, Art Branch, Brisbane
• University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. B Ed. (Fine Art).
• Alberta College of Art, Canada
Solo Exhibitions
• 1970 – 1980 Annually, various Galleries
• 1981 – QPA Gallery Brisbane
• 1982 – Potters Gallery, Sydney
• 1983 – Lyrebird Gallery, Brisbane
• 2002 – Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute Gallery. P R China
• 2003 – Fusions Gallery, Brisbane
• 2004 – The Art Barn Studio Gallery, Cairns
• 2008 – Maleny Artworks. Maleny
Group Exhibitions
• “A Dozen Different Ways”
o An exhibition of contemporary Australian Ceramics touring Australian Embassies in ASEAN countries, for the Foreign Affairs Department.
• “The Potters Art”
o A travelling exhibition commissioned by the Australian Gallery Director’s Council
• “Craftsmen of Quality”
o A Survey exhibition commissioned by the QId Craft Council
• “The Gift”
o An exhibition of corporate gifts commissioned by the QPA and QId Craft Council
• Foshan International Invitation Exhibition
o Foshan, P R China. 2002
Publications
• “The Potters Art”, Editor Janet Mansfield, Cassell, Australia
• “A Course in Ceramic Studies”, a I 2 unit publication for the Australian Flying Art School
• “Clay Statements” Contemporary Australian Ceramics. Ed. Bruce Anderson and John Hoare. Darling Downs Institute Press, Toowoomba
• Pottery in Australia, Vol.16, No.2; Vol.18, No.2; Vol.19, NO 1; Vol. 20. No.1 and 2; Vol.21, No.2; Vol.22, No.2; Vol 23, No.1.
• Ceramics Technical. Vol 16, Vol 21.
• The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 44#3
• “World Contemporary Public Ceramic Art”. Editor in Chief: Zhang Yushan. Hunan
• Fine Arts Press. P R China.
• Sanbao/Jingdezhen International Printmaking Exhibition. Sanbao Institute. P R C. 2008
Commissions
• Ceramic Murals: Brisbane Arts Theatre; Nambour District Hospital; St Joseph’s College, lndooroopilly; St Paul’s Chapel, Bald Hills; plus ceramic murals designed and constructed by community involvement for the Shires of Beaudesert and Livingstone and the City of Dalby.
• Smaller ceramic devices for office foyers, swimming pools and churches. Corporate gifts for APM Paper Mills 75th Anniversary; 750 piece gift commission for Ronson Corporation.
• Ceramic consultant to the heavy clay industry in Australia and Vietnam on clay faults, kiln design and product design. Design Consultant, Hualien Ocean Marina and Resort Hotel, Hualien, ROC Taiwan.
• International Advisor and Ambassador, City of Jingdezhen Millennium Celebration of Porcelain, P R China.
• Invited participant in 500th birthday firing of Nanfeng, the oldest dragon kiln in China and commissioned to write a book on history and technology of dragon kilns by Nanfeng Ancient Kiln Museum, Foshan, Guandong province. P R C
• Curator “Postcards from Queensland”, an exhibition of Queensland contemporary ceramics for International Ceramics Conference, Jingdezhen, P R China.
• Curator “The 2nd Generation” for the 2006 Australian National Ceramics Conference, Brisbane.
Other Events and Activities
• Presentation of papers, conducting workshops and chairing sessions at several Australian Ceramics Conferences.
• Presented a paper entitled “Visual Literacy for the Digital Era” for The International Learning Conference, Beijing, P R China, 2002.
• Winner of Suncorp Literary Award, 1991
• “International Ceramic Masters”, conducting workshops and exhibiting, Jingdezhen International Expo, 2006, 2007
• Address to “International Archaeology Symposium on Blue and White Wares of the Yuan Dynasty”. Jingdezhen Ceramics Expo. P R China. 2006
Artist’s Statement.
My formal training and subsequent practice for several decades was strongly influenced by what are often considered as “craft issues”…..mastering skills and a command of the chemistry and physics of ceramics.
In the past few years, I have been liberated by the discovery of the Japanese aesthetic concept of Sabi…..the patina of age, which appreciates the effects of time and use, of wear and tear, of defects as effects. My attention has been drawn towards artefacts which seem to wear their history on their skin…..the verdigris on Shang and Han bronze bells, layers of rust on iron, wind and rain weathering of grained timber and my mother’s crazed baking dish, stained in layers by hundreds of mulberry pies.
This in turn has led to a rediscovery of classic ceramic and metal artefacts in museums…..bronze and iron tools and vessels, crackle glazes from Sung, Greek and Roman pots brought to the surface from ancient ship wrecks, and pots reconstructed from their shards in the Imperial Kiln Pearl Pagoda Museum in Jingdezhen.
Technically, new work requires me to use my knowledge of the physics and chemistry of ceramics to seek imperfection rather than perfection, by informed breaking of all the rules that guided the past thirty years of work. Nowadays, each firing presents its blend of delight and dismay... much more exciting than in the past, where the kiln gave me only what I had expected of it, and little more.
Kevin will be holding one workshop during the festival.
Handbuilding (Code KG3) Intermediate
DESCRIPTION
Ceramics, combining handbuilding with some wheel work, the focus will be on explaining the limitations of clay in a variety of states. Talks and techniques for becoming your own designer rather than an imitator of other people’s ideas.
TIME AND PLACE:
July 25 to July 26 (2 days), 8.30am to 4pm,
Studio S1, Community Arts Centre.
WORKSHOP FEE:
$150.00
ART MATERIALS LIST:
