News

Andrew Baker Art Dealer
10 August - 10 September 2011
26 Brookes Street, Bowen Hills Qld.
Opening drinks with the artist 6 - 8pm on:
Friday 26 August 2011
Gallery hours: 10am - 5pm, Tuesday - Saturday or by appointment

2 Percy Street, London W1T 1DD
International Focus Showcase of the ceramics of Stephen Bird.
29 July-3 September 2011

The focus of the exhibition explores the notion of ‘place’ and ‘placement’ and highlights important associations in the field of ceramics which concern location, geography, ritual, commemoration and the souvenir. From large sculptural pieces to intimate figurative work, Placement presents a fresh perspective on our relationship with ceramics. Welsh ceramicist, Lowri Davies and Scottish ceramicist, Dawn Youll were invited by Oriel Davies and Fife Contemporary Art & Craft to curate Placement to explore and celebrate the diversity of current ceramic practice in Wales and Scotland. The exhibition also includes pieces by nine key artists, including Stephen Bird, Claire Curneen, Ken Eastman, Nick Evans, Laura Ford, Anne Gibbs, David Shrigley, Cecile Johnson Soliz and Conor Wilson.

Stephen will be showing work with Bluecoats Display Centre at this year’s COLLECT. Relaunched at the Saatchi Gallery in May 2009, COLLECT has an enviable reputation as a premier, annual fair for contemporary craft. Through its presentation of work from the best international applied artists, COLLECT has become a prestigious event in the international cultural calendar gaining the respect and support of many private collectors, museum curators and galleries.

Stephen Bird will be exhibitng work at:
Rex Irwin - Art Dealer, Downstairs, 40 Queen Street, Woollahra, NSW 2025

War on Pottery

War on Pottery is a selection of works from Stephen Bird’s Industrial Sabotage series of ceramics, which re-interpret the tradition of mass produced ornamental ceramics made in Stoke on Trent in the 18th and 19th centuries. He uses humor propaganda, trompe l’oeil and meaningless violence to re-tell archetypal myths and comment on complex collective issues including politics, cultural imperialism and the global power struggle

Born 1964 in Stoke on Trent, England. Lives and works Sydney (AUS) and Dundee (UK) He studied fine art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, and post graduate studies at Cyprus Art College. Since the early 1990’s he has worked in a variety of mediums including drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, animation and ceramics. His ceramics exploit the mediums historical connections with the ubiquitous industrial and souvenir wares, together with his skills as a painter, as a way of communicating ideas and making works which are more accessible to broader audiences. His work is exhibited nationally and internationally and collections include the National Museum of Scotland, and Artbank Australia. He has undertaken a number of significant commissions and lectures at the National Art School, Sydney.

Stephen is a story teller who uses the irrational, the absurd and the ridiculous to sweeten the bitter pill of a sometimes tragic and ruthless world.

Stephen will be exhibitng a solo show at:
Gould Galleries, 270 Toorak Road, South Yarra

Irony Makes a Country Strong

Irony Makes a Country Strong brings together a selection of works from Stephen Bird’s Industrial Sabotage series, 2005-2010. Stephen uses the term Industrial Sabotage to explain how he has re-interpreted the tradition of mass produced ornamental ceramics made in Stoke on Trent in the 18th and 19th centuries. He uses humour propaganda, trompe l’oeil and meaningless violence to re-tell archetypal myths and comment on complex collective issues including politics, cultural imperialism and the global power struggle.

Irony Makes a Country Strong is the title of a ceramic platter in the exhibition which shows Adam and Eve enjoying themselves in the Garden of Eden with a squadron of jet fighters appearing on the horizon. The title is derived from a John Heartfield’s photo montage form the 1930 which ridicules Hitler’s National Socialist slogan Iron Makes a Country Strong. Stephen’s platter is a satirical look at some of the rhetoric of the War on Terror and its descent into a holy war.

Stephen is a story teller who uses the irrational, the absurd and the ridiculous to sweeten the bitter pill of a sometimes tragic and ruthless world.

For more information please refer to:
www.gouldgalleries.com

Stephen Bird will be exhibitng as part of the Laughter exhibition presented by Contemporary Art Spaces Tasmania

Artists: Stephen Bird, Ben Booth, Andrew Harper, Henri Papin (Mish Meijers & Tricky Walsh), Raom & Loba (Valerie Livory & Omar Martinez) and Nicole Robson.

The fifth gallery exhibition on CAST’s diverse 2010 program of contemporary art is laughter, a group show curated by Victor Medrano (CAST Emerging Curator 2010). Laughter features funny artwork from five Tasmania artists, one UK artist and two French artists.

Stephen will be showing an animated film called what are you laughing at? In this film the creation myth, where man is made from clay and then becomes living, is rationalized to take into account our post industrial world, on the brink of nuclear meltdown, environmental collapse and increasing violence. When two clay figures are placed in an electric kiln instead of becoming fired and permanent they seem to laugh, dance, melt and box their way to oblivion. This 7 minute animation evolved out of a period of exploration and research udertaken since January 2010 and is funded by the Australiua Coulncil under the new work scheme.

Click here to watch the video.

"This project has been assisted by the Australia Government through the Australia Council for the Arts , its arts funding and advisory body"

To find out more click here (PDF opens in new tab/window)

Stephen Bird will be exhibitng a Solo show at:
The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3-6HZ
2-30th June 2010
Click here to view work from the exhibition.

"I began my Industrial Sabotage series in 2006 as part of an exhibition and research at the Potteries Museum Stoke on Trent. I use the term Industrial Sabotage to explain how I have re-interpreted the tradition of mass produced ornament ceramics made in Stoke on Trent in the 18th and 19th centuries. Initially I looked at the emotional aspects of the figurines and then went on to explore political messages, prohibition and violence as a way of using ceramics to comment on sensitive current issues. In the last phase of Industrial Sabotage I am looking at the irrational, the absurd and the ridiculous, and trying to drive my work towards some kind of disconcerting hiatus in order to re-examine the figurine, the figurative vessel, its context and its contemporary significance."

Stephen will be exhibitng at:
Collect @ Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, Sloane Square, London.
From 14-17 May 2010.
Represented by the Bluecoats Display Centre.
For more infomation please refer to:
www.craftscouncil.org.uk
www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk
www.bluecoatdisplaycentre.com

Currently Stephen is undergoing a period of research and development under the Australian Council New Work Grant Scheme. He is looking at ways to incorporate new technologies, animation and moving image into his ceramics in order to expand the use of action narrative in his work. Watch this space for future developments throughout 2010.