BIO
Details
I’ve been working as a ceramic artist for over forty years and create wheel thrown porcelain vessels that are gently altered to express notions of place. I use the idiosyncratic quality of ceramic glazes to express ephemeral effects of light, weather and time. My work is pared down to convey an elemental sense of environments such as the vast topography and silent spaces at Lake Mungo in southern NSW, a place of profound and cultural spiritual significance. When I collaborate with artist Belinda Fox the places she conjures in her paintings are my inspiration.
Curriculum vitae
NEVILLE FRENCH
Born 1955 Maryborough, Victoria, Australia.
Education
2000: MA Fine Art, Research (Ceramics) RMIT University, Melbourne.
1983: Certificate of Stoneware Glazes, Brisbane CAE.
1980: Grad. Dip of Education, Hawthorn State College, Melbourne.
1976: Diploma of Fine Art (Ceramics) Ballarat CAE.
Selected Awards
2013: Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award – Acquisition Award
2012: VITRIFY Alcorso Ceramic Award (Winner)
2010: National Clunes Ceramics Award (Winner)
2008: Project Grant – New Work VAB Australia Council
2008: Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award –Acquisition Award
2005: International Touring & Export Grant- Arts Victoria
2004: Craft in Site Grant, Craft Victoria
2001: Project Grant – New Work VACF Australia Council
2000: National Craft Acquisition Award, MAGNT, Darwin
1999: Public Art Work, Ballarat Police and Law Courts
1997: Project Grant – New Work VACF Australia Council
1977: Australia Council Crafts Board Grant to work with Master Craftsman John Gilbert
Teaching
1982-2012: Teacher and Coordinator- Ceramics, Arts Academy, University of Ballarat.
2006-12 Sessioal lecturer Honours & Masters Degree, University of Ballarat.
2016-20: Teacher, School of Clay and Art (SoCA), Melbourne
External assessor RMIT University 2001/02
Judge: Vitrify Alcorso National Ceramic Award 2013
Clunes National Ceramics Award 2013 & 2015
Trudie Alfred Bequest Scholarship 2013
Selected Exhibitions
Selected Individual & Two Person Exhibitions
2017: ‘Tilt’ Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney (with Belinda Fox)
2015: Kerry Lowe Gallery, Sydney (with Cathy Franzi)
2013: ‘Hua Ping’, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong (collaborative ceramics with Belinda Fox)
2012: Give & Take, Beaver Galleries, Canberra (collaboration with Belinda Fox)
2011: “Slip”, Belinda Fox, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney (collaborative ceramics)
2010: Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne
2009: Galerie Rosenhauer, Goettingen, Germany
2007: Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
2004: Galerie Hors- Saison, Melbourne
2000: Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne
1999: Nancy Margolis Gallery, NYC, USA
1997: Ararat Art Gallery, Victoria;
1997: Distelfink Gallery, Melbourne
1995: Distelfink Gallery, Melbourne
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020:
Porcelain, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
90 Years - 90 Stories, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney
2019:
Gifted, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne
Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award, Manningham Gallery, Melbourne
Making: The Quiet Voices, Wayside Pavilion, Hobart, in conjunction with The Australian Ceramics Triennale.
2018:
Fieldwork, School of Clay and Art (SoCA), Melbourne
2017:
Victorian Craft Award, Craft Victoria, Melbourne (finalist)
Ceramics Collection 17, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney
90 x 90: 90 Artworks from 90 Years of Collecting, Whitehorse Arts Centre, Box Hill, Melbourne
2016:
Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, Gold Coast Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, Qld
Contemporary Porcelain, Ten Australian Masters, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Sydney
Highlights from the Victoria Ceramics Collection, Whitehorse Artspace, Box Hill Town Hall, Melbourne.
2015:
Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Art Gallery, Hobart (finalist)
Victorian Craft Award, Craft Victoria, Melbourne (finalist)
Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award, Manningham Art Gallery, Victoria (finalist)
BeLonging: Embodied Commentaries Inspired by Place, ANU School of Art, Canberra (In conjunction with the Australian Ceramics Triennial)
Contemporary Clay, Olsen Irwin Gallery, Sydney
Welcome to Table, Pomegranate Hall, Castlemaine State Festival, Victoria
Earth, Fire and Water 50 years of Shaping the Elements, Castelmaine Art Gallery, Victoria
2014:
Terroir, Jamfactory at Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley, South Australia
Australia/Korea Invitational Exhibition, Hanyang University Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
The Course of Objects; The Fine Lines of Inquiry, Manly Art Gallery, Sydney NSW
Important Exhibition of Australian Ceramics, Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne
2013:
Small Works, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award, Melbourne, Victoria
2012:
Cecily and Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award, National Gallery of Victoria. (Finalist)
VITRIFY Alcoso Ceramic Award, Jamfactory Craft & Design Centre, Adelaide SA (Winner)
Enduring Forms, Aptos Cruz Gallery, Stirling SA (both In conjunction with the Australian Ceramics Triennale SA)
Recent Acquisitions and Works on Paper, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Vic
Scope 012, Arts Academy PO Gallery, University of Ballarat, Victoria
2011:
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Woollahra Council Chambers, Sydney (Finalist)
‘A Day at the Beach’, Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award, Manningham ,Victoria (Finalist)
National Ceramics Award Clunes Victoria (Finalist)
Scope, Arts Academy PO Gallery, University of Ballarat, Victoria
2010:
National Ceramics Award Clunes, Victoria (Winner)
27th Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, Queensland (Finalist)
City of Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tas (Finalist)
Colour, Texture, Form, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, Queensland
Scope, Arts Academy PO Gallery, University of Ballarat, Victoria
2009:
Tablewares: Contemporary International Ceramics, Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney
Here/Now Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
Scope, Arts Academy PO Gallery, University of Ballarat, Victoria
2008:
Vessel/Sculpture, German and International Ceramics Since 1946
Grassi Museum of Applied Art, Leipzig, Germany
Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Qld
Gift of Rod Fyffe, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria
2007:
Celebration, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney, NSW
2006:
Australische Impressionen, Galerie Rosenhauer, Goettingen, Germany
Innovations: Melbourne- Hong Kong, Nellie Casten Gallery, Melbourne
Tainted Love: Contemporary Developments in Landscape, Bendigo Art Gallery
Encrusted: Australian Woodfired Ceramics, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne
2005:
Porcelain- Three Makers, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
City of Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Art Gallery, Hobart, TAS
COLLECT, Victoria and Albert Museum, UK. (Australian Contemporary)
Light Matters, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
University of Ballarat Ceramics, Arts Academy PO Gallery, Ballarat, Victoria
2004:
Heresy: The Secret Language of Materials, Craft Victoria Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
Bowl’d and Beautiful, Ceramic Art Gallery , Sydney, NSW
Elemental, Fala Gallery, Arizona, USA
Victorian Connection, Ceramic Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Masters 2, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
Affordable Art Exhibition Sydney, Represented by Ceramic Art Gallery Sydney, NSW
Porcelain Winter Exhibition, Cudgegong House, Gulgong, NSW
Encore, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
2003:
Going Forward, The Sybaris Gallery, Michigan, USA
Walkers Imperial Porcelain, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne
2002:
Less is More / Less is a Bore, Brisbane City Art Gallery, Queensland
Australian Art Exhibition, Exhibition Building, Melbourne. Represented by Shepparton Art Gallery
25 Years Retrospective Craft Acquisition Award, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Cowra Art Gallery Callen Award, Cowra Art Gallery, NSW
2001:
International Ceramics 2- Foreign Soil, The Sybaris Gallery, Michigan, USA
2000: Australian Ceramics, Galerie Marianne Heller, Heidelberg, Germany
19th National Craft Acquisition Award, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
1999:
Sculpture, Objects & Functional Art (SOFA) New York, USA, Represented by Nancy Margolis Gallery NY, USA
City of Hobart Art Prize, Carnegie Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania
Contemporary Australian Porcelain, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
White, Ceramic Art Gallery, Sydney
Teawares Towards 2000, Distelfink Gallery, Melb
Rice Bowls, Jam Factory Gallery, S.A
RMIT University Masters, Yuan University, Taiwan
1998:
Contemporary International Ceramics, The Sybaris Gallery, Michigan, USA
Sculpture, Objects & Functional Art (SOFA) Chicago, Represented by The Sybaris Gallery, Michigan, USA
Sculpture, Objects & Functional Art (SOFA) New York, Represented by Nancy Margolis Gallery, NY, USA
Contemplating the Bowl: Distelfink Gallery, Melb
Ceramic Art, Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney
The Woodfire Aesthetic, Distelfink Gallery, Melb
1997:
Bowled Over: Savode Gallery, Brisbane
Teawares, Distelfink Gallery, Melb
1996:
Stillness, Craft A.C.T. Gallery, Canberra in conjunction with the 8th National Australian Ceramics Conference International Connections
Vessel, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra , in conjunction with the 8th National Australian Ceramics Conference International Connections
Australian Woodfire Survey: Strathnaire Homestead Gallery, Canberra in conjunction with the 8th National Australian Ceramics Conference International Connections The Bowl’d and the Beautiful, The Moore’s Building, Fremantle, WA
National Craft Acquisition Award: Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Directors Choice, Distelfink Gallery, Melbourne
Represented by
GALLERYSMITH, Melbourne gallerysmith.com.au
Beaver Galleries, Canberra beavergalleries.com.au