Erskine, Hall & Coe is pleased to present a solo exhibition of acclaimed British artist Ewen Henderson’s work, which will comprise of ceramics and works on paper. The show will be open from the 6th of May through the 5th of June.

"I fell in love with both the material and the vessel as a magical form; but it was a long time before I realised how I wanted to use it...I was seduced by the alchemy of change where you take a material...and it is transmogrified into something else." - Ewen Henderson

Born in Staffordshire in 1934, Henderson became interested in painting and sculpture while working for a timber company in Cardiff and started attending evening classes at the local art school. In 1964 Henderson began a foundation course at Goldsmiths College in London where he first encountered clay. Later he would study ceramics under, among others, Hans Coper and Lucie Rie, at the Camberwell School of Art. But he always made time to draw and paint. He graduated in 1968 and continued his studies at Edinburgh College of Art before returning to London.

Hendereson very soon left the wheel behind and moved to the freedom of hand-building. Throughout his career he explored clay as a medium in its own right, and said of his work that:

"It explores the significance of what is broken, torn or cut, the ability of single or multiple forms to speak of either compression or expansion, flatness or fullness. It is a kind of drawing in three dimensions. I start with fragments - familiar, found, improvised - and then build up to complex structures that invite the observer to complete the circuit, so to speak, by considering such matters as memory, invention and metaphor."

In parallel with ceramics his passion for painting continued throughout his career, with watercolours, gouaches and collages becoming increasingly inseparable from his ceramics.

Ancient cultures, geological forms and landscapes were persistent influences during his career - Avebury, Eden Valley in Cumbria, the Rollright Stones in north Oxfordshire, Orkney, and Manorbier in Pembrokeshire where he had a home for the last year of his life.

Erskine, Hall & Coe Gallery

15 Royal Arcade
28 Old Bond Street
London W1S 4SP United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 74911706
mail@erskinehallcoe.com
www.erskinehallcoe.com

Opening hours

Monday - Saturday
From 10am to 6pm

Related images
  1. Ewen Henderson, Tea bowl, stoneware, 9.5 x 16 cm, courtesy of Erskine, Hall & Coe Ltd.; Photography by Michael Harvey
  2. Ewen Henderson, Tea bowl, stoneware, 9 x 14 cm, courtesy of Erskine, Hall & Coe Ltd.; Photography by Michael Harvey
  3. Ewen Henderson, Tea bowl, stoneware, 8.5 x 13 cm, courtesy of Erskine, Hall & Coe Ltd.; Photography by Michael Harvey
  4. Ewen Henderson, Upright Form, c. 1990, laminated stoneware, 70 x 40 x 21 cm, courtesy of Erskine, Hall & Coe Ltd.; Photography by Michael Harvey
  5. Ewen Henderson, Zig-zag Folding Form, 1990’s, laminated stoneware, 40 x 45 x 40 cm, courtesy of Erskine, Hall & Coe Ltd.; Photography by Michael Harvey
  6. Ewen Henderson, Upright Form, c. 1990, laminated stoneware, 74 x 40 x 25 cm, courtesy of Erskine, Hall & Coe Ltd.; Photography by Michael Harvey