BIO
Artist statement
My intention is to distil an essence of place through deeply internalized associations with the local environment and to evoke notions of quietude and transcendence through the expressive use of glaze and its relationship to form, tactility, space and light.
Pieces are wheel thrown and altered with subtle shifts in coloured glazes built gradually in multiple thin layers to provoke a feeling of gentle luminosity and illusory space to stimulate the imagination.
Curriculum vitae
NEVILLE FRENCH
Born 1955 Maryborough, Victoria.
Lives Buninyong, Victoria.
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.
AWARDS, GRANTS & RESIDENCIES
2013: Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award – Acquisition Award
2012: WINNER – VITRIFY Alcorso Ceramic Award
2010: WINNER – National Clunes Ceramics Award
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, VIC
2006-12 Sessional lecturer Honours & Masters Degree, University of Ballarat. VIC
2016-24 Teacher, School of Clay and Art (SoCA), Melbourne, VIC
Selected Exhibitions
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024: From the Crest, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
The Light Crept In, Belinda Fox, Art Gallery of Ballarat (Collaborative ceramics)
2022: Cloudlight, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Fall, with Belinda Fox, presented by Arthouse Gallery, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney
2021: Cultivate, Belinda Fox, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney
(collaborative ceramics)
Mutual Realities: Finding common ground in
uncertain times, Art Gallery of Ballarat (with Rhonda Baum)
2017: Tilt, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney (with Belinda Fox)
2015: From the Landscape, 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
2024: Held, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney
Surface Effect: Ceramics Collection Stories, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney
Craft Lab 24 Design Expo, Mining Exchange, Ballarat
2023: Deep Winter, Mr Kitly, Brunswick, Melbourne
Present Tense, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney
Paper and Ceramics, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney
Nillumbik Contemporary Art Prize, Finalists exhibition, Montsalvat Eltham, Melbourne
The Great Takeaway, Craft Lab 23, Mining Exchange, Ballarat
XV: PAST PRESENT FUTURE, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2022: Craft Lab 22, Design Expo, Mining Exchange, Ballarat
2021: Cups, Michael Reid Clay Gallery, Sydney
Craft Lab/Design Expo, Mining Exchange, Ballarat
2020: Porcelain, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
Federation University 150 Anniversary trail, Art Gallery of Ballarat
2019: Gifted, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne
Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award, Manningham Gallery, Melbourne
2019: Making: The Quiet Voices, Wayside Pavilion, Hobart
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
2017: 90×90: 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)
2015: 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, Castlemaine 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, Victoria
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
2006: 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