ABOUT JOHN NEWDIGATE

John Newdigate is one of South Africa’s most celebrated ceramicists and artists. Living in the mountainous Overberg region of the Western Cape, he is inspired by terrestrial themes and abstracted forms, and colours drawn from the natural environment around him. He is an exuberant colourist and specializes in painting hand-built, porcelain vessels with underglaze pigments. Newdigate exploits colour to its full advantage, using multiple washes to build up subtle rich layering. Complex, transluscent and radiant imagery emerges from a mix of sharp and blurred lines which give depth and perspective. A variety of themes recur in his work, most notably plants and animals that are used to make wry commentary on human emotions and interactions.

“I am an artist who chooses to paint on ceramics. My large painted porcelain vessels embrace a love of colour and depict my immediate surroundings. Recent works are a collaboration with master hand-builder Ian Garrett, who creates forms with subtle and taut curves that are an ideal surface on which to express my ideas. 

Working on a three dimensional surface, of which half is obscured at any one time, allows for the narrative to be revealed as the viewer circles the work. This introduces time as a fourth dimension, in which imagery unfolds as static animation”. 

– John Newdigate, 2019

Solo Exhibitions

2020    ‘Colourground’ (in collaboration with Ian Garrett), EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa

2018    ‘Flying Into The Wind’, Nuweland Gallery, Netherlands

2016    ‘Square Clouds in a High Sky’, EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa

Group Exhibitions

2021    ‘In [the] Loop, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2020    ‘Re-Imagining Clay in South Africa in the 21^st Century’, EBONY/CURATED, Franschhoek, South Africa

2020    ‘Intersect Chicago’ Online Fair, Chicago, United States of America

2020    ‘Nature Morte – The Still From Life, Rupert Museum, Cape Town, South Africa

2019    ‘AKAA (Also Known As Africa)’ 2019, Paris, France

2019    ‘Investec Cape Town Art Fair’, EBONY/CURATED, Cape Town, South Africa

2016    ‘8th Talent Award of the Nassauische Sparkasse’ Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Germany

2009    ‘Potters 4 Function’, Irma Stern Musuem, Cape Town

2008    Group Exhibition, Grande Provence Gallery, Franschhoek

2008    ‘Mike Donkin’s Choice’, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch

2007    ‘Greenhouse Effects’, A.R.T. Gallery, Cape Town

2007    ‘North South East West’, curated by Barbara Lindop, Johannesburg

2006    ‘David Walters and Friends’, William Humphries Gallery, Kimberley

2006    Renault Group Exhibition, Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg

2005    Barbar Lindop, Invited Renault Artist Exhibition, Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal

2004    Group Exhibition, Bayside Gallery, Durban

2003    Rose Korber Art Salon, Camps Bay, Cape Town

1999 – 2001    Annual Studio Exhibition, Kalk Bay, Cape Town

 Collections

Iziko Museums of South Africa, Cape Town

South African Cultural History Museum, Cape Town

William Humphries Public Art Gallery, Kimberley

Renault South Africa Corporate collection, Johannesburg

Anglovaal Industries Corporate collection, Johannesburg