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ARTISTS | Neville French

EXHIBITIONS CV

There is no doubt that Neville French is one of Australia’s most revered classical ceramicists. His humble, pared down porcelain structures explore a sincere engagement with the environment, paying homage to vast topographies, and silent, spiritual landscapes. A guiding principle of French’s work is the transformative effect of light on surface planes but through this mechanism, his works summon the eye across solid forms and into hollow spaces. By gently manipulating his thrown vessels French has developed a unique visual language, in an attempt to distil the very essence of place. This relationship is further grounded through hand crafted glazes created from materials which French personally mines at various locations around Australia.

French is a celebrated artist whose work is held in various state and national institutions such as the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Selected works:

Exhibitions:

GOLD CHIP | one-night-only exhibition

Gallerysmith closes the 2023 curtain on December 12 with the annual exhibition, GOLD CHIP. At this one-night-only event, the gallery presents…

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XV: PAST PRESENT FUTURE

Gallerysmith launches its 2023 exhibition program with a group exhibition which celebrates 15 years of gallery operations. This exhibition features works by more than 50 artists who have shown at the gallery between 2008 and 2023....
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Cloudlight | Neville French

My porcelain vessels are inspired by the silent spaces and ephemeral effects of light, weather and time in the local environment. In this new series of works I have turned to the mystery and beauty of skies; the stillness and soft changes of light in clouds at dawn and dusk and the feelings evoked.
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MUTUAL REALITIES: FINDING COMMON GROUND IN UNCERTAIN TIMES at Art Gallery of Ballarat

Neville French's ceramics feature in Art Gallery of Ballarat's exhibition Mutual Realities: Finding common ground in uncertain times.

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TILT | Manly Gallery, NSW

Fellow Gallerysmith artists Neville French and Belinda Fox present Tilt a collaborative exhibition at Manly Art Gallery and Museum in…

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CV:

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.

Selected Exhibitions
2022: Cloudlight, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
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
2020:  Porcelain, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
2020:  Federation University 150 Anniversary trail, Art Gallery of Ballarat
2019: Gifted, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne
2019: 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)
2017: 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
2016: Contemporary Porcelain, Ten Australian Masters, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Sydney
2016: Highlights from the Victoria Ceramics Collection, Whitehorse Artspace, Box Hill Town Hall, Melbourne
2015: Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Art Gallery, Hobart (finalist)
2015: Victorian Craft Award, Craft Victoria, Melbourne (finalist)
2015: 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)
2015: Contemporary Clay, Olsen Irwin Gallery, Sydney
2015: Welcome to Table, Pomegranate Hall, Castlemaine State Festival, Victoria
2015: Earth, Fire and Water 50 years of Shaping the Elements, Castlemaine Art Gallery, Victoria
2014: Terroir, Jamfactory at Seppeltsfield, Barossa Valley, South Australia
2014: Australia/Korea Invitational Exhibition, Hanyang University Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2014: The Course of Objects; The Fine Lines of Inquiry, Manly Art Gallery, Sydney NSW
2014: Important Exhibition of Australian Ceramics, Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne
2013:  Small Works, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
2013: Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award, Melbourne, Victoria
2012: Cecily and Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award, National Gallery of Victoria, (Finalist)
2012: VITRIFY Alcoso Ceramic Award, Jamfactory Craft & Design Centre, Adelaide SA (winner)
2012: Enduring Forms, Aptos Cruz Gallery, Stirling SA (both In conjunction with the Australian
Ceramics Triennale SA)
2012: Recent Acquisitions and Works on Paper, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria
2012: Scope 012, Arts Academy PO Gallery, University of Ballarat, Victoria
2011:  Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Woollahra Council Chambers, Sydney (Finalist)
2011: A Day at the Beach, Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
2011: Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award, Manningham, Victoria, (Finalist)
2011: National Ceramics Award Clunes, Victoria, (Finalist)
2011: Scope, Arts Academy PO Gallery, University of Ballarat, Victoria
2010: National Ceramics Award Clunes, Victoria (Winner)
2010: 27th Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise,
Queensland (Finalist)
2010: City of Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tas (Finalist)
2010: Colour, Texture, Form, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, Queensland
2010: Scope, Arts Academy PO Gallery, University of Ballarat, Victoria
2009: Tablewares: Contemporary International Ceramics, Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney
2009: Here/Now, Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
2009: Scope, Arts Academy PO Gallery, University of Ballarat, Victoria
2008: Vessel/Sculpture, German and International Ceramics Since 1946
2008: Grassi Museum of Applied Art, Leipzig, Germany
2008: Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Qld
2008: Gift of Rod Fyffe, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria
2007: Celebration, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney, NSW
2006: Australische Impressionen, Galerie Rosenhauer, Goettingen, Germany
2006: Innovations: Melbourne- Hong Kong, Nellie Casten Gallery, Melbourne
2006: Tainted Love: Contemporary Developments in Landscape, Bendigo Art Gallery
2006: 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
2006: COLLECT, Victoria and Albert Museum, UK. (Australian Contemporary)
2006: Light Matters, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria
2006: University of Ballarat Ceramics, Arts Academy PO Gallery, Ballarat, Victoria

Selected Awards
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

Selected Bibliography
2019: Kylie Gusset, Manifesting A Quiet Space; A review of three major exhibitions at the Hobart Triennale, Australian Ceramics Journal, Vol 57 No 2 p.112
2017: Neville French, Neville French talks about his recent collaboration with Belinda Fox, The Australian Ceramics Journal, July 2017
2017: Lucy Stranger, Tilt, Belinda Fox and Neville French, Artist Profile magazine online, Nov 2017
2014: Neville French, Mungo Light Vessels, Craft Arts International, No 90, 2014 p 48- 49
2014: Ceramics Monthly Arts Yearbook & Annual Buyers Guide, Awards, 2014 p 40
2012: Bonnie Cassidy, Cicely and Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award, Art Review 2012
2012: Kerry- Anne Cousins, Empathy adds to Ambience, Canberra Times 28th March 2012
2012: Brett Ballard, Belinda Fox/Neville French in collaboration, Ceramics Art and Perception Issue 88 p 112-114 June 2012
2011: Altair Roelants, ‘The Narrative of Place’, A collaborative journey with Belinda Fox and Neville French, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, Issue 50/3 Nov 2011 p 20-25
2011: ‘A Day at the Beach’: Handwerk Gallery, Munich, Germany 2011, Compact Disk
2011: Neville French, In My Studio, The Journal of Australian Ceramics Issue 49/2 July 2011, p78 -81 issue cover
2010: Jeffrey B Snyder, Ceramics Today, Schiffer Publishing, USA 2010, p.70-71
2009: Peter Schmitt, Land, Sky, Colour, Light: Neville French Master of Glaze, New Ceramics, Germany, Oct. 2009
2009: Peter Schmitt, Neville French in Goettingen, Keramic Magazine, Germany Oct 2009. P.6
2008: Olaf Thormann, Vessel/Sculpture: German and International Ceramics Since 1946, Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Germany, 2008
2007: Neville French, Luminous as the Moon: An Inspiration, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, 46 #3
2006: Peter Schmitt, Australische Impressionen, Neue Keramik, Germany, Dec 2006, p 46
2006: Peter Schmitt, Australische Keramik in Gottingen, Keramik Magazine, Germany, p 7 (Image)
2006: Neville French, Place and Identity, Innovations: Melbourne- Hong Kong, RMIT University, Melbourne 2006
2005: Stephan Bowers, Australian Contemporary, A Sense of Place, Ceramics Art & Perception, #58
2005: Ceramic Review: International Magazine of Ceramic Art and Craft UK, Far and Wide, Jan/ Feb 2005 (Image)
2005: Kathleen Fisher, Porcelain, Canberra City Search, Fairfax digital, Oct 2005
2003: Peter Lane, Contemporary Studio Porcelain, A & C Black, UK 2003, p 20 (Image)
2003: Suzzanne J.E. Tourtillott, 500 Bowls: Contemporary Explorations of a Timeless Form, Lark Books, USA, 2003, pg 302, 402
2001: Contemporary Australian Design CD, Object Galleries Sydney, 2001
2000: Neville French, Porcelain Bowl Refined, Pottery in Australia 39/4 2000 pp 28- 30
2000: Kevin White, The Porcelain Bowl Redefined, profile of Neville French, Craft Arts International No 47 1999-2000 pp 34-36
1999: Helen Stephens, Simple Slam: A Ceramic Aesthetic, Ceramics Art and Perception No 38 1999, pp 100-102
1999: Neville French, Ballarat to SoHo, Craft Victoria Bulletin No 2 1999
1998: Sandra Jane and Max Darby, Art Is, Making, Creating, Appreciating, Jacaranda Wiley Ltd,  p 153
1998: Don Davis, Wheel-Thrown Ceramics, Lark Books, USA 1998 pg 65
1997: Monument Architecture & Design, Still-Life Ceramics of Neville French No19 1997
1997: Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Neville French: Thought and Action in Tune, Ceramics Art and Perception No 27 1997, pp 39-40
1997: Joseph Pascoe, Neville French- exhibition comment, Craft Victoria Bulletin No 2 1997
1996: Kim Hornby, Neville French, Pottery in Australia – Autumn, Issue 35/1 1996 pp 38-39

Exhibition Catalogues
2019: Making: The Quiet Voices, Waterside Pavilion, Hobart, May
2017: Tilt, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney August
2014: Terroir, Jamfactory at Seppeltsfield, SA, 26 Set -23 November
2014: The Course of Objects, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney. May
2014: Australia/Korea Ceramics, Hanyang University Gallery, Seoul, Korea. April
2014: Important Exhibition of Australian Ceramics, Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne. Feb
2013: Hua Ping, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Nov (collaboration with Belinda Fox)
2013: Containment: Cicely and Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award 2012, The Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia at Federation Square, Melbourne 2012/13
2012: Give & Take, Beaver Galleries Canberra ( Collaboration with Belinda Fox )
2011: Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Woollahra Council, Sydney
2011: Slip, collaborative ceramics with Belinda Fox, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney
2010: Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Art Gallery and Museum
2010: Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award
2010: Neville French, Mungo Light, Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne 2010
2010: Prue Venables & Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Tablewares: An International Collection, Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney
2007: Prue Venables, Celebration, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney
2006: Peter Schmitt, Australian Impressionen, Galerie Rosenhauer, Goettingen, Germany
2006: Christopher Sanders, Innovative Ceramics: Melbourne- Hong Kong, Nellie Castan Gallery
2005: Stephan Bowers, Australian Contemporary: A Survey of a Sense of Place, COLLECT, Victoria and Albert Museum UK
2005: City of Hobart Art Prize, Ceramics/ Painting, Hobart Art Gallery
2004: Anna Maas, Celebrating the Master, Skepsi Gallery, Melbourne
2004: Sarah Bond & Dr Kevin Murray, Heresy: The Secret Language of Materials, Craft Victoria
2002: Kirstin Fitzpatrick, Less is More/ Less is a Bore, Brisbane City Gallery, June
2002: Allison Gray, National Craft Acquisition Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, August
2000: Marianne Heller, Australishe Keramik, Galerie Marianne Heller, November
2000: RMIT Postgraduates 2000, RMIT University, Melbourne
1999: Sculpture, Objects & Functional Art (SOFA) Chicago, The Sybaris Gallery
1996: Peter Hayes, Vessel, Contemporary Australian Ceramics, Canberra School of Art Gallery
1996: Jim Logan, Stillness, Craft ACT Gallery, June
1996: Owen Rye, Australian Woodfire Survey: Strathnaire Homestead Gallery, Canberra
1991: Prue Venables, Aspects, RMIT Gallery

Newspaper articles
Kerry-Anne Cousins, Mastering the Fine Art of Miniature, Canberra Times, December 14, 2013
Kerry-Anne Cousins, Empathy adds to Ambience, Canberra Times, March 28, 2012
Chloe Pollard, International eyes on artists, Ballarat Courier, Aug 28, 2008
Megan Backhouse, Age Newspaper, 48 Hours Critical Guide, Dec 1, 2007
Alissa Kelly, Unique Ceramic Art Lands German Invitation, Ballarat Courier, September 16, 2005
Rebecca Lancashire, The Subtle Charms of Fired Clay, The Age, Domain, December 16, 1999
William L. Hamilton, From Handmade to High Style, New York Times, USA, February 25, 1999 (Image)
Helen Greenwood, The New Stone Age, Sydney Morning Herald, August 5, 1999
Claire Hunter, Potters Pieces to go on Show in NY, Ballarat Courier, 1998
Ellizabeth Findlay, Inviting Contemplation, Canberra Times, July 12, 1996

Public Commissions
Ballarat Town Hall
Ballarat Botanic Gardens
Ballarat Police and Law Courts
Ballarat Childcare Centre

Collections

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria; South Australian Art Gallery, Adelaide, SA; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Qld; Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney, NSW; Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory, Darwin, NT; Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria; Gold Cost City Art Gallery, Queensland; Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, Qld; Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria; Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria; Hamilton Art Gallery, Victoria; Castlemaine Art Gallery, Victoria; Devonport Art Gallery, Tasmania; The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne University, Victoria; University of Wollongong, NSW; Queensland University of Technology Art Collection, Qld; Federation University, Ballarat, Victoria; Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, NSW; Banyule Art Collection, Victoria; Manningham Council Art Collection, Victoria; City of Whitehorse, Art Collection, Box Hill, Victoria; ArtBank, NSW; City of Inagawa, Japan; Grassi Museum, Leipzig, Germany; Hanyang University Museum Gallery, Seoul, South Korea; Sydney Casino; Private collections in Australia, USA, Great Britain and Germany.

News:

UNESCO Creative City Ballarat Celebrates NEVILLE FRENCH

Gallerysmith is delighted to share with you a short video presentation about Neville French.

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NEVILLE FRENCH JOINS GALLERYSMITH

Gallerysmith is delighted to announce that we now represent Neville French. There is no doubt that Neville French is one of Australia’s most…

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NEVILLE FRENCH Life Member of The Australian Ceramics Association

At the Annual General Meeting of The Australian Ceramics Association on Thursday 7 October, 5 new Life Members were accepted…

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