Jack Doherty (potter)

Last updated

Jack Doherty
Born
Jack Doherty

1948
Coleraine, Northern Ireland
EducationUlster College of Art and Design
EmployerDoherty Porcelain
Known forPottery, author
Websitewww.dohertyporcelain.com

Jack Doherty (born 1948, Coleraine [1] ) is a Northern Irish studio potter and author. He is perhaps best known for his vessels made of soda-fired porcelain. [2] He has been featured in a number of books, and his work has been exhibited widely in both Europe and North America. Articles of his have appeared in various pottery journals and he has been Chair of the Craft Potters Association. [3]

Contents

Biography

Upon graduating from the Ulster College of Art and Design in 1971, Jack Doherty began working as a studio potter at Kilkenny Design Workshops, Ireland. [2] Afterwards, he established his studio first in County Armagh and then in Herefordshire, [4] while also being a part-time lecturer in ceramics at the Royal Forest of Dean College. [5] He was elected as chair of the Craft Potters Association between 1995 and 2000 and again between 2002 and 2008. [6] He was lead potter and creative director at the Leach Pottery in St. Ives, Cornwall, [7] [8] where he developed Leach's new range of contemporary tableware. [9] In 2012, Doherty exhibited alongside Japanese potter Tomoo Hamada, celebrating the signing of an official declaration of friendship between the towns of St. Ives and Mashiko, Tochigi, Japan, by the two respective mayors on 20 September 2012. [10] As a founder he became the current Chair of the organising committee of Ceramic Arts London in 2013, previously being director of both Ceramic Review magazine and Contemporary Ceramics for more than 13 years. [6] He now works independently from his studio in Mousehole, Cornwall, England. [4] He was visited by Rick Stein in the first series of the BBC's Rick Stein's Cornwall. [11]

Work process

Devoting the majority of his career to porcelain, Doherty has developed a unique process of crafting his ceramic objects. The shapes are thrown, then carved and shaped using only one type of porcelain clay. [12] One slip in which copper carbonate is added as a colouring material [13] is applied. Finally, he uses a single soda-firing technique, [14] executed by spraying a mixture of water and sodium bicarbonate into the kiln at a high temperature. The resulting vapour is drawn through the kiln chamber where it reacts with the silica and alumina present in the clay, creating a rich patina of surface texture and colour.

Questioning the vernacular of functionality

Doherty's work is meant to subtly interconnect with domestic space and daily life, and according to Doherty, "can be solitary and contemplative or ceremonial; for everyday use or for special occasions." [15] His recent work displays a sense of robustness, lacking the refined transparent glaze commonly associated with porcelain objects. In using the soda-firing finish and a wide range of archetypal forms, Doherty attempts to question the vernacular of functionality. [2] The vessels Doherty creates explore ancient layers of cultural resonance embedded in these archetypal forms. Looking at the rustic surface textures, the palettes of smoky and sometimes vibrant colours and the simplicity of the irregular shapes thrown by Doherty, the vessels exhume transient visceral qualities reminiscent of the Japanese aesthetics of Wabi-sabi and Shibui, no doubt having been influenced by the work of the late modernist Bernard Leach (Doherty being the previous lead potter of The Leach Pottery), as well as the politics of work as laid out by John Ruskin. Vernacularism as a cultural phenomenon thus plays a large part in the work of Doherty, and it can, therefore, be seen as a product of the Arts and Crafts movement and, associated with it, the writings of William Morris. [16]

Selected awards

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions and fairs

Collections

Publications

Articles and references in other publications

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References

  1. ↑ Bircham Gallery. "Jack Doherty - Biography" . Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Design & Crafts Council of Ireland. "Irish Craft Portfolio 2013-2014: Critical Selection". dccoi.ie. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Bernard Leach Pottery In St Ives To Become Centre Of Excellence". culture24.org.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  4. 1 2 Doherty, Jack. "Brief Biography". Doherty Porcelain. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 Doherty, Jack. "Curriculum vitae". dohertyporcelain.com. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  6. 1 2 New Craftsman Gallery. "Jack Doherty". newcraftsmantives.com. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Rail, Evan (27 April 2012). "St. Ives, Where Art Meets the Ocean". New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Campbell, Sophie. "UK heritage: All fired up in St Ives - Leach Pottery - Telegraph". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Design & Crafts Council of Ireland. "Vernacular". dccoi.ie. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  10. ↑ Gallery St. Ives. "Jack Doherty & Tomoo Hamada - Exhibition celebrating the official friendship between St Ives and Mashiko". gallery-st-ives.co.jp/. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Programmes". BBC Food. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  12. ↑ Doherty, Jack. "One Clay". dohertyporcelain.com/. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  13. ↑ Doherty, Jack. "One Colouring Material". dohertyporcelain.com. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  14. ↑ Doherty, Jack. "One Firing". dohertyporcelain.com. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  15. 1 2 Design & Crafts Council of Ireland. "Irish Craft Portfolio - Jack Doherty". portfolio.dccoi.ie. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  16. ↑ Greenhalgh, Paul (1987). Dormer, Peter (ed.). The Culture of Craft. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 20–52.
  17. ↑ "Ceramics Today - Jack Doherty - Porcelain". ceramicstoday.com. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
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