Ruth King English, b. 1955
"I think of pots as objects without a heavy burden of expectation allowing them to play a part in anyone's life. Their familiar, sometimes comforting themes can be adapted and shaped to accommodate a personal lexicon while steadfastly retaining their identity as pots."
'I make pots fashioned from soft sheets of clay cut and assembled to wrap and clothe a space defined by a single drawn footprint or endpoint. The surface enriched by the passage of salt vapours reacts to each twist and turn of the form adding colour, texture and articulation. Beneath their idiosyncrasy lies a tangible framework, a kernel that they all have in common.'
Trained at Camberwell in the mid-1970s Ruth King has been hand-building pots for over forty years. She is a Fellow of the CPA, has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally and has work in both public and private collections.
Most recently she has exhibited at the London Art Fair with the Beardsmore Gallery , Ceramic Art London, the Korean International Ceramics Biennale and Ziyunxixing - The UK-China Ceramic Art Exhibition, Yixing International Festival of Ceramic Art.
Training
Camberwell School of Arts and Craft, 1974–77.
Membership
Fellow, Craft Potters Association
Research Network for Science and Art in Ceramics and Glass
York Art Workers Association
Public Collections
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Nottingham Castle Museum
The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
York Art Gallery
Awards
Diploma of Honour, Korean International Ceramic Biennale
York Art Workers Association, bursary for collaborative project development. 2008
Arts Council England, project award, 'Clay in the Vale of York' 2007
Yorkshire Arts, grant towards new kiln. 1998
Inax Design Prize, 1989
Crafts Council Setting Up 1981
Articles
Focus and Form, Ceramic Review May/June 2016
Line and Body, Ceramic Review Jan/Feb 2012
Connecting Threads, CPA News issue 124, 2009
A Quiet Dynamic, Ceramics Art and Perception 2006
Review, Ceramic Review, July/August 2006
A Potter's Day, Ceramic Review, Nov/Dec 1990
Illustration Ceramic Review, March/April 1987
The Individual Eye, Ceramic Review, July/August 1984
Review of Studio Ceramics Today, Ceramic Review, July/ August 1983
Books
Ben Brierley, Firing Kilns, Bloomsbury 2014
Paul Rice, British Studio Ceramics, Crowood Press 2002
Rosemary Cochrane, Salt-glaze Ceramics, Crowood Press, 2001
Oliver Watson, British Studio Pottery, Phaidon 1990
Pat Carter, Dictionary of Potters Marks, Scholar Press 1990
Emmanuel Cooper, Electric Kiln Pottery, Batsford, 1982
Catalogues
KICB 2019
Saltglasert Keramikk
Broughton Gallery 2006
Saltzbrand 2006
Saltzbrand 2002
Saltzbrand 1994
Inax Design Prize, 1989
Studio Ceramics Today 1983
Selected Exhibitions
2020 London Art Fair with The Beardsmore Gallery
2019 UK-China Ceramic Art Exhibition, Yixing International Festival of Ceramic Art
2019 Korean International Ceramic Biennale
2019 London Art Fair with The Beardsmore Gallery
2019 Ceramic Art London
2018 London Art Fair with The Beardsmore Gallery
2018 Ceramic Art London
2017 The Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford
2017 Maiden Bridge Gallery, Tatham
2017 Ceramic Art London
2016 Solo Exhibition Contemporary Ceramics, London
2016 Ceramic Art London
2015 Ceramic Art London
2014 Ceramic Art London
2014 Galerie Rosenhauer, Gottingen, Germany
2014 The Art Room, Exeter
2014 Showcase The Hepworth, Wakefield
2013 'Ceramics Now' New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham
2013 'Collect' Saatchi Gallery ,with Contemporary Ceramics
2013 Ceramic Art London, RCA London
2012 Ceramic Art London, RCA, London
2011 Studio Eleven, Hull
2010 "Through Fifty" Contemporary Ceramics Centre, London.
2010 The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle
2009 "Works in Clay and Fine Plaster", Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax
2009 Artworks Galleries, Newcastle
2007 "Kate's Pond or Clay in the Vale of York", Laurence Sterne Trust, Coxwold, N. Yorks.
2007 Maiden Bridge Arts Centre, Tatham, Lancaster.
2006 Solo Exhibition, Broughton Gallery, Broughton, Scotland
2006 Saltglasert Keramikk, Ha Gamle Prestegard, Norway.
2006 Ceramics by Ruth King, Plasterwork by Peter Baker, Lund Gallery, Easingwold,
2006 " Saltzbrand 2006", Koblenz, Germany.
2006 "A Pinch of Salt", The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh.
2005 Winter Exhibition, New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham.
2005 Paintings in Hospitals, Stonegate Gallery, York.
2004 Ceramic Art London, RCA, London
2004 Summer Exhibition, Shandy Hall, Coxwold.
2003 "Zout, Zout, Zout", Die Tendschuur Tegelen, The Netherlands.
2003 Ceramics by Ruth King, Prints by Carrie Akroyd, Shandy Hall, Coxwold.
2002 "Making Space", ceramics by Ruth King, paintings by Jessica Langton, Gascoigne Gallery, Ilkley.
2002 "Saltzbrand 2002", Koblenz, Germany.
2002 '"Saltglaze Ceramics", The Cotemporary Craftsman, Monmouth.
2001 Paintings in Hospitals, Stonegate Gallery, York.
2000 Christmas Exhibition, Alpha House Gallery, Sherborne.
1999 Ceramics by Ruth King, Paintings by John Langton, Shandy Hall, Coxwold.
1998 Summer Exhibition, Godfrey and Watt, Harrogate.
1998 Ceramics by Ruth King, Paintings by Patrick Nuttgens, Shandy Hall, Coxwold.
1997 "Group Exhibition", Stonegate Gallery, York.
1995 "Saltglaze", The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh.
1994 "Second Generation", Stonegate Gallery, York.
1994 Group Exhibition, Kunst und Keramiek, The Netherlands.
1993 Handbuilt Ceramics, Rufford Craft Centre, Ollerton.
1991 Showcase Exhibition, Contemporary Ceramics, London.
1990 Ceramics by Ruth King, Textiles by Simon Lloyd-Jones, The King's Manor, University of York.
1989 Ceramics by Ruth King, Textiles by Simon Lloyd-Jones, Collection, Ledbury.
1988 Solo Exhibition, Craft Shop, Norwich Castle Museum.
1988 "A Celebration of Ceramics", Rufford Craft Centre, Ollerton.
1987 Group Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh.
1987 "Contemporary Saltglaze", Nottingham Castle Museum.
1986 British Ceramics, Galerie Der Vier Linden, The Netherlands.
1985 "Some Peoples Pots", York City Library.
1985 Ceramics by Ruth King, Paintings by Sarah Williams, Grape Lane Gallery, York.
1985 British Ceramics, Galerie Charlotte von Finkenstein, Hamburg, Germany.
1984 "The Individual Eye", Contemporary Ceramics, London.
1984 British Ceramics, New Craftsmen Gallery, New York.
1983 Studio Ceramics Today, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
1983 8x8 Ceramicists, British Craft Centre, London.
1982 Makers '82, British Craft Centre, London.
1981 The New Ceramics, Rufford Craft Centre, Ollerton.
1981 Handbuilt Pots, Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool.
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CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS: FORM THROUGH FIRE
Celebrating the very best of contemporary ceramic practice in the UK today 4 Sep - 22 Oct 2021Celebrating the very best of contemporary ceramic practice in the UK today, this major show at Cornwall's award-winning Porthminster Gallery in St Ives features fresh and experimental works by invited...Read more -
CONTAINED
New contemporary ceramics by leading UK and International ceramicists 12 Mar - 9 Apr 2021The Porthminster Gallery in St Ives has a strong reputation for showing quality ceramics by emerging and collected names and is delighted to launch its 2021 season of shows with ‘Contained’, a curated selection of new ceramic 'vessel' forms for Spring by artists showing for the first time with the gallery in St Ives:Read more
Gabriele Koch Ruth King Sotis Filippides Stephen Murfitt Mitch Pilkington
