Museum Acquisition News - V&A purchases work by Nicholas Lees

Following on from our announcement last week about the V&A's acquisition of Helen Carnac's work, we thought we'd share news of another recent V&A purchase, this time an acquisiton for the contemporary ceramics permanent collection from Nicholas Lees' new Orbit series.

 

The acquisition came hot on the heels of the artist's recent solo show at the Petersfield Museum in which 'Red/Blue Orbit' was a centrepiece and the catalogue cover image.

 

These new Orbit forms are an interesting development for Nicholas Lees. Talking about this new body of work Nicholas said, "When I first began this evolving body of lathe-turned-work, I was a little wary of the form being too readily that of pottery/vessel, as I wanted to give primacy to the visual and sculptural qualities, and so I favoured more geometric and perhaps abstract forms. I have since become more and more comfortable with, and have realised the huge wealth of meaning and resonance available from, engaging more directly with the vessel form. At earlier stages in my career, I made work that was more straightforwardly studio pottery, followed by sculpture which consciously turned away from overt ceramic reference in form and materiality, whilst still having the same rooted approach to thinking in relation to material and process.

 

"The new Orbit forms are nearer to the accepted identity of pot/vessel and all the richer for it, I realise. Narrowing the depth of the boundary between contained and occupied space has led me to engage more with the internal void, and the full curve of the form gives more weight to the role of surface in its dance with form and the possibility for it to shimmer. I have also discovered the sensual and visual delight in making a full and curvaceous form. It perhaps gave me a little insight into why spherical objects such as moon jars are such an important and resonant form in ceramics. I consciously avoid using the name moon jar in relation to my works due to its specific cultural context, which is not mine. I use the name 'Orbit' partly due to its being both a noun and a verb and so implying both stasis and movement."

 

Nicholas' work was recently featured by Annie Le Santo in Ceramic Review. Le Santo writes. "Lees' ceramics are incredibly refined and precise, yet still intrinsically expressive. Rooted in their structures is his unwavering dedication to thoroughly interrogate his materials and processes in relation to the environment around them."

"Not only is the chemistry impressive, the illusion of movement in Lees' work is truly extraordinary and something that must be witnessed in person to be fully appreciated. The sliced edges of the sculptures give the illusion that they are moving within the space, expanding and retracting depending on the angle from which you view them."

Read the full Ceramic Review article here.

 

See available orbit works by Nicholas here