Name Angus Suttie | ||
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Died June 17, 1993, London, United Kingdom Education Camberwell College of Arts | ||
Angus Suttie (26 November 1946 – 17 June 1993) was a studio potter and teacher of art ceramics, most notably at Morley College, London. Suttie studied at Camberwell School of Art under Glennys Barton, Ewen Henderson and Colin Pearson. This education promoted experimentation which rejected the Bernard Leach derived Anglo-oriental style, and emphasized wheel-throwing.
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Background
Suttie was born on 26 November 1946, in Tealing, Scotland. His initial interest was drama. After completing his education in Art Ceramics, he also completed teacher training at Whitelands College, in Putney, London. (1979-80).
Early works
Suttie shaped his articles principally with rolled slabs of leather-hard clay body to create geometric forms, which he cut and reassembled into larger forms. Suttie's preference was for hand-building and he was inspired by objects and forms from pre-industrial societies. These were often in pastiche of traditional domestic objects including anthropomorphic vessels such as jugs and teapots, which were part container and part figurative form. His functional, yet slightly baroque works, are vividly colored, and often stand on oddly positioned legs or are seemingly off-balanced.
Later works
As part of a developing tradition of abstraction in contemporary ceramics, Angus' works became less rectilinear and more organic in appearance and as time went on, much larger than their domestic counterparts. In addition they became more serious and the protrusions came to resemble rows of thorns or tank tracks.
His later works have been described as reflecting and celebrating his life, personal relationships and his deteriorating health. His work displays a diversity of influences, including contemporary abstract ceramics, modern North American ceramics, and Pre-Columbian American art.
Literary contributions
Suttie was also a contributor to The Ceramic Review, Revue de la Céramique et du Verre, Studio Pottery etc. and his works are held in some significant 20th century ceramics collections around the world, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, Crafts Council, The Fred Marer Collection at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, and the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. He was also a member of the Gay Left collective in the 1970s. A memoir of his early years, From Latent to Blatant, was published in issue number 2 of the Gay Left journal and can be accessed at http://www.gayleft1970s.org.
Death
Angus Suttie died on 17 June 1993, of an HIV related illness.