We are delighted to announce that Mark Hewitt, one of the most respected studio potters of our time, will be visiting the UK for a short while and sharing his incredible journey in ceramics.

Mark, a dear friend of Joanna, will take us through the pivotal moments of his career – from his family’s heritage as managers of the Spode factoryin Stoke-on-Trent, to his time as an apprentice to Michael Cardew in Wenford, and ultimately to his current home in North Carolina. His work, especially his signature large-scale, wood-fired, salt-glazed pots,reflects a blending of English studio pottery, North Carolinian traditions, and influences from Africa and Southeast Asia.

This is a rare opportunity to hear from an artist who has shaped the world of contemporary ceramics, so don’t miss out!

The event will take place at the Chiswick gallery: 19 Grove Park Terrace, London, W4 3QE. Drinks and refreshments will be served.

We ask that attendees donate £10 to the Joanna Bird Foundation to support our upcoming talks and projects.

Thank you to the wonderful crowd who came to our Artists Talk last night. In particular a special thank you to Alex Toscano and the three artists Kaja Upelj, Sara Moorhouse, and Sara Dodd whose generosity of spirit made it such an illuminating evening. The wide variety of topics spanned from the rolling fields of Nottinghamshire to NASA’s ventures in outer space, as well as the physical demands on an audience and the role of light and colour in creating illusion.

Alex Toscano was a former director of Trinity Fine Art, a gallery specialising in Old Master Sculpture, Painting and Drawings, where she worked since 1988. During this time she has served on the committees of the Society of London Art Dealers, Master Drawings in London, and was Vice Chair of London Art Week until 2021.  She is currently a Trustee of the Friends of the Bargello, the glorious museum of sculpture in Florence, for whom she also undertakes the role of Administrative Development.

Join us for a tour with curator Joanna Bird at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery as she elaborates on the theme: A Fine Line: Modern Makers at Pitzhanger.

Hear how each of the exhibition’s artists, including Emmanuel Boos, Joseph Harrington and Prue Cooper and a host of other makers have been placed in the context of Soane’s manor to uncover connections across craft, design, and history.

Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery
Ealing Green, London W5 5EQ
(closer tube station Ealing Broadway)

We are delighted to announce the final evening event of our summer exhibition Serendipity, Open House & Garden on 12th July from 5.00 to 9.00 pm, at Joanna Bird Gallery, 19 Grove Park Terrace, W4 3QE.
Join us for a glass of fizz and a stroll around the garden, followed by viewing an exquisite collection of contemporary and historic works. RSVP essential

If you are travelling by car, please make sure you enter Chiswick via Sutton Court Road to avoid any fines.

Joanna Bird Gallery, 19 Grove Park Terrace, W4 3QE
open until Saturday 13th July
Tuesday – Saturday, 10.00 am – 5.00 pm, and by appointment.

Join us at London Craft Week 2024 for a unique encounter with Joanna Bird at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery as she delves into A Fine Line: Modern Makers at Pitzhanger between noon and 2pm on 18th May.

This informal session offers an exclusive look at how the exhibition’s artists, including Emmanuel Boos and Prue Cooper, resonate with Sir John Soane’s architectural mastery. Drop in to uncover the intertwined stories of craft, design, and history through ceramics and glass.

Book your ticket HERE.

The event will take place at: Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, Ealing Green, London W5 5EQ (10 minutes from the Elizabeth line).

Join us for a special late-night reception for A Fine Line: Modern Makers at Pitzhanger as part of London Craft Week 2024. Joanna Bird will be in conversation with artists Joseph Harrington and Gregory Warren Wilson. Together, they will explore the intricate interplay between the disciplines of ceramics, glass and architecture and offer us a rare glimpse into the creative process behind new works inspired by Sir John Soane’s aesthetic and architectural legacy.

Guests will have the opportunity to explore A Fine Line: Modern Makers at Pitzhanger displayed throughout the manor house before the talk begins.

Buy your tickets HERE.

The event will take place at: Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, Ealing Green, London W5 5EQ (10 minutes from the Elizabeth line).

Wednesday 13th December, 6.30–8.30 pm.

Please join us for a fascinating evening with potter Prue Cooper, in association with the Joanna Bird Foundation.

Prue’s dishes are meant to be used and enjoyed, slip decorated press-moulded earthenware is an approachable and friendly medium. The designs reflect her view of life, celebrating friendship and the sharing of simple pleasures. Some dishes have inscriptions, which are not separate from the designs but integral to the whole both in form and meaning. The overall design echoes the sense of the words (as a tune echoes the sense of the lyric).

Work by Prue is on view as part of our current exhibition, The Joy of Things to Come, in our Chiswick gallery and on our website.

For more information, call us on 020-8995-9960 or email info@joannabird.com

Donations welcomed towards the Joanna Bird Foundation.

RSVP is essential for all events.

Wednesday 22nd November, 6.30–8.30 pm

Please join us for a conversation between Martina Margetts, writer, curator, lecturer, former Editor of Crafts and Senior Tutor in Critical & Historical Studies with the artist Pam Su, in association with the Joanna Bird Foundation.

Work by Pam is on view as part of our current exhibition, The Joy of Things to Come, in our Chiswick gallery and on our website.

For more information, call us on 020-8995-9960 or email info@joannabird.com

Drinks and canapés will be served. Donations welcomed towards the Joanna Bird Foundation.

RSVP is essential for all events.

Wednesday 19th July 2023, 6 pm

Please join us on the exhibition closing night  for a talk and tour of the house and garden.
An evening not to be missed!

For more information, call us on 020-8995-9960 or email info@joannabird.com

Suggested donation of £5 towards the Joanna Bird Foundation.

RSVP is essential for all events.

Wednesday 28th June 2023, 6.30 – 8.00pm

Please join us for a conversation with ceramicist William Plumptre.

Following his ceramic design studies at Chelsea College of Art, William Plumptre travelled to Japan where he learned with the Japanese National Treasure, Tatsuzō Shimaoka. He returned to England and established his first pottery in 1987, and since 1994 Plumptre has been working from his studio in the Lake District.

Work by William is on view as part of our current exhibition, Rites of Passage, in our Chiswick gallery and on our website.

For more information, call us on 020-8995-9960 or email info@joannabird.com

Suggested donation of £15 towards the Joanna Bird Foundation.

RSVP is essential for all events.

Wednesday 21st June 2023, 6.30 – 8.00pm

Please join us for an artist talk, featuring Akiko Hirai and Gregory Warren Wilson.

Akiko makes a variety of wares, drawing from the Japanese tradition of allowing the clay to influence her in how she decorates and fires her work. The interaction between object and viewer enables the viewer to discover the language of her practice in their own way. Her unique approach to ceramics has been highly acclaimed, her work is much in demand internationally.

Gregory Warren Wilson is an artist and prize-winning poet. His work in glass plays with the translucent nature of the material, using multiple layers of hand-cut sections glass and tesserae to allow light to interact with the colours spatially. His designs sometimes take as their starting point a fragment of poetry, resulting in a glasswork that exists in its own right while alluding to the original literary source.

Works by Akiko and Gregory are on view as part of our current exhibition, Rites of Passage, in our Chiswick gallery and on our website.

For more information, call us on 020-8995-9960 or email info@joannabird.com.

Suggested donation of £15 towards the Joanna Bird Foundation.

RSVP is essential for all events.

Wednesday 14th June 2023, 6.30 – 8.00pm

Please join us for our first talk of our latest exhibition, Rites of Passage, featuring Julian Stair, Carina Ciscato and Matthew Warner in conversation.

Julian Stair OBE is an English potter and historian who works in London, and studied at Camberwell School of Art and the Royal College of Art. His work ranges from modest homeware to monumental vessels, but retains his unique modernist style throughout. Julian’s essays have been published by the Courtauld Institute, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Tate Gallery and the Yale Centre for British Art.

Carina Ciscato is a Brazilian potter from São Paulo, who moved to South London in September 1999, where she worked in the studio of Julian Stair and Edmund de Waal. Her work captures the fluidity of clay as she masterfully alters and re-assembles the thrown forms with a natural sense of balance, form and material.

Matthew Warner completed his BA at Camberwell College of Art in 2010. He went on to study under Julian Stair and now works from his studio in South East London. He takes inspiration from the work of the 18th century potter, Josiah Wedgwood, and from historic cultural research.

Works by Carina and Matthew are on view as part of our latest exhibition, Rites of Passage, in our Chiswick gallery and on our website.

For more information, call us on 020-8995-9960 or email info@joannabird.com

Suggested donation of £15 towards the Joanna Bird Foundation.

RSVP is essential for all events.