Caffell, Piper, Whybrow, Woodhouse - an exhibition of recent paintings and ceramics

ELEVEN AND A HALF is delighted to present this show of recent work by four of Cornwall’s foremost contemporary artists. Like many artists before them, each was drawn to the rugged beauty of the Penwith peninsula. Each has interpreted the ancient forms of the landscapeand coastline in their own way. All four follow in the best traditions of the St Ives Modernist School of the mid-twentieth century.

Colin Caffell produces high-alkaline-glazed stoneware pottery fired in an electric kiln. These are hand thrown, thrown and coiled, or composite original works mainly inspired by views of the Atlantic Ocean from Sennen Cove. Colin's greatest challenge with these 'seascape' pots is to get glaze colours, which are basically chemical reactions, to behave in a painterly way, like pigments. Colin developed his skills as a ceramicist at Camberwell School of Art in London, where he was taught to throw and design pots by Ian Godfrey, Colin Pearson, Glenys Barton and Ewen Henderson amongst others. His greatest influence, however, has probably been Lucie Rie, to whom he has always been grateful for the time she gave him at her studio.

John Piper was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire in 1946 and moved to Cornwall while still at school. He soon discovered the contemporary paintings being shown in St Ives and first exhibited his own work in the late 1960s. He taught painting, drawing and ceramics in schools in Penzance for twenty years before leaving in order to paint full time. Strongly influenced by the countryside of West Cornwall, John is well known for his paintings of the moors, carns, headlands and cliffs that characterise this landscape. Looming skies or large expanses of moorland create a dramatic, often stark effect. John’s work for this show represents a departure from the heavily textured, layered approach to his recent painting. Instead, pencil drawings on an oil wash hark back to his stylised rock formations of the 1980s.

Terry Whybrow was born in 1932 in St Pancras, London. He trained and worked as a furniture designer for many years before moving to Cornwall in 1980 and taking up painting full-time. Upon moving to Cornwall Terry was heavily influenced by the abstract movement that had been based in St Ives in the mid-twentieth century, in particular Sir Terry Frost. Reversing the trend of many artists, the shapes and forms of his early work gradually developed into the fruit and bowls of the still-lifes for which he has become well-known, whilst always retaining a strong sense of composition and structure from his design background. His works have a serene and tranquil nature that belies Terry’s meticulous approach to their painting. The paintings exhibited in his show represent a recent shift in style to a more unfinished, incomplete effect. The result is reminiscent of paintings produced by Ben Nicholson, also in St Ives.

Jenny Woodhouse spent much of her childhood in Cornwall. After a period undertaking various art projects outside the county she returned to live there in 1983. She studied Fine Art at Falmouth College of Art and today lives and works in St Ives. Jenny's seascapes tend not to depict a specific place but a feeling for the natural environment and the elements of West Cornwall. Inspired by observations made on walks around the coast of Penwith, Jenny's paintings are completed back in her studio in St Ives. There she builds up layer upon layer of paint, often scratching
into the surface to create texture and form. The final result is somewhere between abstraction and figuration but clearly convey the essence of the Cornish coast, its isolation and its drama. This is Jenny’s first exhibition with ELEVEN AND A HALF.