Peter Fitzgerald – stoneware sculpture

posted in: Artists | 0

Peter Fitzgerald, who is primarily a sculptor, has for much of his career used coiled stoneware as the medium to explore his fascination with heads and faces and I include some his work for the very first time in my mixed exhibition of ceramics last November. That proved very successful and has prompted me to obtain a further four pieces of work that will be part of my Spring Exhibition that begins on Thursday 27th April 2017. More details of that show can be found on the website under “Exhibitions”, using the link above, but the four pieces in question are shown here.

Peter Fitzgerald "Stories".
Peter Fitzgerald: “Stories” – painted stoneware sculpture.

Peter, who was born in London studied at the Central School of Art and then Camberwell School of Art where much of his time was devoted to painting. Before college his interests had been Cubism, Futurism and Vorticism and this interest in semi abstraction was reawakened after Camberwell by visits to the V&A and British Museum where he became increasingly aware of arts and crafts produced by non-European cultures. As Peter states, “Serendipity and the discovery of faces and heads by playing with colours, shapes and forms is the core of what I do. Put basically this is the ideas inherent in Synthetic Cubism. At first they appear abstract, but with closer viewing, the heads gradually become evident”.

Although Peter Fitzgerald wouldn’t ever consider himself a potter, he was drawn to using the very traditional material of clay which he coils to produce his forms, material and method dating back to some of prehistoric man’s earliest creations. Once fired, surface colour is applied to the sculpture in numerous layers with sanding back between them, a process that reveals the sculpture’s history.

Peter has only shown his work intermittently in the past, having concentrated on his teaching career. However, despite this he has exhibited in Berlin, Paris and the States, as well as in London with Anatol Orient in the 1980s.

Peter Fitzgerald "Hedgeing" and "About To"
Peter Fitzgerald: “Hedgeing” and “About To” – painted stoneware sculptures.
Peter Fitzgerald "Looking Up"
Peter Fitzgerald: “Looking Up” – painted stoneware wall sculpture.