Ralph at 80 is the title of Ralph Johnson’s solo exhibition that opens on 11 November at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery & Clay Museum in celebration of his 80th birthday.
Listen to the Sanlam Arts Round Up on Fine Music Radio FMR 101.3fm on Fridays at 17h30
Ralph Johnson’s celebrates his 80th birthday with his solo exhibition, Ralph at 80, plus 2 connected exhibitions Seed and Cube, at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery & Clay Museum.
The most significant highlight of his life says Ralph was to change careers and move into ceramics, a decision he made about 35 years ago. He had also marked his 60th and 70th birthdays with solo exhibitions and now continues that tradition on his 80th. The exhibition includes installations and a collection of 80 slip cast bottles.
Another highlight has been his more intimate involvement at Rust-en-Vrede, together with friend and fellow ceramist Hennie Meyer. During Covid, they looked at ways of putting more passion and commitment into the Cube – an installation of 90 cubes to exhibit ceramic works. The initiative is to find a ceramist or group working on a theme, to produce that many number of works. Focusing on Cube over the past 2 years has seen an increase in the number of visitors to the museum.
Ralph then talks us through the other two related exhibitions – Seed and Bowls.
Seed is an exhibition by Ralph’s current students and is made up of hundreds of porcelain pieces. Bowls is a selection of work by 30 ceramists who have at some stage been taught or mentored by Ralph. They responded to his request “to take it further”. [See below for more information of these exhibitions.]
He focuses on Rust-en-Vrede being a special space and a hidden treasure that they’d like more people to be aware of. This happens to be an excellent time for these exhibitions, because November is Ceramics Month.
So, best wishes to Ralph Johnson, and looking forward to seeing his new work and getting a sense of the influence he has had on ceramics in South Africa.
WHAT: Ralph at 80
WHERE: Rust-en-Vrede Gallery + Clay Museum, 10 Wellington Rd, Durbanville
WHEN: opening on Saturday 11 November 2023 at 11 am and closes on Saturday 9 December 2023
INFO: T 068 457 8589 | E gallery@rust-en-vrede.com | Visit
Rust en Vrede Gallery & Clay Museum [36]
The WHAT, WHY & WHERE of the
arts scene in around Cape Town
see the 2023 art craft + museums_map
and listen in to the Sanlam
Arts Round Up Fridays @17:30
on Fine Music Radio FMR 101.3fm
The FMR App makes it even easier to tune into the Sanlam Arts Round Up on Fridays! i-Phone HERE | Android HERE
Salon A – Ralph at 80 – A Solo Exhibition
As a self-confessed glaze junkie the new work shows many recently developed glazes and exciting new combinations. For this exhibition Ralph has made several large moon jar type vessels covered with highly textured glazed surfaces, an installation of 80 slip cast bottles as well as wheel thrown porcelain bowls and tea bowls. Included in the show is a wall piece consisting of test tiles used to develop his signature textured glazes accompanied by a special collection of tea bowls.
Ralph believes there are no limitations on creativity nor on materials. His philosophy is “know the rules first before you break them”.
CUBE – Bowl: Function to Fantasy; an exhibition exploring the creative possibilities of the familiar.
Connected to Ralph’s exhibition will be an installation in the CUBE in the Clay Museum by 30 ceramists who have at some stage been taught or mentored by Ralph. These former students were invited to create bowls which reflect his teaching philosophy of pushing boundaries and ‘taking it further’. To name a few participating ceramists: Hennie Meyer, Tamlin Blake, Wiebke von Bismarck, Vuyisa Potina and Nelis Koegelenberg.
Salon B – SEED: A ceramic exhibition inspired by Nature
Running concurrently with the above exhibitions is an exhibition by Ralph’s current students; Gavin Grieve, Ineke Nicolle, Sue Howard, Susan Lomas and Yvonne Martin. The title ‘Seed’ chosen as it encompasses all aspects of life and creative thought. For this exhibition the group has created both floor and hanging installations made up of hundreds of porcelain pieces based on flowers, seed pods and leaves. Alongside the installations will be groups of innovative containers, vases and sculptural vessels. An important aspect of this project was the dynamic of working as a group, exploring the exhibition space and curating an exhibition.
