Julian Stair: Memory, Material, Ceramics

The first comprehensive account of the pioneering ceramic work of Julian Stair

Julian Stair (b. 1955) is one of the UK’s leading ceramic artists, with a prolific career spanning five decades. Exploring an extensive range of work in different materials and scales, this book uncovers Stair’s role as a key player in the development of studio ceramics. Not only is Stair highly regarded on the global stage, he is also recognised for redefining the field by renewing interest in throwing in the early 1990s, together with Joanna Constantinidis, which enabled younger artists such as Edmund de Waal and Rupert Spira to emerge. Ashley Thorpe’s engaging text gives a fascinating insight into Stair’s evolution, with the ceramic vessel at its centre. Making, exhibiting, lecturing, and publishing are key to Stair’s celebration of how pottery is intrinsic to human existence. Featuring a spectacular range of new works and specially commissioned photography throughout, this beautifully illustrated book reveals the many facets of Stair’s groundbreaking career.

＂The most profound themes of human existence, contained in a simple pot: this is where Julian Stair is today. In this beautiful book, readers learn how he got here, with many wonders on the way. It is not just a terrific read, but an essential text for those interested in the integration of conceptual depth and material intelligence.＂ - Glenn Adamson

＂Julian Stair’s work has an unparalleled breadth of expression and depth of resonance. Here at last is the beautiful reflection of his lifelong commitment to the art of ceramics. It reveals an artist who renews our understanding of the vessel, who makes us look and think anew. This is a truly special book.＂ - Edmund de Waal

＂This book is a testament to the tremendous intelligence of the hand and the ways in which artists continue the legacies of spiritual belief, sculpture, labour and the power of the vessel - big and small - to intimate the truths of our humanity... Julian’s work is a daily, rigorous meditation on the histories of clay and the possibilities of human achievement through this humble material.＂ - Theaster Gates

Ashley Thorpe is a lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London. Jago Cooper is executive director of the Sainsbury Centre and professor of art and archaeology at the University of East Anglia. Alun Graves is senior curator in the department of Decorative Art and Sculpture at the V&A, London.