Emmanuel COOPER

View in collection Dr Emmanuel Cooper OBE (HonDFA) was born in a Derbyshire mining area. He trained at Hornsey College of Art and set up his own pottery in 1963 in London. He became one of the most significant figures in the British ceramic and art scene as a maker, writer, lecturer, curator, and editor. He always maintained his practice producing thrown and modelled porcelain and stoneware. His work is characterized by clean, neat and functional forms, allied with Bernard Leach's concept of the primacy of form over decoration, although in appearance they are much closer to the work of Lucie Rie. Initially focused on tablewares, he later specialized in individual pieces, especially bowl and jug forms, distinguished by a range of innovative glazes in white, turquoise and yellow. Cooper was chair of the Craft Potters Association and was one of the founding editors of Ceramic Review in 1970. He continued as editor until 2010, overseeing a magazine that has expanded in its role and significance for over thirty years. An influential and extensive writer and broadcaster on the arts, his books include Ten Thousand Years of Pottery (2000) a biography of Bernard Leach (2002), Contemporary Ceramics (2009), Lucie Rie, Modernist Potter (2012)  as well as works on working-class art and homo-erotic art and photography. His work was celebrated in a major touring exhibition and publication of his ceramics produced by Ruthin Craft Centre in collaboration with the University of Derby in 2013/4.

Details

• Dates: (1938-2012)