Two important Auckland events - Mark Cleverley designer

Mark Cleverley was a very influential designer who worked at Crown Lynn through the 1970s.  In Auckland there are two events showcasing him and his work:

• A talk by Mark at the Going West books and readers Festival on Saturday 13 September
• An exhibition at the Objectspace gallery in Ponsonby which runs until 11 October

 

The Going West Festival

The Going West Festival talk is a must see - it will feature Mark Cleverley talking about his work, especially his time at Crown Lynn. I will also be on stage, along with Jonty Valentine who did much of the research for the exhibition at Objectspace.  I am anticipating that most of the hour-long session will be Mark telling us about his time at Crown Lynn - what he designed, why he designed it, where his inspiration came from, etc etc. There is a $15 entry fee; $12 concession. The session is chaired by Objectspace director Philip Clarke.
Venue: Titirangi War Memorial Hall, 500 Titirangi Road, Titirangi, Auckland
Time: 9.00 am on Saturday 13 Sept 2014
Here is the full website for the Going West Festival - a wonderful weekend to be had! Friday 12 Sept-Sunday 14.

The exhibition
The Mark Cleverley: Objectspace Master of Craft exhibition covers Marks entire career - as well as Crown Lynn, he designed for many other media including packaging and stamps.  It is well worth a visit - and don't leave it too long, it closes on 11 October. To accompany the exhibition a book written by Jonty Valentine and  Sherry Blankenship has just been published by Bateman. Here is a nice review on Design Assembly which features gorgeous pics from the book!
Venue: Objectspace, 8 Ponsonby Rd, not far from the intersection with Great North Rd and Karangahape Rd.
Closes 11 October 2014

Mark Cleverley worked at Crown Lynn through the 1970s, after coming to their notice through consistent successful entries in the annual design competition.  Mark is a very accomplished designer who has received a number of prestigious awards. He taught at Wellington Polytechnic and Victoria University after leaving Crown Lynn.

Here are some pics from the exhibition, courtesy Ev Williams.  Below we see three experimental designs at the rear, with golden Sundowner, Purple Myrtle and Ellerslie hotel ware in the foreground.

Here is the classy ware made for Bellamy's restaurant at the Beehive. Truly elegant in rich browns with a slight purplish iridescence when the light is right.These examples came from Parliamentary Services.

Lastly, here are two popular patterns Mark is proud of - Palm Springs on the left and Ponui on the right.

And here, for a wee treat, are my pics of some of my favourite designs by Mark Cleverley.
This is Ponui:

Juliana (rare in New Zealand)

My precious Bellamy's plate.  To my knowledge this ware was never released on the open market so I am very glad I stumbled upon one years ago in an op shop.

Lovely cool elegant Apollo.  This shape used to be very easy to come by, but now its not often found in the shops - I guess people have realised what a pleasure it is to use.

More soon
See you at Going West at 9.00 am on Saturday 13 September!
ValM