Internationally acclaimed designer-maker John Hinchcliffe to hold first solo exhibition at Crafts Study Centre

Press release

3 January 2006 - England's new museum of modern crafts, the Crafts Study Centre at the University College for the Creative Arts at Farnham is pleased to announce a forthcoming exhibition by John Hinchcliffe to be held 7 March to 1 July 2006.

John Hinchcliffe: recent work is a major new show by the internationally acclaimed designer-maker. John Hinchcliffe trained in Textile Design at Camberwell College of Art and Design and at the Royal College of Art. In the 1970s he swiftly established a reputation for innovative and colourful textiles, of which there are significant examples in the Crafts Council and the V & A Museum collections.

Commenting on the exhibition, Professor Simon Olding, Director of the Crafts Study Centre said, "This exhibition for the Crafts Study Centre is the result of two year's research and development. It brings all of Hinchcliffe's signature interests in the rich exploration of colour and surface decoration to the forefront. He has worked with paper, cloth, plastic, and ceramic, to create abstract and highly sculptural works. His interest in the coherent 'look' of the decorated room is also explored, and the exhibition will reveal not only individual works, but also their relationship to each other in a careful installation."

In the 1980s Hinchcliffe produced innovative studio ceramics and printed textiles in collaboration with Wendy Barber, painter and tapestry weaver. He set out to foster new methods of working with industry. The "Hinchcliffe and Barber" creations sold internationally to numerous stores including Harrods, Harvey Nichols and the John Lewis partnership in the UK, Lord and Taylor in New York, and Isitan in Japan. Their work was featured extensively in the new style magazines.

With the demise of the UK ceramic industry in the late 1990's Hinchcliffe and Barber ceased all commercial production in order to concentrate on their individual areas of interest. Hinchcliffe experimenting with a great variety of materials, always pushing the boundaries between art, craft and design. He felt increasingly that the crafts produced in the studio environment in particular were becoming an anachronism and that objects were becoming less to do with function and more an intellectual exercise.

This exhibition at the Crafts Study Centre has enabled Hinchcliffe to experiment extensively and come to an exciting conclusion as the pieces shown demonstrate. John Hinchcliffe is the author of three books each covering different areas of his knowledge and skills: Rugs from Rags Orvis 1979, Ceramic Style 1994 and Print Style 1995 both Cassell. John has also done recent work for BBC Television. After a period in Normandy, Hinchcliffe moved back to Dorset where he currently combines his creative work with teaching art at Milton Abbey School.

A major new monograph on Hinchcliffe will be published by Canterton Books to coincide with the exhibition, written by Professor Olding. The Crafts Study Centre is grateful to Arts Council England for its grant towards publication and the exhibition.

ENDS