Angus Suttie
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Angus Suttie (1946 - 1993) A British studio potter. During the 1980s Angus developed a radical language for the vessel forms he created. Along with it a reputation as an inspirational teacher of ceramics, most notably at Morley College, London. Working principally with rolled slabs of leather-hard clay to create geometric forms, these he would then use as components in a process of cutting and reassembling to build larger elements, often in pastiche of traditional domestic objects such as jugs and teapots. His bold use of color further served to excite and add a sense of life to his objects which often stood on oddly positioned legs or balanced in disturbing ways.
[edit] Progression
As part of a developing tradition of abstraction in contemporary ceramics (he was taught at Camberwell School of Art by Ewen Henderson and Colin Pearson, both of whom had been students with the doyen of British ceramics of the latter half of the 20th century, Dame Lucie Rie) Angus' works became more plastic, less rectilinear, more organic in appearance and as time went on, much larger than their domestic counterparts. In addition they became more serious and the protrusions which might once have looked like sweet confections came to resemble rows of thorns or tank tracks. As work became larger and made in more vitreous Stoneware the palette available to him became less brilliant and structural concerns limited the frivolity in his wilder constructions.
[edit] A Tragically Short Career
Much has been made of the artist's tragically early death from HIV related illness and it is easy to read the aforementioned changes in the pattern of work as representative of, or even a metaphor for, the periods of incapacity he suffered in his later life. However, contemporaries closest to the artist for instance Henry Pim and Angus' great friend Sara Radstone appear to demonstrate some similar responses to a developing market for their increasingly collectable works.
[edit] The Artist Commentator
In addition to his observations on his own art he was a contributor to The Ceramic Review, Revue de la Ceramique et du Verre, Studio Pottery etc. and his works are held in most of the significant 20th century ceramics collections around the world (Victoria & Albert Museum, Crafts Council, The Fred Marer Collection-Otis Art Institute Los Angeles, The Smart Museum of Art-University of Chicago etc.).
