Press Release
Surface Treatment: an exhibition of
sculptural and decorative ceramics
Malcolm S. Dobson
The Mackintosh Church at Queen's Cross
April 13th to May 11th Open Monday,
Wednesday and Friday 10.00am – 5.00pm
‘Petro’
Malcolm Dobson will be showing two and three-dimensional sculptural and decorative
ceramics inspired by architecture, buildings and townscapes in an exhibition at the
Mackintosh Church at Queen’s Cross, Glasgow.
Malcolm uses multiple glazes and slips to create textures and layers of colour, echoing
patterns made by architectural elements. Surfaces are enriched with applied scraps of clay
and impressions and marks made by tools and found objects to evoke the colours and textures
of crumbling stone, rusting metal, and peeling & cracked paint.
The exhibition at the Mackintosh Church will include new, large scale wall pieces
incorporating found wood.
Malcolm says about his ceramic work:
“I enjoy walking around towns & cities observing the different textures and patterns of
building materials, and the form & structure of the buildings themselves. I use ceramic
materials – different clays, glazes and slips - not imitate these but to evoke the feelings I have
when I see them; to portray mood, feeling and emotion. What I am attempting is summed up
in Graham Sutherland’ words: ‘I found that I could express what I felt only by paraphrasing
what I saw. ... the mysteriously intangible must be made immediate and tangible, and vice
versa.’ “
Press Statement
Malcolm S. Dobson: Surface Treatment: an exhibition of sculptural and decorative ceramics
1
Exhibition details
The Mackintosh Church at Queen's Cross
April 13th to May 11th Open Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10.00am – 5.00pm
The Mackintosh Church is within easy reach of the City centre and the West End by
underground or bus.
The Mackintosh Church at Queen's Cross
870 Garscube Road
Glasgow G20 7EL
T: +44(0)141 946 6600 or +44(0)141 945 2321
F: +44(0)141 946 7276
W: www.crmsociety.com and www.mackintoshchurch.com
Technical information
Work is slab built, cast, or press moulded in stoneware or stoneware paperclay. The panels
are cast from stoneware paperclay on plaster slabs. Work is reduction fired to 1260 degrees
Celsius in a gas kiln.
Biographical information
Malcolm trained as a librarian, and started working with clay in evening classes in 1993.
After moving to Scotland in 1994 he concentrated on ceramics, developing his knowledge
through reading, practice, workshops run by the Scottish Potters Association and while
working as an assistant to Annabelle Meikle in Aberfoyle.
In 2003 he was accepted into the first cohort of students to study ceramics at the Glasgow
School of Art through its innovatory part-time, distance learning course, graduating with a
BA in 2009.
Work is shown at Number Four Gallery, St Abbs; Leith Gallery, Edinburgh, and has been
selected for the following joint exhibitions -
2009
Govanhill Baths: Doors Open Day exhibition
2009
Aberdeen Artists Society: Open exhibition
2010
Galanthus Gallery: Urban Landscapes Exhibition
2010/2011
Saltburn Artists’ Project Christmas exhibition: Off the shelf
2011
Govanhill Baths charity Art Auction
Publications
‘Impressive feat of clay’ Scotland on Sunday, 8/7/97
SAAC annual exhibition catalogue, 1997
‘Commemorating the Millennium’, Ceramics: Art & Perception No. 40, 2000
Press Statement
Malcolm S. Dobson: Surface Treatment: an exhibition of sculptural and decorative ceramics
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Further information -
On the exhibition, Malcolm Dobson, and the ceramics, and for images of work, contact:
Malcolm Dobson
Glasgow Ceramic Studio, The Wasps Factory, 77 Hanson Street, Glasgow G31 2HF
Tel: 07786942697
msd@camphill.u-net.com
www.msdceramics.co.uk
On the Mackintosh Church, contact:
Dylan Paterson
T: 0141 946 6600; 0141 945 2321
email: dylan@crmsociety.com
‘Flying the flag for Glasgow’
‘Rusting roof’
Press Statement
Malcolm S. Dobson: Surface Treatment: an exhibition of sculptural and decorative ceramics
3