Hawke's Bay artist Martin Poppelwell "hijacks our expectations of pottery", says The Suter's Acting Director Julie Catchpole. Serviette: Martin Poppelwell Ceramic Works 1993-2007 is on now at the Nelson gallery as part of a special Arts Festival programme. "His take on ceramics is not always conventional," comments Catchpole. "Humour, irony and fragments of text frequently inhabit his ceramics."Hawke's Bay artist Martin Poppelwell "hijacks our expectations of pottery", says The Suter's Acting Director Julie Catchpole. Serviette: Martin Poppelwell Ceramic Works 1993-2007 is on now at the Nelson gallery as part of a special Arts Festival programme. "His take on ceramics is not always conventional," comments Catchpole. "Humour, irony and fragments of text frequently inhabit his ceramics."In Serviette the primary medium is clay, but the medium is not necessarily the message. Poppelwell moves between painting and ceramics, one influencing the approach to the other. Working in clay has been a significant aspect of this artist's practice since 1993.

This survey shows a range of his works, from everyday items with a twist - like hand-thrown jugs, plates bowls and vessels - to multiples, objects such as his early grid series and biscuit cutter rabbits to medical cartoon plates and slip-cast skulls. Twenty years of accumulated ideas, points of inspiration, jottings, fragments and drawings are collaged together to establish the context for Poppelwell's artworks. Serviette is the first time a comprehensive overview of Martin's ceramics has been assembled together.

When: 15 September - 22 October 2007
Where: 208 Bridge Street, Nelson

There are three events associated with this exhibition:

Opening: Friday 14 September at 5.30pm Serviette Martin Poppelwell

Floortalk: Sunday 16 September at 2pm
"An era of necessity and the necessity of error" with Martin Poppelwell

Floortalk: Sunday 30 September at 2.00pm
Join Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins, one of New Zealand's best-known and most highly respected design writers, to discuss Martin Poppelwell's work.

20/9/07