After an 18-month closure, the refurbished Tate St Ives will reopen its doors on 31 March, showcasing a duo of exhibitions reflecting the ocean and landscape surrounding the museum in Cornwall. It marks the first stage in the landmark's ambitious overhaul, which in the autumn will see the completion of a new gallery space, enabling it to house a permanent collection of works throughout the year for the first time.
The Studio and The Sea, which runs until 3 September, is split into two parts. The first explores the work of British artist Jessica Warboys, whose specialisms include large-scale paintings that she creates on the beach using the sea and the movement of the waves to determine the distribution of paint on the canvas. For her first solo show in a UK national gallery she will be displaying a specially commissioned piece from this series – Sea Painting, Zennor 2015 – as well as a new film work, Hill of Dreams, inspired by Welsh fantasy writer Arthur Machen's book of the same name.
The second section of the exhibition will look at the rise of studio pottery in the UK, tracing 100 years of this craft through the work of some of its most prominent practitioners. Beginning by looking at some pivotal figures from the early 20th century, including the "father of studio pottery" Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, who was at the forefront of bringing Japanese influence into the British ceramics scene, it moves into the avant-garde Californian clay revolution of the mid-century, spearheaded by Peter Voulkos. Pieces by Gillian Lowndes and Richard Slee demonstrate how the 1970s and 1980s saw the potter's wheel cast aside for more freeform works, while the exhibition will also showcase contemporary creations, including a figurative new commission by Jesse Wine.
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