Publications
Celebrating the centenary art publishers Arnoldsche have produced a beautifully illustrated new book. This is edited by Timothy Wilcox and includes essays by Tanya Harrod, Lesley Jackson and Conor Wilson, as well as artist statements by Tower.
Book Description: James Tower (1919–1988) is best known for his elegant forms in glazed earthenware. During a career spanning four decades, from the 1950s to the 1980s, he worked unceasingly in a wide variety of media to achieve an elusive harmony of shape and surface, form and decoration, inert material and active design. His personal understanding of the purpose and meaning of abstraction embodies a perpetual dialogue between the visible world and the unseen dynamics which shape it. This centenary volume of essays considers Tower’s entire output from a wide variety of perspectives, embracing paintings and drawings, as well as sculpture in bronze, terracotta and fibreglass. The contributions of leading critics and historians approach his work, situated at the junction of art, craft and design, in a broad historical and cultural context, illuminating key episodes in postwar British art, and Tower’s unique place within it.
The book is available to buy from Erskine, Hall & Coe for £26. Please email the gallery at mail@erskinehallcoe.com
'The Ceramic Art of James Tower,' Timothy Wilcox, Lund Humphries 2012
'James Tower was a unique figure in post-war British sculpture and this is the monograph that we have been eagerly awaiting. It presents his achievements with real conviction and will introduce him to the much larger world that his oeuvre demands' - Edmund de Waal
James Tower (1919 - 1988) is widely regarded as one of the most distinctive figures in post-war British ceramics. Since his death over 20 years ago, his work has been often cited for its dramatic visual qualities, its subtle exploration of the boundaries of art and craft, and its lyrical integration of references to nature and the cosmos into an essentially abstract language of form and surface decoration. This is the first single publication to be devoted to his work and will reveal to a new audience the extraordinary range and quality of his achievement. Tower's career was unusual in inhabiting the worlds of fine art and ceramics which, in the 1950s and 1960s, still had only a low level of inter-penetration. Teaching at Corsham brought him into contact with some of the pioneering painters of post-war abstraction, including William Scott, Peter Lanyon and Howard Hodgkin, and as a potter Tower showed his work alongside Bernard Leach and Lucie Rie, contributing to a re-definition of modern craft. During the 1960s and 1970s he worked in white earthenware and bronze, representing a diversity of sculptural practice during a period in which sculptors such as Anthony Caro and Phillip King were experimenting with new materials. From the late 1970s until his death, Tower concentrated again on glazed ceramic forms and was a highly original contributor to the 'New Ceramics'. This book provides a comprehensive visual document of Tower's work, incorporating a complete illustrated catalogue. It includes a detailed and authoritative biography, setting Tower in the social and artistic context in which he lived and worked. Appealing to all those with an interest in post-war art and design, contemporary ceramics and the recent history of art schools, The Ceramic Art of James Tower is set to be the standard source of reference on Tower's work, and a fascinating case-study of the cross-over between the worlds of art and craft.