Selected biography
Claire Curneen
Born 1968 Ireland
Education
1986–90 Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork
Diploma in Art and Design (Ceramics)
1990–91 Postgraduate Diploma In Applied Arts
University of Ulster, Belfast
1991–92 MA Ceramics, University of Wales
Institute Cardiff
Exhibitions Include
1996 Philip Eglin and Claire Curneen,
Contemporary Applied Arts, London
1997 New Work, Claire Curneen, Ruthin Craft Centre, (solo, tour, catalogue).
Oriel 31, Newtown, Powys
Model House, Llantrisant Cleveland Craft Centre, Middlesbrough mac Birmingham
The City Gallery, Leicester 1998 Ceramic Series/Claire Curneen, Aberystwyth Arts Centre (catalogue).
2000 ‘New Masters, Old Masters’, Oxford Gallery, Oxford
‘Firing Imagination’, British Council Exhibition, Sao Paulo, Brazil (catalogue)
‘Made at the Clay Studio’,
The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, USA
2001 Figurative Ceramics, Crafts Council shop at the V&A, London
2002 Claire Curneen and Heather Belcher, CAA, London
SOFA Chicago, USA
2003 ‘Flower Power’, Norfolk Museum
& Archaeology Service and Sheffield Galleries
& Museum Trust, (catalogue)
‘Telltale; narratives in contemporary craft’, Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead (catalogue).
‘augenblicken’ Kunstforum Kirchberg, Switzerland
2004 ‘Succour’ – Claire Curneen, Ruthin Craft Centre, (solo, tour, catalogue)
‘Faith’ Nottingham Castle Museum (catalogue)
‘Collect’ at the V&A, represented by CAA London
SOFA Chicago, represented by CLAY, LA.
2005 Showcase at Manchester Art Gallery
(DVD, catalogue and slide set)
The International Art & Design Fair, New York, represented by Adrian Sassoon
2006 ‘Collect’ at the V&A, Ruthin Craft Centre
‘One Piece one Artist’ Galerie Marianne Heller, Germany
‘Narratives’ Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea.
‘Collecting Contemporary Ceramics’ Ruthin Craft Centre
‘The Human Condition’, the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
‘Figurative Ceramics’ Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, USA
2007 ‘Secondary Relics’ Blackswan Gallery, Frome
‘menschenbild’ Galerie Kunstforum
Solothurn, Switzerland
2008 ‘Myths and Legends’, Contemporary Applied Arts, London
‘ Claire Curneen’ Ruthin Craft Centre,
(solo, catalogue)
2009 British Ceramics. Bavarian Crafts Council, Germany
‘Otherworldly Messages’, Galerie Marianne Heller, Germany
‘Collect’ Saatchi Galleries, CAA, London
2010 ‘Pretty young Things’ Lacoste Gallery, Boston, USA
‘Claire Curneen and Olivia Chargue’, Le Don du Fel, France
‘Passage’ Craft in the Bay, Cardiff
‘Parings’ collaboration with textile designer
Alison Welsh, MMU Manchester
Contemporary British Studio Ceramics,
The Grainer Collection, Mint Museum, Charlotte, USA
2011 Beaux Arts, Bath (solo)
‘Placement’ Ceramic Connections Wales/
Scotland, Oriel Davies, Mid Wales
2011 ‘Lost Certainty’ Claire Curneen and Alice Kettle, CAA, London
‘3x2’, The Shed, Galway, Ireland
2012 ‘Never Never’ Aberystwyth Arts Centre
‘Reflection’ Galerie Kunstforum Solothurn, Switzerland
New World: Timeless Vision IAC exhibition, New Mexico Museum of Art, USA ‘When I Woke’ Llantarnam Grange Arts. Centre (curator, with catalogue)
IAC members exhibition, New World: Timeless Vision, Santa Fe, USA
2013 ‘New Blue and White’ Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
Claire Curneen, La Ferme de la Chapelle, Switzerland
2014 ‘To This I Put My Name’ Mission Gallery,
Swansea and Ruthin Craft Centre
(solo, tour, catalogue)
New York Ceramics Fair, Ferrin Gallery
‘Collect’ Saatchi Galleries, Ruthin Craft Centre
2015 ‘To This I Put My Name’ Kunstforum
Solothurn, Switzerland
2015 ‘Fragile’ National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
2017 ‘Tending the Fires’ Collect Open,
Saatchi Gallery, London
2017 ‘Cusp’ Ruthin Craft Centre
Residencies
2000 Crawford Arts Centre, St. Andrews, Scotland
2000 The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, USA
Awards and competitions 1995 Crafts Council Setting up Grant.
1999 Ceramics Monthly Magazine USA – Winner of the sculpture category
2001 Selected for the 52nd International Competition for Contemporary
Ceramic Art, Faenza, Italy
2001 Le Prix de I’AMN
2001 National Eisteddfod of Wales, Gold Medal in Craft & Design
2003 Selected for World Ceramic Biennale 2003 Korea International Competition
2003 Shortlisted for the Arts Foundation Award for Ceramics
2004 Selected for 1st European Ceramics Competition, Greece
2005 Selected for 3rd World Ceramic Biennale, Korea International Competition
2005 Creative Wales Award, Arts Council of Wales 2008 Taiwan International Ceramics Biennale Competition, Taipei Ceramic Museum
2012 Creative Wales Ambassador Award
‘The Museum Object as a point of Reference’
2012/13
2017 ‘Tending The Fires’ Collect Open, Saatchi
Gallery, London. Awarded the Outstanding
Exhibit by the Crafts Council
2020 Baroque and Berserk, Walker Art Gallery.
2022 here after Bridge Projects Los Angeles
2022 Anima Mundi Gallery
Public collections
Ulster Museum, Belfast
Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork
Crafts Council, London
Limerick City Art Gallery, Limerick
National Museums and Galleries of Wales, Cardiff
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Shipley Art Gallery, Tyne & Wear Museums, Gateshead
Sara and David Lieberman Collection,
Arizona State University, USA
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Cleveland Crafts Centre, Middlesbrough
Icheon World Ceramic Centre, Korea
National Museum of Scotland
Oldham Museum, Manchester
York Museum, England
Taipei Ceramics Museum, Taiwan
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
Mint Museum, Charlotte, Carolina, USA
Kennedy Museum of Art, USA
Bird Figure
60 x 18cm, 2013
Periodicals include
Ceramic Monthly, International Competition, 1999
Ceramics Art and Perception, issue 38 1999
‘Searching for Answers’ by Sarah James Ceramic Review, issue 195, 2002
‘A melancholy Beauty’ by Nicholas Lees
Kerameiki Techni, issue 42, 2002
‘The Role of Narrative in Claire Curneen’s Ceramics’ by Natasha Mayo
Keramik Magazin, issue 4, 2003 ‘Contemplation’ by Ian Wilson
New Ceramics, issue 5, 2005, profile on Claire
Curneen by Amanda Fielding (German & English)
Ceramics Arts and Perception, article by Alex
McErlain, issue 62, 2005/2006
Ceramics Arts and Perception, review of
‘Pretty Young Things’ Lacoste Gallery,
Massachusetts by Christine Temin 2011
Boston Globe, ‘New Blue and White’ at the MFA,
March 2013
New Ceramics, 5/14, Shifthing States:
Liminal Narratives in the work of Claire Curneen by Catherine Roche, 2014
Craft Arts International, ‘To This I Put My Name’ by Laura Gray, 2014 CCQ issue 3, 2014 ‘An In-between Space’ by Catherine Roche Crafts Magazine, Claire Curneen ‘Body of
Evidence’ Emma Crichton Miller, 2017
Ceramic Review July/Aug Claire Curneen
‘Emotional Metaphors’ Andy Christian, 2017
Books
‘The Figure in Fired Clay’ by Betty Blandino,
A&C Black Ltd, 2001
‘The Human Form in Clay’ by Jane Waller,
Crowood Press Ltd, 2001
‘Ceramic Figures’ by Michael Flynn,
A&C Black Ltd, 2002
500 Figures in Clay, Lark Books, USA, 2004
World Famous Ceramic Artist Studios, (volume 1 Europe) by Bai Ming
‘Confrontational Ceramics’ by J. Schwartz, USA.
‘Masters in Porcelain’ Lark Books, USA
‘Breaking the Mould’ Black Dog Publishing, UK ‘Contemporary Ceramics – A Global Survey
of Trends and Traditions’ Emmanuel Cooper,
Thames and Hudson
‘Modern British Studio Ceramics and their studios’, David Whiting, Photography Jay Goldmark, 2009 ‘Ghost Trawler’ by Micheal Fanning, A poetry book. The publication is a collaboration between artists and the poet. Published by Sommerville Press, Ireland, 2010
‘Pairings’, monologues & dialogues’ MMU, 2010
‘Contemporary British Studio Ceramics’ Yale Unversity Press, New Haven and London with the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, North Carolina, USA Ceramics, tools and techniques for the contemporary maker, by Louisa Taylor, 2011 IAC members exhibition, New World: Timeless Vision,
Santa Fe, USA, 2012
Ceramics and The Human Figure by Edith Garcia
Professional memberships include
Selected Makers slide index, Crafts Council, London
Contemporary Applied Arts, London
International Academy of Ceramics, Geneva
Television and Radio ‘Kaleidoscope’ BBC Radio 4, 1997, review of Ruthin exhibition by Emmanuel Cooper ‘The Art’ BBC 2, short film of artist at work
Lecturing
Senior Lecturer, Centre for Ceramic Studies,
Cardiff Metropolitan University