Bruce McLean : Sculptures of Jugs and Paintings of Sculptures of Jugs

CCA Galleries International is pleased to present an exhibition of new and recent works by Scottish artist Bruce McLean. The exhibition comprises ceramic sculptures of jugs, and paintings of these same sculptures, all produced between 2022 and 2023.

The exhibition’s title is characteristically straight-talking, as McLean makes plain that we shall encounter the same subject matter in paint and in sculpture (indeed, in painted sculptures). The artist’s ceramics are presented adjacent to, and in alternation with, their respective paintings, presented not as separate series but rather as a family of works. McLean’s jugs can be gazed at against bold, sharp backgrounds and perambulated around upon their plinths. Central to the exhibition are McLean's ceramic sculptures: jugs that vary from the functional to the whimsical, each piece a study in form, whether squat, spikily pointed or wonkily towering. These ceramics serve as both subject and object, inviting viewers into a dialogue that bridges art and its everyday subjects. The jugs, stripped to their essential shapes, become symbols on their own as well as within the paintings.

McLean was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1961 to 1963, and at Saint Martin's School of Art, London, from 1963 to 1966. At Saint Martin's, McLean studied with Anthony Caro and Phillip King. In reaction to what he regarded as the academicism of his teachers he began making sculpture from rubbish.

 

McLean's work has been exhibited in prestigious venues and is part of significant collections worldwide, including the Tate Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. His pieces have been showcased in major exhibitions such as “When Attitudes become Form” at Kunsthalle Bern, “New Spirit in Painting” at the Royal Academy of London, “Zeitgeist” in Berlin, and various Documentas, as well as the Venice Biennale.

 

The show will be open until Friday April 12, 2024. 

If you are unable to visit the exhibition in person click  HERE to view the catalogue online.