Internationally recognised artist Kate Newby has been confirmed as the Judge of the 2024 Portage Ceramic Awards, Aotearoa’s best-known, annual survey of contemporary ceramics. Newby will select the finalists ahead of their announcement in October and present the Awards at the prestigious launch event on 21 November, organised and hosted as it is each year by Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery in Titirangi. ̄ Of her appointment, Newby says:
“Clay is in my roots. As a child, I drank Milo from a Barry Brickell mug, ate dinner off a Chester Nealie plate, and helped my father fire a Warren Tippett kiln. Embedded in my formative years are visits to pottery exhibitions and potteries to view the works of local potters. Now, 35 years later, my journey has brought me full circle. Being invited to judge the prestigious Portage Ceramic Awards is a huge honour. I never cease to be astounded by the versatility and joy of clay: how its qualities are made manifest in practical applications such as cups, floors, and rooftops, as well as through abstract and instantaneous expressions. I eagerly await the opportunity in November 2024 to witness and celebrate the innovative ways in which artists embrace the power of clay in their work.”
Newby has family ties to the West Coast and has established a global reputation as one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most exciting artists working within the field of expanded ceramics. Her appointment as Judge will ensure the continuation of fresh perspectives in the Portage Ceramic Awards.
Newby received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2001 from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in 2007 and a Doctor of Fine Arts in 2015. Significant solo exhibitions include: Had us running with you, Michael Lett 3 East St (2023); YES TOMORROW, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi (2021); I can’t nail the days down, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2018) and Let me be the wind that pulls your hair, Artspace, San Antonio (2017). Recently, work by Newby has been included in the group presentations: underfoot, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland (2024); Our Ecology: Toward a Planetary Living, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2023); Intimate Confession is a Project, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, Texas (2023); Robin, Dove, Swallow, Thrush, Monte Castello di Vizio, Italy (2022); Walls to Live Beside, Rooms to Own: The Chartwell Show, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Auckland (2022) and Réclamer la Terre / Reclaim the Earth, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2022). In 2012 Newby was awarded the Walters’ Prize, Aotearoa New Zealand’s premiere contemporary art award, by international judge Mami Kataoka. She has exhibited in the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018), the 1st Brussels Biennial for Contemporary Art (2008) and the Sao Paolo Biennale (2004). In 2017 Newby undertook the prestigious Chinati Foundation residency at Marfa, Texas.
PORTAGE CERAMIC AWARDS Established in 2001, the Portage Ceramic Awards is a hallmark event for Aotearoa’s ceramics community, showcasing some of the best work currently being made, and serving as a platform for dialogue about developments in the field of ceramics. The selection of finalist works for the 2024 Portage Ceramic Awards is a two-stage process. Approximately 20 works will be chosen by Judge Kate Newby for exhibition. The 2024 finalists will be announced on 7 October. There is one Premier Award winner and up to three Merit Award winners, who will be announced at the Awards Night held at Te Uru in Titirangi, Tamaki Makaurau Auckland on ̄ Thursday 21 November. The Judge’s floor talk will take place on one of the first two Saturdays of the exhibition (23 or 30 November). Finalist works will be exhibited at Te Uru from 22 November 2023 – 2 February 2025. More
Image: Kate Newby on residency at Fogo Island, 2013. Photographer: Steffen Jagenburg.