Nick Renshaw - Visual Artist

Re:iterations - at the threshold

Projectruimte BMB
Kerkstraat 129a, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

September 14th 2024 to October 19th 2024

Vooruitzien - 25 Years Beeldenpark Drechtoevers

Oude Raadhuis
Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands

September 16th 2022 to October 23rd 2022

Ad Hoc

Galerie De Witte Voet
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

January 7th to February 5th 2017

Lecture: Sculpture, Ceramics and Artist Workcentres

Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
Guangzhou, China

May 27th 2016

Ad Hoc was a group exhibition held by Galerie De Witte Voet in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and was the first in a series of the same name presented over the first six months of 2017. These exhbitions were intended to show the diversity of artists and their work represented by the gallery during the course of its operation over the previous four decades. The gallery moves from its location of nearly half a century in Amsterdam in June 2017. The works I presented in the exhibition were made during a period in-residence at the Norhern Clay Center in the USA in 2007.

Nick Renshaw describes the development of his ceramic work over the past twenty five years and the influence of the different cultural backdrops encountered along the way. Nick has lived and worked all over the world, in the UK, the Netherlands, the US, and most recently in China. This lecture also describes ceramic practice in the context of ceramic work-centres, particularly the European Ceramic Workcentre (EKWC) in the Netherlands and how and why this institution has become the world leader it is today forms the basis of a book to be published later this year..

The exhibition Boundless Material was a two-person exhibition held at the Kui Yuan Gallery in Guangzhou in the south of China. A number of pieces from the series Tong An were presented, a series created in a historic district of the same name, now part of the city of Xiamen (formerly known as Amoy) in Fujian Province. The exhibition was held as part of the annual Dutch Days cultural season in China in which creative activities and professionals from the Netherlands are presented.

PechaKucha is an informal presentation format whereby a series of twenty images progress consecutively for twenty seconds each. The concept was devised in order to create an accessible and informative platform. This presentation focussed on the development of my creative practice from its origins, through a number of projects and public commissions, culminating in a description of the forthcoming publication of my research into the European Ceramic Workcentre in the Netherlands.

This lecture came from an invitation by the Department of Ceramics of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and focussed on two distinct areas of my work. Firstly, an account of my working practice to help give an understanding into the nature of my sculptural work. And secondly, a description of research I have undertaken in the field of artist residences and ceramic workcentres, with particular reference to the European Ceramic Workcentre, the focus of the forthcoming publication Demystified: The European Ceramic Workcentre as Centre of Excellence.

'Bold' was a two person exhibition in Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. A selection of sculptures from the series Myriad and Other Origins was made. Works from one series were coupled with one from the other, creating a complementary yet contrasting combination. Nick Renshaw lives and works intermittently between Europe and China. . The physical characteristics of the works are conceived through experiments with the material and can be viewed as a visualisation of the hidden personalities of the sculptures' (Tsjalling Venema).

This solo presentation of sculptures was installed to coincide with the opening of the new British Centre in the IFC, Guangzhou, in the south of China. The works presented are a new body of sculptures conceived under the title of 'Tong An'. They are formed using red clay and are the result of an extended process of modelling, casting, press-molding and ultimately firing using the age old Chinese technique of wood firing in a dragon kiln. Tong An refers both to the locality of their production in Fujian Province as well as its English meaning of 'staying peacefully together'.

Landscape II is the second of two monumental ceramic tile mural wall works. Landscape II clads a twenty five metre long by five metre high exterior wall of a head office and factory building. The mural is realised with the aid of twenty five thousand individual handmade tiles which combine together to create both a practical exterior for this part of the building as well as an enlarged fragment of the image of a landscape. The detail of the individual tiles and mural are prominent when observed from nearby, and when viewed from some distance the image as a whole becomes clearly visible.

Re-iterations: on the threshold This new series of works revisits, reimagines and reinvestigates many of the themes and areas of interest which have been of concern to Nick Renshaw during his three decades long, multifarious career as visual artist. His visualisations of the human form either as subject, as metaphor, or carrier of visual motifs have been consistent themes throughout the artist’s career, and these interests are further advanced to form the foundation of both this new series of works individually as well as in this exhibition as a whole.

This exhibition is one of a number of activities to celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of the Beeldenpark Drechtoevers Art Foundation. A selection of twelve artists represented in the sculpture routes of Zwijndrecht, Alblasserdam and Papendrecht will present their own work, alongside their choice of an artist under thrity five years of age. Twenty four artists then, plus the instigator of Beeldenpark Drechtoevers, Lucien den Arend. The exhibition will act in some form as a bridging function showing artists together in a duo presentation.

Beeldenpark Landgoed Anningahof was transformed from an area of meadow into a registered estate in 2004 and has hosted annual changing exhibitions ever since. The park's philosophy is to present the development of contemporary Dutch sculpture from 1960 to the present day. Next to works of old masters, that of well known contemporary artists and of young talent is also exhibited. Works in the park are made from both traditional as well as contemporary material and intimate relationships are created between the works and the natural surroundings in which they are presented.

In celebration of Sino-Dutch artistic and cultural exchange, the Chinese European Art Center (CEAC) will present the 14th edition of its Rolling Snowball exhibition program under the theme of 'Ni Hao?'. The exhibition will be hosted by the Xiamen Powerlong Art Center and the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Guangzhou and will feature thirty five artists, all of whom have engaged with CEAC's work in a multitude of ways, including former and current resident artists as well as key members of the local artistic community.

Ad Hoc V

Galerie De Witte Voet
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

April 29th to May 10th 2017

Ad Hoc V was the fifth in a series of presentations held under the same name and was a group exhibition organised to coincide with the publication of my research into the European Ceramic Workcentre (EKWC), Demystified: The European Ceramic Workcentre as Centre of Excellence. The exhibition presented work from artists who have both made work as artist-in-residence at the EKWC and who have also collaborated with Galerie De Witte Voet in the presentation of their work over the previous four decades.

As part of the public program in support of the Chinese European Art Center's exhibition Rolling Snowball / 8 Xiamen this lecture was given at the Times of Paper Bookstore in the Haicang district of Xiamen. The lecture focused on two principle themes. Firstly, the background and significance of Demystified, my recently published theory concerning the European Ceramic Workcentre, and secondly, a description of my visual arts practice over previous years in which background influences, underlying themes and modes of production were explained.

Ad Hoc III was a group exhibition held by Galerie De Witte Voet in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and was the third in a series of the same name presented over the first six months of 2017. These exhbitions were intended to show the diversity of artists and their work represented by the gallery during the course of its operation over the previous four decades. The gallery moves from its location of nearly half a century in Amsterdam in June 2017. Works I presented in this exhibition were from both the Other Origin and Myriad series.

Demystified: The European Ceramic Workcentre As Centre of Excellence

Publication
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Publication Launch April 30th 2017

Demystified: The European Ceramic Workcentre As Centre of Excellence is a publication based on my previous PhD research. It describes the complex system of operation that exists throughout the EKWC, how such an ideal working environment has developed, why this is unique to the EKWC, and why such excellence in practice is difficult to find in other related organisations around the world. The publication is a collaboration with publisher Jap Sam Books, graphic designer Montse Hernandez I Sala, and the EKWC itself.

Rolling Snowball / 8 Xiamen

Chinese European Art Center (CEAC)
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Xiamen, China

May 20th to June 18th 2017

Rolling Snowball / 8 Xiamen is the latest in a series of Rolling Snowball exhibitions. These exhibitions are group presentations organised and curated by the Chinese European Art Center and present the breadth and diversity of artists who have each, at one time or other, collaborated with the organisation during its eighteen years of activity. In this exhibition, forty artists from or based in either China or the Netherlands are presented. The works I exhibited are from two recent series of sculptures made using techniques of ceramic production used in this part of China for thousands of years.

The residency is a critical component of a ceramic artist's development. Over the past twenty five years, Northern Clay Center has acquired examples of stunning ceramic art from makers across the state, country and world. Each artist was, at some point in their professional career, in residence at the Center - in conjunction with an exhibition, through an emerging artist residency, or enabled by the McKnight Artist Residency for Ceramic Artists. NCC Residential highlights dozens of makers who've shared their vision, time and talents with the Center and its constituents as artist-in-residence.

The Restating Clay conference will bring together potters, artists, curators, academics, students, collectors, gallerists and enthusiasts from the UK and beyond, to share experiences and knowledge about the issues that matter to the sector. Delegates had the opportunity to engage in an exciting programme of talks, panel discussions, demonstrations, films, posters, store and exhibition visits. The conference was generously supported by a grant from Arts Council England's Museum Resilience Fund and was a collaboration between York Museums Trust, the University of York and York College.

Jury and expert team member for the Lucitopia Rural Design Challenge 2018. The challenge aims at defining and exploring the needs of the people and community of Qingliangshan, a rural district in the vicinity of Zixi, a town in Jiangxi Province. The challenge explores the possibilities for the regeneration, redevelopment and revitalisation of Chinese rural areas by taking full advantage of the local natural and cultural resources. The Challenge is held annually with a different theme each year and includes teams of young designers from various countries participating in the competition.

Galerie De Witte Voet 1975-2017

Museum Het Princessehof
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

December 8th 2018 to October 27th 2019

The Princessehof presents Galerie De Witte Voet 1975 - 2017. This Amsterdam gallery has been a household name among collectors, enthusiasts and museums. The exhibition shows the quality and diversity of work exhibited there over the past 42 years. Most works on display were purchased by the Princessehof via Galerie De Witte Voet. The often experimental works were made by artists from the Netherlands and abroad.The exhibition includes works by Satoru Hoshino, Maarten Heijkamp, Pablo Ponce, Nick Renshaw, Piet Stockmans and Irene Vonck, among others.

Rolling Snowball Nanjing

AMNUA / Art Museum Nanjing University of Art
Nanjing, China

December 15th 2018 to January 16th 2019

Rolling Snowball Nanjing was a group exhibition of fifty artists jointly organised and curated by the host AMNUA, the Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, and CEAC, the Chinese European Art Center. This exhibition is a further edition of the series of Rolling Snowball exhibitions organised by CEAC. In this edition AMNUA aims to recognise the importance of international and cultural exchange to artists as well as art in general. The two organising bodies each presented artists they have been associated with in recent years, including artists coming from both within and outside China.

Work In Progress was an exhibition of artists who collaborated with Galerie De Witte Voet before the gallery closed its exhibition space in Amsterdam in 2017 after more than 40 years as leading institution in the Dutch visual arts field. The exhibition took place in the gallery of Projectruimte BMB, the previous neighbour of Galerie De Witte Voet, and presented work which each artist has been developing during the previous period. For the exhbiition I presented two figures from the body of work Tong An, made using traditional, centuries old utilitarian ceramic techniques utilised in China.

Rolling Snowball / 12 Djupivogur

Chinese European Art Center
Djupivogur, Iceland

July 13th 2019 to August 18th 2019

Rolling Snowball / 12 Djupivogur was the twelfth in the series of exhibitions organised and curated by the Chinese European Art Center (CEAC), and the sixth in this series to be held in the small Icelandic fishing village of Djupivogur. The exhibition presented work by artists predominantly from China, Iceland and the Netherlands, each of whom have worked previously as artist-in-residence at CEAC in Xiamen. For the exhibition I presented two sculptures which incorporated new concepts and processes as part of the ongoing series of works entitled Tong An.

The Middle Zone was an exhibition hosted and curated by the Houtian Project in Xiamen. The premise for the exhibition as well as its title conjures ideas of the areas between, to that which is uncertain or perhaps undefined; a grey area. All artists in the exhibition, including myself, work or have studios in the vicinity of the Project's location in Houtian, a historic fishing village on the outskirts of the city. The Project operates in a number of ways to not only encourage experimental practice in the contemporary visual arts field but also to engage its audience in this shifting domain.

Ten Years in China was a pop-up salon presentation hosted by Galerie De Witte Voet in Amsterdam marking ten years of my practice in China. A selection of works taken from a number of series developed during this time were presented together, including works made recently from my studio in Houtian Project, works made for previous exhibitions in China and the Netherlands, works made with regard to public commissions as well as plans relating to designs for tableware and for the cladding of a wall for a new building.

Landscape is a large ceramic tile mural cladding a thirty metre long by four metre fifty centimetre high exterior wall of a head office and factory building. The mural is realised with the aid of twenty three thousand individual handmade and hued tiles which combine together to create both a practical exterior for this part of the building as well as an enlarged fragment of the image of a landscape. The detail of the individual tiles and mural are prominent when observed from nearby, and when viewed from some distance the image as a whole becomes clearly visible.

Rolling Snowball / 12 Djupivogur (Catalogue)

Chinese European Art Center
Djupivogur, Iceland

July 13th 2019 to August 18th 2019

This was the sixth Rolling Snowball exhibition organised by CEAC in conjunction with the municipality of Djupivogur in Iceland. The exhibition presented work by artists predominantly from China, Iceland and the Netherlands, each of whom have worked previously as artist-in-residence at CEAC in Xiamen. Many people did not believe this collaboration could succeed in a small fishing village with so few inhabitants. It has subsequently become culturally important for both the people of Djupivogur and the wider Icelandic art scene with the people of the village highly involved in the event.

'Common People' was a group exhibition of three artists hosted by Galerie With Tsjalling in Groniningen in the north of the Netherlands. 'The worlds created by the three artists in 'Common People' cannot be regarded as commonplace. Ghosts playing chess, a monster painting and men riddled with holes fill the gallery space for this playful exhibition. Nick Renshaw's sculptures are frequently created from materials as diverse as porcelain, earthenware, bronze or aluminium wherby the skin of glazed and unglazed parts play an iimportant role.'(Tsjalling Venema).

In Parallel / Presence and Intervention

Dui Shan Art Museum
Jimei, China

October 2nd 2020 to October 20th 2020

In Parallel / Presence and Intervention was a group exhibition held at the Dui Shan Art Museum in Jimei, Southern China. The exhibition focused on the current position of art and its relationship to place and globalisation, as well as on artists as authors, their work, the audience and the space in which artworks are made and exist. This in the age of pandemic, when a reassessment of the public nature and locality of art has become paramount. The exhibition brought together artists who produced work for the exhbiition 'in-residence' with artists from the vicintiy of the exhibition.

The Chinese European Art Center (CEAC) in Xiamen was founded in 1999 by Mrs. Ineke Gudmundsson together with Prof. Qin Jian from the Art College of Xiamen University. CEAC has remained a non-profit art centre with an Artist-in-Residence program open to visual artists, architects, (fashion) designers, curators, composers and writers. For the past 20 years CEAC has hosted and premiered international artists from all over the world. With studios, exhibitions, contemporary film festivals, concerts, lectures, workshops and its core Artist-in-Residence program.

Beeldenpark Landgoed Anningahof was originally an area of meadow which was transformed into a registered estate and which, since 2004 has hosted annual changing exhibitions. The philosophy of the park is to present the development of contemporary Dutch sculpture; from 1960 to the present day. Next to the work of old masters, the work of well known contemporary artists as well as that of young talent is also exhibited. For this edition of the exhibition I presented a number of sculptures for both the interior and exterior spaces.

In het voetspoor van Blasius (In the footsteps of Blasius) is a publication marking 350 years of medical care and education in Amsterdam since Professor Gerard Blasius walked into a hospital with some students in 1669. In het voetspoor van Blasius links the present with the past through eleven city walks of streets and buildings in Amsterdam with historical connections to the city's medical history. By using stories and images the development of healthcare in Amsterdam is expolored. A number of my sculptures in the collection of the VU medical centre are portrayed in the book.

Jury Member - Keramiek Triennale 2021

CODA Museum
Apeldoorn, The Netherlands

March 14th 2021 to May 30th 2021

De Nederlandse Vakgroep Keramisten (NVK) houdt voor de vijfde keer een grote keramiekmanifestatie. De NVK wil niet alleen keramiek promoten en de mogelijkheden van klei laten zien, maar ook de keramist en beeldend kunstenaar een platform bieden voor het tonen van de ontwikkelingen binnen hun vakgebied. De selectie is gemaakt door Gerda Brust (hoofdredacteur Vormen uit Vuur), Nick Renshaw (beeldend kunstenaar), Manita Kieft (keramist), Nora Leijen (conservator Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam) en drs. Carin Reinders (directeur-bestuurder CODA).

The AA2A project is a scheme enabling visual artists the opportunity to undertake a period of research or realise a project using workshops and facilities in fine art and design departments of Higher and Further Education institutions. It allows artists the opportunity to use equipment and other machinery and material at the host institute as well as benefiting the institution by allowing students to work alongside, interact and learn from practising artists and makers. For this period of work I was invited by the Fine Art Department of York St. John University.

Aan de hand van twaalf uiteenlopende feesten onderzoeken we in deze tentoonstelling hoe we in Nederland feest vieren, wat we vieren en met wie. In de tentoonstelling komen het kinderfeest, Chinees Nieuwjaar, Carnaval, Pesach, het studentenfeest, de verjaardag, een selamatan, de bruiloft, Eid al-Fitr (Suikerfeest), Ketikoti, Divali en Kerst aan bod. Feest! bestaat uit twaalf installaties met keramiek uit eigen collectie én gekoesterde voorwerpen van feestvierders uit heel het land. Zo ontstaat een rijk beeld van de feesten waarmee we belangrijke momenten markeren.