ANGUS SUTTIE – (1946 – 1993)
Although the span of Angus Suttie’s ceramic art career was brief, the work he produced in those
years left ample evidence of his ability. Born in Scotland, he was educated at the Camberwell
School of Art in London at a time when the faculty and students there were leading British
ceramics into a new direction. Breaking away from the traditions of Bernard Leach, these young
artists embraced experimentation and sculptural qualities allied with functional ware. Geometric
at the start, Suttie’s work became softer and more organic as he matured, the sculptural and
figurative aspects dominating the purely functional nature of his vessels. His pieces were
largely hand-built and decorated with colorful slips, glazes and lusters. Suttie was very
interested in primitive pottery and pre-industrial art and that interest is reflected in his work. His
primary inspiration, however, arose from his own life and relationships, the difficult and often
lonely years of his growing up as he struggled to come to terms with himself, and the
experience of his failing health as he dealt with and ultimately succumbed to an HIV-related
illness at 47.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT – ANGUS SUTTIE
“I started by wanting to make pots which were a reaction against the white, factory-produced
earthenware available in every high street. When I looked at pots from other cultures and other
times I discovered vessels that were alive, appealing, moving, imaginative, witty, revealing
pleasure in the making.”1
“Most cultures produced pots which were made not to be utilitarian but to function as conductors
for that society’s beliefs or ritual needs. History sanctions us.”2
1. Christopher Andreae. “A Potter Refashions the Primitive.” Christian Science Monitor 87 no.
103 (April 13 1995): 16.
2. Ibid.
RESUME – ANGUS SUTTIE
1946
Born, Tealing, Scotland
1975-1979
Camberwell School of Art, London
1979-1980
Teacher Training, Whitelands College, Putney, London
1980
Instructor, Morley College, London
1981-1984
Studio Artist
1986
Instructor, Camberwell School of Art
1993
Died
BIOGRAPHY – ANGUS SUTTIE
“In the beginning there was me, my mother, father, two brothers and two sisters.” 1 Thus begins
a poignant memoir written by Angus Suttie in 1976 describing his feelings of isolation as a child
and his eventual recognition and acceptance of his homosexuality. Suttie was born in Tealing,
Scotland. When he was a year old the family moved to a small town, described by Suttie as
“narrow, puritan” where his father established a dairy business. The whole family was involved
in working in the business, working long hours every day. As a result Suttie was alone much of
his childhood, with his father working and his mother helping in the business and raising five
children, and never felt he was close to his parents. His siblings often ridiculed his behavior and
with the exception of his younger sister, he did not have a close relationship with them. Suttie
remembered being a loner at school as well, where his lack of interest in sports and traditional
male activities set him apart. “…I sometimes felt like a jam-pot cover that was being stretched
to fit over a jam-pot that was too big,” Suttie wrote of this period in his life.2
When Suttie was in his early 20’s he left Scotland and moved to London, and there became part
of the gay culture. However, he failed to make any lasting friendships, and his loneliness,
coupled with the dull jobs in unskilled labor that he had at the time, left him depressed and
suicidal. He attempted suicide, did not succeed, and shortly thereafter heard about the Gay
Liberation Front that promoted pride and solidarity among gay men. “It was a revolution in my
life from being secretive, afraid and guilty to being proud and glad to be gay,” he stated. 3 While
his family was not accepting of his openness they did not reject him, and the coming to terms
with himself allowed Suttie to move forward in his life.
Suttie was first interested in studying drama but soon turned to art. He entered Camberwell
School of Art in London in 1975, studying under Glennys Barton, Ewen Henderson and Colin
Pearson and graduating in 1979 with a degree in Art Ceramics. The curriculum there was in
opposition to the Anglo-oriental style promoted by Bernard Leach and instead emphasized
experimentation and wheel-throwing, and Suttie was part of a group there that would signal a
new direction in British ceramics. Following his graduation from Camberwell, he took a year of
teacher training at Whitelands College, Putney, London, and then began teaching and working
as a studio artist. Suttie taught first at Morley College in London and later at the Camberwell
School of Art. In addition to teaching and working as a studio artist, Suttie wrote for The
Ceramic Review, Revue de la Ceramique et du Verre, and Studio Pottery among other
publications.
Although the program at Camberwell emphasized wheel-thrown work, Suttie, like his teacher
Ewen Henderson, preferred hand-building. His early work was in earthenware, rolled slabs of
leather-hard clay from which he made geometric forms, which were then cup up and
reassembled into larger forms. He was inspired by pre-industrial objects and forms, creating
brightly-colored vessels that were related to traditional functional ware but also contained
elements of figurative and sculptural qualities. As his work evolved he began using stoneware
as well as earthenware and his work became less geometric and more organic. The pots and
vessels were now much larger than a functional version, and the surface decoration took on
protrusions as well as bold colors derived from a combination of slips, glazes and occasionally
lusters or enamels. Garth Clark describes an exhibition of Suttie’s teapots in 1990 at
Contemporary Applied Art as showing “…a new and impressive maturity. The teapots and
vessels resemble small cityscapes of layered dwellings connected by pipe-like arteries, more
part of some strange and amorphous plant cell structure than any man-made architecture.”4
Although his admiration for primitive pottery is evident, the sculptural quality of his work carries
reminders of the Funk Art movement of San Francisco and contemporary abstract ceramics.
The ultimate inspiration came from his own life, his relationships and, in his later years, from
recognition of his deteriorating health.
Angus Suttie’s career as a ceramic artist was brief. He did not begin his studies until he was in
his 30’s and he died from an HIV-related illness in 1993 at the age of 47. In those few years he
had only five solo exhibitions in addition to the group shows in which he participated. A year
after his death a retrospective of his work was shown at Contemporary Applied Arts in London.
However, if his career span was brief, his place in the world of ceramic art is well-recognized
and firmly established. Examples of his work are in such significant collections as the Victoria &
Albert Museum, the British Crafts Council, the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, and The
University of Chicago among others.
1.
5.
2.
3.
4.
Angus Suttie. “From Latent to Blatant: A Personal Account.” Gay Left issue 2 (Spring 1976):
Ibid: 6.
Ibid:7.
Garth Clark. The Potter’s Art. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1995, 216.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY – ANGUS SUTTIE
Books and Catalogs
Britton, Alison. Sara Radstone, Angus Suttie. London: Contemporary Applied Arts, 1990.
Clark, Garth. The Potter’s Art. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1995
Cooper, Emmanuel. Ten Thousand Years of Pottery, 4th ed. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2000.
Houston, John. The Abstract Vessel. London: Bellew, 1991.
Mathieu, Paul. Sexpots. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2003.
Suttie, Angus. Angus Suttie, 1946-1993. London: Contemporary Applied Arts, 1994.
Periodicals
Adams, Judy. “Hidden Treasures.” Ceramic Review no. 207 (May/June 2004): 56.
Andreae, Christopher. “A Potter Refashions the Primitive.” Christian Science Monitor 87 Issue
103 (April 24 1995): 16.
“Angus Suttie – the Last Pots.” Ceramic Review no. 149 (September/October 1994): 30-33.
Cooper, Emmanuel. “Angus Suttie: Teasing the Imagination.” Ceramic Review no. 94
(July/August 1985): 26-28.
“{Crafts Council Sideshow at the I.C.A. London; Exhibit.}” Arts & Artists no. 203 (August 1983):
37.
Dormer, Peter. “Structural Logic.” Crafts (London, England) no. 88 (September/October 1987):
22-24.
Gilroy, Griselda. “Angus Suttie: the Whole Works.” Crafts (London, England) no. 77
(November/December 1985): 53.
Harrod, Tanya. “Sara Radstone and Angus Suttie.” Crafts (London, England) no. 104
(May/June 1990): 53-54.
Held, Peter. “The Ceramics Research Center at Arizona State University.” Ceramics Technical
no. 17 (2003): 102-105.
Lamarova, Milena. “British Ceramics in a Czechoslovak Venue.” American Craft 45
(February/March 1985): 30-33.
Lewenstein, Eileen. “Angus Suttie 1946-1993.” Crafts (London, England) no. 132
(January/February 1995): 50-51.
Maiden, Emma. “Classic Ceramics.” Crafts (London, England) no. 194 (May/June 2005): 6667.
“New Ceramicists.” Crafts (London, England) no. 59 (November/December 1982): 30-37.
Norrie, Jane. “{Contemporary Applied Arts, London; Exhibit.}” Arts Review (London, England)
42 (February 9 1990): 72.
“Out of the Closet.” Ceramic Review no. 206 (March/April 2004): 17.
Petrie, Kevin. “Classic Ceramics.” Ceramic Review no. 213 (May/June 2005): 57.
Radstone, Sara. “Obituary.” Crafts (London, England) no. 124 (September/October 1993): 6162.
Suttie, Angus. “Angus Suttie on Traditions.” Ceramic Review no. 117 (May/June 1989): 10-13.
_______. “From Latent to Blatant: A Personal Account.” Gay Left issue 2 (Spring 1976): 5-7.
_______. “Views on the Vessel.” Crafts (London, England) no. 91 (March/April 1988): 12-13.
“Three of a Kind.” Crafts (London, England) no. 216 (January/February 2009): 14.
White, Gregor. “Angus Suttie 1946-1993.” Ceramic Review no. 187 (January/February 2001):
50.
GALLERY REPRESENTATION – ANGUS SUTTIE
Secondary Market
WEB SITES – ANGUS SUTTIE
http://www.biographicon.com/view/dqto6/Angus_Suttie
Brief biography of Angus Suttie
http://healthhinge.com/background-of-angus-suttie
Background information on Angus Suttie
http://www.ceramics-aberystwyth.com/taking-tea-angus-suttie.php
Aberystwyth University; “Taking Tea” exhibit
http://www.bmagic.org.uk/objects/1997L24
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery “Funerary Vase” by Angus Suttie
http://collection.britishcouncil.org/html/artist/artist.aspx?id=17740
Biography, photos of Suttie’s work in the collection
http://www.gayleft1970s.org/issues/issue02.asp
Angus Suttie. “From Latent to Blatant: A Personal Account.” Gay Left issue 2 (Spring 1976):5-7
March 2009