Angus Suttie was a studio potter and teacher of art ceramics. Born in Scotland in a small town with a Presbyterian background, the youngest of five children. His first interest was drama and he attended a Drama School in Glasgow, but shortly left and went to London. He eventually began a Foundation course at Camberwell School of Art and Craft [1975-1979], and continued onto the BA course in ceramics. His tutors at the time were Janice Tchalenko, Ian Auld and Scott Chamberlain, who influenced and supported him. He completed a teacher training at Whitelands College in Putney, London, 1979-80. To supplement his income, Angus worked at the National Theatre, later teaching at Morley College and workings Men’s College, in Camden Town, in London.
Having studied together at Camberwell, Angus was invited by Sara Radstone to share her studio space in South London; he and Radstone went on to exhibit together on several occasions, most notably in their two-person show at Contemporary Applied Arts in London’s Covent Garden.
‘Starting with conventional forms, most frequently the teapot, he wrought mysterious and vivid objects, using brilliant colours and often written messages on the pots to challenge conventional meanings, as well as teapots he played with the shapes of boxes, cups and saucers, alter pieces, spoons and rings. Later as the epidemic entered directly into his life, Angus’s work became increasingly monumental and serous, the colours muted , often evoking pre-Columbian mourning statutory.’ [1]
Suttie’ s working method began with rolled slabs of leather-hard clay body to create geometric forms, which he cut and reassembled into larger forms. His early work was in terracotta clay using earthenware glazes to retain bright vivid colours. His later work was in stoneware clay, a stronger more robust material, the colours becoming more muted
His work displayed a diversity of influences, including contemporary abstract ceramics, modern North American ceramics and Pre-Columbian America Art. He was deeply struck with Pre-Columbian and early American pottery after visiting The Metropolitan Museum of American Art in New York in the 1980’s which he writes about in Ceramics Review in 1988.
Suttie was also a contributor to The Ceramic Review, Crafts Magazine, Gay Left among others. His work are held in ceramic collections around the world, including the Victoria and Albert Museum , the Crafts Council, The Hepworth Museum, Wakefield, The National Museum of Art, Koyoto, Japan among others.
Being a proud Gay man, he was a member of the Gay Left collective in the 1970s. A memoir of his early years, ‘From Latent to Blatant’, was published in issue number 2 of the Gay Left journal.
Angus died of an ‘Aids’ related illness. His first partner, having caught Aids whilst visiting the USA in the early days of the epidemic. Gay men were being ostracised and demonised in Society, before doctors knew how this disease spread and could deal with it. Dark days.
On a personal note, my fleeting memories of Angus whilst at I was at Camberwell College, was a quiet private person with a friendly persona.
As Angus wrote in 1988: ‘The main reason, however , that we cannot make pots as they were made before is that no one believes in what we do any more. This is why the most common question is asked by someone looking at a non-functional pot is ‘What’s it for?’. The thinking is that if a pot has has no use, if it cannot have any relevance. For without beliefs it is assumed that there is nothing to express except utility or the lack of having anything in which to believe. To put it this way, is it possible to achieve transcendence in art after the ‘death’ of God…….
The pots which I wish I could make, and the pots I envy the makers most of all, are often simple, small, old unassuming pots. The reason I love pots like that is because there is no justification. They are behind glass, in a showcase, in a museum but giving out such as sense of uncomplicated rightness.’
[1] Quote from Jeremy Weekes: ‘Angus Suttie’. The Sunday Panter. 2024
[2] Extracts from ‘Angus Suttie on Traditions’ Ceramics Review 1988
Please look under ‘Ceramics’ above to find work available to purchase.
