About
Lawrence Epps is an artist based at Wysing Arts Centre exploring the collective attribution of value to objects processes and people.
His works are tactile and seductive, made predominantly in ceramics, but he has become known for playfully redrawing the rules in which his artworks are accessed, causing both delight and frustration in international audiences as they wrestle with the process of having or not having an artwork, occasionally causing mayhem in the gallery.
His recent installations focus on redressing power dynamics: drawing attention to hidden biases, notions of success and the nature of chance. His practice ranges from traditional ceramic processes such as terracotta extrusion in a brick manufacturing plant and slip-casting, to adapted fairground machines, moving image, and app-design.
Epps' 2019 residency at the Jingdezhen International Studio in China, developed into Accolade: a collaboration with statistician (and 'national treasure') Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, to make an intricate work of chance (slumped ceramic trophies, an iPad app, £2000 of gold bullion and a sushi conveyor belt which confronts societal biases head-on to re-level the playing field.
He is a founder member of ambergris editions with the artist Lisa Wilkens and in 2015 he edited the book the very last time together with the poet and writer Holly Corfield Carr to accompany his installation AGAIN. Epps is also a member of the Sykey Art Collective - a group making public statements through art, responsible for the nighttime interventions of 14,000 ceramic sculptures placed across the cities of London, Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent in large scale participatory art events.
In 2017 Museum Jorn, Denmark, commission Take Stock, a major installation from Epps to be part of the critically acclaimed show Ler! / Clay! curated by Karen Friis Herbsleb, which received record visitor numbers. his solo exhibitions include: AGAIN at Firstsite, Colchester, 2015; The Shit Job Machine at The Front Room, Cambridge, 2014; Take Stock, a pavilion at the 2013 British Ceramics Biennial. Group exhibitions include: A Taste of Ceramics, Taoxichuan Gallery, China, 2019; Hooked, Science Gallery, London, 2018; States of Play at Humber Street Gallery, Hull UK City of Culture; the British Ceramic Biennials 2019, 2015 and 2011; Body Double Frederick Meijer Sculpture Park, USA, 2012; FutureEverything at MOSI, Manchester; interventions in London, Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent 2012. Residencies include Jingdezhen International Studio, China, The European Ceramic Work Centre, Holland, Brownhills Clay Quarry and Ibstock Bricks.
Epps' work is in the collections of Crafts Council and Fitzwilliam Museum.
His works are tactile and seductive, made predominantly in ceramics, but he has become known for playfully redrawing the rules in which his artworks are accessed, causing both delight and frustration in international audiences as they wrestle with the process of having or not having an artwork, occasionally causing mayhem in the gallery.
His recent installations focus on redressing power dynamics: drawing attention to hidden biases, notions of success and the nature of chance. His practice ranges from traditional ceramic processes such as terracotta extrusion in a brick manufacturing plant and slip-casting, to adapted fairground machines, moving image, and app-design.
Epps' 2019 residency at the Jingdezhen International Studio in China, developed into Accolade: a collaboration with statistician (and 'national treasure') Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, to make an intricate work of chance (slumped ceramic trophies, an iPad app, £2000 of gold bullion and a sushi conveyor belt which confronts societal biases head-on to re-level the playing field.
He is a founder member of ambergris editions with the artist Lisa Wilkens and in 2015 he edited the book the very last time together with the poet and writer Holly Corfield Carr to accompany his installation AGAIN. Epps is also a member of the Sykey Art Collective - a group making public statements through art, responsible for the nighttime interventions of 14,000 ceramic sculptures placed across the cities of London, Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent in large scale participatory art events.
In 2017 Museum Jorn, Denmark, commission Take Stock, a major installation from Epps to be part of the critically acclaimed show Ler! / Clay! curated by Karen Friis Herbsleb, which received record visitor numbers. his solo exhibitions include: AGAIN at Firstsite, Colchester, 2015; The Shit Job Machine at The Front Room, Cambridge, 2014; Take Stock, a pavilion at the 2013 British Ceramics Biennial. Group exhibitions include: A Taste of Ceramics, Taoxichuan Gallery, China, 2019; Hooked, Science Gallery, London, 2018; States of Play at Humber Street Gallery, Hull UK City of Culture; the British Ceramic Biennials 2019, 2015 and 2011; Body Double Frederick Meijer Sculpture Park, USA, 2012; FutureEverything at MOSI, Manchester; interventions in London, Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent 2012. Residencies include Jingdezhen International Studio, China, The European Ceramic Work Centre, Holland, Brownhills Clay Quarry and Ibstock Bricks.
Epps' work is in the collections of Crafts Council and Fitzwilliam Museum.
Exhibitions
2020 A Taste of Ceramics
Yaozhou Kiln and Taoxichuan Art Museum, Yaozhou, China
2019 British Ceramics Biennial
Stoke-on-Trent
2019 A Taste of Ceramics
Taoxichuan Art Gallery, Jingdezhen, China
2018 HOOKED
Science Gallery London
2018 LER! / CLAY!
Museum Jorn, Denmark
2017 States of Play
The Humber Street Gallery, Hull
2016 Big Ceramics
Wolverhampton Art Gallery
2015 Wysing Arts Centre at the Sunday Art Fair
P3 Ambika, London
2015 The British Ceramics Biennial
Disused Spode Factory, Stoke-on-Trent
2015 Again / the very last time
Firstsite, Colchester
2015 fig-2
ICA, London
2015 ESP Variety Show XIII
Aid and Abet, Cambridge
2015 The Variety Show
Primary, Nottingham
2015 Occupation
Firstsite, Colchester
2014 Demolition
Aid & Abet, Cambridge
2014 The Shit Job Machine
The Front Room, Cambridge
2013 Take Stock Pavilion at the British Ceramics Biennial
Disused Spode Factory, Stoke-on-Trent
2013 International Ceramics Festival
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
2012 Body Double
Frederick Meijer Sculpture Park, Michigan, United States
2012 Design Week at the V & A
The Victoria & Albert Museum, London
2012 FutureEverything
Museum of Science and Indutry, Manchester
2012 From Tradition to Innovation
CAA Gallery, London
2011 British Ceramics Biennial
Disused Spode Factory, Stoke-On-Trent
2011 Mint Explores
Mint Gallery, London
2011 Replace Fear of the Unknown with Uncertainty
P3 Ambika, London
2010 Unsplit Peak Problems
Royal College of Art Sculpture Department, London
2010 Natural Selection
London Gallery West
2009 Elemental Tales
London Gallery West
Interventions
2012 8,000 little clay men distributed across the streets of Manchester
2011 6,000 little clay men distributed across London and Stoke-On-Trent
Collections
2019 The Fitzwilliam Museum
2019 The Crafts Council
Residencies & Retreats
2019 Jingdezhen International Studio
Jingdezhen, China
2015 Firstsite, Colchester
Residency at Firstsite Gallery
2013 British Ceramics Biennial
Residency in association with Ibstock Bricks and Potclays
2013 Wysing Arts Centre
How We Make and How We Might Make Artists' Retreat
2012 European Ceramic Work Centre / Sundaymorning@ekwc
3 month Development Residency
Talks and Lectures
2020 Wysing Arts Centre
2019 British Ceramics Biennial
2018 Museum Jorn, Denmark
2015 Firstsite Gallery
2015 Bath Spa University
2013 British Ceramics Biennial in association with the University of Bergen
2013 International Ceramics Festival
2012 Frederick Meijer Sculpture Park
2012 FutureEverything Festival
Awards
2011 British Ceramics Biennial Fresh Award
Education
2011 BA (hons) Ceramics , University of Westminster
Publications
2018 LER! CLAY!
Museum Jorn
2016 Kitchen Foil Print Portfolio
published by ambergris editions
2015 the very last time
A book to accompany the installation AGAIN edited by Lawrence Epps and Holly Corfield Carr to accompany Again and featuring contributions by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Esther Leslie, Viktor Mazin, Joey Connolly, Geoffrey Munn, Tamarin Norwood, Marie Toseland and 2 new translations by Anna Gunin and Anne Marie-Jackson
2014 Where do you see yourself in twenty-five years?
Wysing Arts Centre
2014 Dreckapotheke
by Holly Corfield Carr
2012 From Tradition to Innovation
Ceramics Research Group
Selected Press
2016 Cfile
Take Stock by Lawrence Epps is a Monument to Menial Office Work
2014 Slate the Disco
Review
2013 Ceramic Review / Material World
Taking Stock Interview
2013 Artists Newsletter
History and Contemporary Practice Collide
2013 CFILE
Lawrence Epps at the British Ceramics Biennial
2013 FutureEverything / Human Resources Microsite
2012 BBC News
Little Clay Men Invade Manchester
2012 Vimeo
Human Resources Interview at the Museum of Science and Industry
2012 Manchester Evening News
Various
2012 BBC Radio Manchester
The Breakfast Show
2011 Crafts Magazine
Pride and the Potteries
2011 The Guardian
British Ceramics Biennial Brings Signs of a Potteries Revival
2011 Ceramics Review
Leaving the Corporate World
Links
Sykey Art Collective
Wysing Arts Centre
Aid & Abet
FutureEverything
British Ceramics Biennial
Youtube Channel
Vimeo Channel
2020 A Taste of Ceramics
Yaozhou Kiln and Taoxichuan Art Museum, Yaozhou, China
2019 British Ceramics Biennial
Stoke-on-Trent
2019 A Taste of Ceramics
Taoxichuan Art Gallery, Jingdezhen, China
2018 HOOKED
Science Gallery London
2018 LER! / CLAY!
Museum Jorn, Denmark
2017 States of Play
The Humber Street Gallery, Hull
2016 Big Ceramics
Wolverhampton Art Gallery
2015 Wysing Arts Centre at the Sunday Art Fair
P3 Ambika, London
2015 The British Ceramics Biennial
Disused Spode Factory, Stoke-on-Trent
2015 Again / the very last time
Firstsite, Colchester
2015 fig-2
ICA, London
2015 ESP Variety Show XIII
Aid and Abet, Cambridge
2015 The Variety Show
Primary, Nottingham
2015 Occupation
Firstsite, Colchester
2014 Demolition
Aid & Abet, Cambridge
2014 The Shit Job Machine
The Front Room, Cambridge
2013 Take Stock Pavilion at the British Ceramics Biennial
Disused Spode Factory, Stoke-on-Trent
2013 International Ceramics Festival
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
2012 Body Double
Frederick Meijer Sculpture Park, Michigan, United States
2012 Design Week at the V & A
The Victoria & Albert Museum, London
2012 FutureEverything
Museum of Science and Indutry, Manchester
2012 From Tradition to Innovation
CAA Gallery, London
2011 British Ceramics Biennial
Disused Spode Factory, Stoke-On-Trent
2011 Mint Explores
Mint Gallery, London
2011 Replace Fear of the Unknown with Uncertainty
P3 Ambika, London
2010 Unsplit Peak Problems
Royal College of Art Sculpture Department, London
2010 Natural Selection
London Gallery West
2009 Elemental Tales
London Gallery West
Interventions
2012 8,000 little clay men distributed across the streets of Manchester
2011 6,000 little clay men distributed across London and Stoke-On-Trent
Collections
2019 The Fitzwilliam Museum
2019 The Crafts Council
Residencies & Retreats
2019 Jingdezhen International Studio
Jingdezhen, China
2015 Firstsite, Colchester
Residency at Firstsite Gallery
2013 British Ceramics Biennial
Residency in association with Ibstock Bricks and Potclays
2013 Wysing Arts Centre
How We Make and How We Might Make Artists' Retreat
2012 European Ceramic Work Centre / Sundaymorning@ekwc
3 month Development Residency
Talks and Lectures
2020 Wysing Arts Centre
2019 British Ceramics Biennial
2018 Museum Jorn, Denmark
2015 Firstsite Gallery
2015 Bath Spa University
2013 British Ceramics Biennial in association with the University of Bergen
2013 International Ceramics Festival
2012 Frederick Meijer Sculpture Park
2012 FutureEverything Festival
Awards
2011 British Ceramics Biennial Fresh Award
Education
2011 BA (hons) Ceramics , University of Westminster
Publications
2018 LER! CLAY!
Museum Jorn
2016 Kitchen Foil Print Portfolio
published by ambergris editions
2015 the very last time
A book to accompany the installation AGAIN edited by Lawrence Epps and Holly Corfield Carr to accompany Again and featuring contributions by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Esther Leslie, Viktor Mazin, Joey Connolly, Geoffrey Munn, Tamarin Norwood, Marie Toseland and 2 new translations by Anna Gunin and Anne Marie-Jackson
2014 Where do you see yourself in twenty-five years?
Wysing Arts Centre
2014 Dreckapotheke
by Holly Corfield Carr
2012 From Tradition to Innovation
Ceramics Research Group
Selected Press
2016 Cfile
Take Stock by Lawrence Epps is a Monument to Menial Office Work
2014 Slate the Disco
Review
2013 Ceramic Review / Material World
Taking Stock Interview
2013 Artists Newsletter
History and Contemporary Practice Collide
2013 CFILE
Lawrence Epps at the British Ceramics Biennial
2013 FutureEverything / Human Resources Microsite
2012 BBC News
Little Clay Men Invade Manchester
2012 Vimeo
Human Resources Interview at the Museum of Science and Industry
2012 Manchester Evening News
Various
2012 BBC Radio Manchester
The Breakfast Show
2011 Crafts Magazine
Pride and the Potteries
2011 The Guardian
British Ceramics Biennial Brings Signs of a Potteries Revival
2011 Ceramics Review
Leaving the Corporate World
Links
Sykey Art Collective
Wysing Arts Centre
Aid & Abet
FutureEverything
British Ceramics Biennial
Youtube Channel
Vimeo Channel