Curriculum Vitae
MILTON MOON A.M.
MILTON MOON. ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
In this, my eighty-sixth year, over sixty of which I have been a potter, I remain concerned, if a little obsessed, with the challenge of making pots, which although belonging to a ceramic tradition of some eight thousand years or more, are undeniably and uniquely Australian. With all my changes of expression this has remained constant.
The initial creative inspirations were drawn from the beauty of the coastal areas of Eastern Australia and from the mountain areas of the Great Dividing Range which stretch from North Queensland to the extreme South of Victoria. But the most lasting inspiration has come from the inland of Australia, more particularly from the Gammon and Flinders Ranges and from the Olary Uplands of South Australia, and more recently from the Pilbara and Kimberley areas of Western Australia, where dating of the rock engravings place them as being amongst the oldest marks left by human-kind anywhere in the world.
All parts of Australia are full of an ancient history stretching back through time and which today, despite white settlement, somehow still survives in legend and ritual. If it is the case that these legends do now only exist, in some muted half-life there is still the sense that they remain as a very powerful spirit presence. It is impossible to ignore the feeling that this country re mains inhabited by the past. For me it is also impossible not to creatively respond to the echoes of the past, even if only through the somewhat vague process of inspiration and distillation.
Whether one searches the horizons of these vast bare rugged lands or views the far vistas from the great mountains of the High Country the same spirit remains. To understand this spirit, even a little, is a privilege but to try an express it is a compelling endeavour. For me to be a truly Australian artist it is something that cannot be ignored.
"Milton Moon has been a ceramist for over fifty years: he has been both lecturer and practising potter. He has studied in many countries, as a recipient of a foundation Winston Churchill Fellowship and also as a Myer Foundation Geijutsu Fellow. His work is in all major Australian Collections.
As one of Australia's most senior potters, in the 1984 Queens Birthday Honours Milton Moon was made a Member of the Order of Australia. In 1991 he was accorded a retrospective of his work, covering a period of thirty-five years, at the Art Gallery of South Australia. In 1992 he was a recipient of an Advance Australia Foundation Award and then in 1993, for a period of five years, he became a recipient of the most prestigious of art awards given by the Australian Government, an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship. In 2008 the University of South Australia conferred an honorary doctorate (DUniv) Milton Moon has now written five published books. Two years ago he wrote The Zen Master, the Potter and the Poet, published by Axiom Publishers, followed by a recent publication, A Potter's Pilgrimage, published by Wakefield Press.
CHRONOLOGY
1926: Born Melbourne, Australia.
1947: After discharge from Navy Service lived first in Queensland and then in
New South Wales. (Employed in broadcasting, then later television in
both New South Wales then in Queensland, 1947-1961.)
1949: Returned to Brisbane where he studied for three years,part-time,
painting and drawing at the Central Technical College and also
privately with Margaret Cilento.
1950: Became interested in pottery and was taught wheel-throwing by Mervyn
Feeney, a traditional potter living in Brisbane. Also worked with Harry
Memmott, grandson of Queensland pioneer potter, J.T.Sandison.
1962: Was appointed Senior Pottery Instructor with the Department of
Technical Education, Brisbane, Queensland.
1965: Awarded a Foundation Churchill Fellowship and studied in many countries
during the following year
1966: Represented Australia at the first World Craft Congress,
Montreux,Switzerland.
1967-68: Art tutor, Architecture Department, University of Queensland.
1969: Appointed Senior Lecturer, Head of Ceramics at the South Australian
School of Art.
1974: Awarded a Myer Foundation Geijutsu Fellow to live and study in Japan.
1975: Resigned from lecturing to work full-time at Summertown in the Adelaide
Hills where he and his wife established a workshop, home and gallery in
a restored 1850's stone mill.
1995: Closed the Summertown Gallery and relocated to Adelaide.
1976-1981: Served as a member of the Australian Japan Foundation.
1984: Was made a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queens Birthday
Honours.
1990: Awarded Life Membership of the South Australian Crafts Council.
1992: Recipient of an Advance Australia Foundation Award.
1993: Recipient of an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship, for a five year
period from 1994 to 1998.
2008: Recipient of an honorary doctorate (DUniv) conferred by the University
of South Australia.
Study travel has been undertaken in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Belgium. France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Greece, Iran, Japan and Korea.
AUSTRALIAN EXHIBITIONS
OVERSEAS AND AUSTRALIAN TOURING EXHIBITIONS
- 1963. Smithsonian Institute, Washington, USA.
- 1964. Australian and New Zealand Touring Exhibition.
- 1964. International Touring Exhibition, Japan.
- 1965. Commonwealth Arts Festival, London. UK.
- 1965. Smithsonian Institute, Washington, USA.
- 1969. International Crafts Exhibition, Stuttgart, Germany.
- 1974. to 1976. 'Australian Ceramics' -touring Australia.
- 1976. 'Wood and Clay', New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
- 1977. Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica D'arte, Faenza, Italy.
- 1978. 'Clay' 15 potters, the Pacific and North America.
- 1980. 'Recent Ceramics' touring Europe. .....continued
- 1983. 'Contemporary Australian Ceramics' Australia, New Zealand, US.
- 1986. First International Ceramics - Mino, Japan.
- 1993. One man exhibition, Okayama, Japan.
AWARDS
- 1966. Foundation Churchill Fellowship for overseas study in the US, Mexico, Europe incl. Scandanavia, U.K. Greece, Iran.
- 1974. Myer Foundation Geijutsu Fellowship, one year study in Japan.
- 1978. Winner, Mayfair Award.
- 1984. Awarded Member of the Order of Australia. (AM) Queens Birthday Honours, for service to ceramics.
- 1992. Advance Australia Foundation Award.
- 1993. Australian Creative Artists Fellowship - 1994-'98.
- 2008. Honorary Doctorate (DUniv) conferred University of South
Australia.COMMISSIONS
- Queensland University - architectural ceramics.
- Art Gallery of South Australia - wall sculpture.
- Premiers Department, Government of South Australia.
- Festival Theatre Fountain - Adelaide Festival Centre.
- Institute of Technology, the Levels, Adelaide.
COLLECTIONS
- Australia-Japan Foundation, Tokyo, Japan.
- Commonwealth Art Collection.
- Reserve Bank of Australia.
- Art Gallery of New South Wales.
- National Gallery of Victoria.
- Australian National Gallery, Canberra.
- Art Gallery of Western Australia.
- Art Gallery of South Australia.
- Queensland Art Gallery.
- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
- Brisbane City Council Art Collection.
- High Court Building, Canberra.
- Parliament House, Canberra.
- Newcastle City Art Gallery.
- Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.
- Artbank, Australia.
- Collection of the Governor, Shangai.
- Collection of the Secretary General of China.
- Victorian Ministry of the Arts.
- Embassy Collections, Australian Government.
- Australian Universities collections, various.
- Carrick Hill, Adelaide.
- Queensland University of Technology Art Museum.
- Hammersley collection.
- Regional Galleries throughout Australia.
- Private Collections, Australia and overseas.
LITERATURE
- 'Australian and New Zealand Pottery.' various.
- World Craft Council - conference proceedings. 1966.
- 'Focus on Milton Moon,' Denys Pryor, Q.U.P.
- 'Arts and Artists of South Australia' Benko. 1969.
- Encyclopedia of Australian Art, McCulloch.
- 'Australian Pottery.' Hood and Garnsey.
- 'Twelve Australian Craftsmen.' Thomson.
- 'Crafts of the Modern World.' UNESCO.
- 'The Artist Craftsman in Australia.' Bottrell.
- 'New Ceramics.' Lewenstein and Cooper. (UK)
- 'Art and Australia'....... various.
- 'Craft Australia'........various.
- 'Pottery in Australia'...various.
- 'Understanding Art.' Churcher.
- 'The Australian Potter.' Memmott.
- 'Vantage' S.A.
- 'Geo,' 1982.
- 'Keramik der Welt.' Borrman, Germany. 1984.
- 'The Potter's Manual,' Kenneth Clark. (UK) 1984.
- 'Artists and Galleries of Australia.' Germaine.
- 'Molvig, the Lost Antipodean.' Churcher. 1984.
- 'Australian Decorative Arts - the past ten years. ANG. 1984.
- 'Skangaroovia.' Art Gallery of South Australia.
- 'Ceramics in South Australia,' Ioannou.
- 'Ceramic Form: Shape and Decoration.' Lane. (UK)
- 'Artists and Aspects - Contemporary Art Society, Queensland Branch
- ...Helen Fridemanis.
- 'Ceramica' - Spain.
- 'The Potters' Art - an Australian Collection. Mansfield.
- 'Modern Australian Ceramics.' Mansfield.
- 'Ceramic Art and Perception' ......various.
- 'The Crafts Movement in Australia...1992. Grace Cochrane.
- 'Object' - Crafts Council of NSW. Summer 1994.
- 'Masters of their Craft.' Noris Ioannou. Craftsman House.
- 'The Human Art, the Useful art; selected memoirs. Milton Moon.' 1999. Held in libraries of NGA; Art Gallery of SA; NGV; Queensland Art Gallery; National Library of Australia.
- 'Chemistry' Art in South Australia 1990- 2000 NGA
- 'Material Culture' aspects of contemporary Australian craft and design.
- Pottery in Australia, March 2002.The theme of land and nature, Vincent McGrath.
- Ceramics Technical, Vol 16. 2003
- Two Centuries of Australian Art, National Gallery of Victoria.
- Chawan, International chawan exhibition, Aadewerk, 2005
- Colonial to Contemporary, Queensland College of Art, 125 Years
- The Crafted Object, 1960s-80s, National Gallery of Australia.
- Artlink-The Old Magic, Elders of the Artworld; celebrating 25 years of publication. 2006
- Hidden Treasures with Betty Churcher-National Gallery of Australia. ABC television series.
- Ceramics Art and Perception.2007, issue 68.
- The Journal of Australian Ceramics, 42/2 July 2007.
- Ceramics Technical, Volume 25, November 2007