Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley have worked together designing and making furniture and other functional woodwork for over 30 years. The scope of their work ranges from the small and domestic to monumental outdoor pieces. By the time the partnership began Jim had already established a reputation for his vessels and small scale furniture.
Initially they worked on outdoor projects, building public seats, footbridges, and shelters. They have always said that their intention was to make “work with a strong but quiet presence in the landscape”. This statement remains true, even though they have broadened that landscape to include built environments.
Projects include an altar for Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, seats for Compton Verney Art Gallery, RHS Wisley and Warwick University, furniture for Ruthin Crafts Centre, a bridge in North Wales and the large Ridgeons seat in CB1 Cambridge and, more recently a series of work for the Harley Gallery at Welbeck, Nottinghamshire which involved a redesign of the reception area, seating for inside and outside the new gallery to house the Portland collection, and outdoor cafe furniture.
Alongside their site-specific commissioned work their studio furniture, much of which is carved from blocks of green oak, often scorched and polished to a lustrous black finish, regularly appears in exhibitions and is in public collections across the world, including the V&A in London, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and Manchester Art Gallery. The work has twice been shortlisted for the Jerwood Furniture prize.
TARIK CURRIMBHOY - PURITY OF FORM AND MATERIAL "Sculpture in Motion" is currently on view at Leila Heller Gallery, New York, featuring sculptures by Indian artist and architect Tarik Currimbhoy. In both architecture and sculpture, Currimbhoy searches for tranquility, simplicity and tactility, expressed in purity of both form…
MANI NEJAD AT KIPS GALLERY NEW YORK Mani Nejad's paintings unite the languages of abstraction and figuration in a single canvas weaving togehter spontaneous tracks of composition that result in works that are organized in their own autonomous way ...
MERETE RASMUSSEN - CURVE AND FORM Known for her signature abstract forms brought to life with colour this online exhibition of Merete Rasmussen's sculptural ceramics brings together a dazzling selection of new free standing and wall hung ceramics. Many of the artist's recent sculptures were made…