Barry Brickell facts for kids
Ian Barry Brickell (26 October 1935 – 23 January 2016) was a famous New Zealand potter, writer, and conservationist. He was also the person who started the amazing Driving Creek Railway.
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Barry Brickell's Early Life and Work
Barry Brickell was born in New Plymouth in 1935. His family soon moved to Auckland, settling in Devonport. While he was a student at Takapuna Grammar School, Barry met another well-known potter named Len Castle.
In 1954, Barry started studying science at Auckland University. After finishing his studies, he had a short teaching job in 1961. But soon, he decided to become a full-time potter. He bought his first piece of land near Coromandel. This spot was great because he could easily send his pottery by sea to Auckland or sell it right from the wharf.
Creating Driving Creek Railway
In 1974, Barry bought more land next to his property. Here, he created the famous Driving Creek Railway and Potteries in Coromandel. This place had workshops and kilns where he worked with other potters.
The railway line goes through about 20,000 native trees that Barry helped plant. This special land is now looked after by the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust. Barry cleared much of the land for the track by hand at first. Later, bulldozers helped make it safe. He even bought the railway lines from a local coal mine that had closed down. Barry once said, "I wanted to show that you can have engineering in a rugged landscape and it could be good. Engineering doesn't have to be ugly." The Driving Creek Railway officially opened in October 1990.
Barry also wrote several books, including A New Zealand Potters' Dictionary (1985). In 2013, a book called His Own Steam: The Work of Barry Brickell was published. This book came out at the same time as a big exhibition of his pottery, which showed 100 of his unique pieces.
Barry Brickell's Kiln-Building Skills
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Barry Brickell was very well known for his amazing skill at building kilns. A kiln is a special oven used to bake clay pottery at very high temperatures. Most of the kilns at Driving Creek Railway were designed and built by Barry himself. He even used bricks made right there from clay found on his own property!
When he was just seven years old, Barry built his first brick kiln under his family's home. It almost caused a fire! He also built kilns for other artists. In 1968, he built a round, coal-fired kiln for potter Yvonne Rust in Greymouth. In 1975, he built another one for artist Ralph Hotere in Port Chalmers, using pine bark from a nearby wharf as fuel.
Barry's kiln-building skills were even recognized internationally. In 1982, he was invited to Vanuatu to build a kiln and help start a pottery program for young people. Then, in 1986, he built a special wood-fired kiln for the Northern Arizona University Art Gallery in the United States.
Exhibitions Featuring Barry Brickell's Art
Barry Brickell's pottery was shown in many exhibitions, both in New Zealand and around the world.
In 1964, his work was part of an exhibition of New Zealand ceramics and paintings in Tokyo, Japan, during the 1964 Summer Olympics. This exhibition later traveled to Malaysia and India. The goal was to show the variety and professionalism of New Zealand art.
In May 1966, Barry's work was displayed at the N.Z Painting and Pottery exhibition in London, England. He exhibited alongside other famous New Zealand potters like Len Castle and Doreen Blumhardt.
In 1988, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin, USA, held an exhibition called Treasures from the Land: Crafts from New Zealand. This show featured Barry's work, highlighting how his art connected to the land.
Barry was also one of the artists featured in Treasures of the Underworld, which was the New Zealand exhibition at the Seville Expo '92 in Spain. After the expo, this exhibition toured the Netherlands and New Zealand. The artworks from this show are now part of the collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
A big exhibition called His Own Steam, A Barry Brickell Survey was held in 2013 at the Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt. This exhibition showed how Barry's work fit in with the great New Zealand art of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
In 2015, another exhibition at Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery looked at Barry's work over 60 years. His most famous pottery forms were called "Spiromorphs." These were large, spiral-shaped creations made from coiled clay. They twisted and unfolded in big curves, showing the powerful energy of nature. Barry often said, "not the thing but how," which meant he was very interested in the process of making art and having a unique local style.
Awards and Recognition for Barry Brickell
In 1974, Barry Brickell received a grant from the QEII Arts Council. He used this money to build New Zealand's first wood-fired stoneware pottery kiln. He got help from students and even used bricks from a demolished hotel in Coromandel.
In 1988, Barry was given a special award called Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This award recognized his important contributions to pottery and ceramics.
After he passed away, his old school, Takapuna Grammar School, opened an art studio in his honor on July 27, 2016. The school principal said the studio would "acknowledge Brickell's work in art and conservation."
Death
Barry Brickell passed away in Coromandel on January 23, 2016.
Works
- Works in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
- Works in the collection of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
- Works in the collection of Auckland War Memorial Museum
- Exhibitions at Brett McDowell Gallery, Dunedin in 2009 and 2012
- Works at Driving Creek Railway
- May Smith's 1969 painting From Barry Brickell's Verandah in the Fletcher Trust Collection
