Robert Dawson

Solo and two-person exhibitions include:

• Forthcoming 21 June to 2 July 2026: Questionable Shapes, POSK Gallery, 238-246 King Street,  London W6 0RF
• 2023: Signifying Nothing in Colour, Ken Artspace, London, 11 to 27 May 2023
• 2023: Signifying Nothing, Ken Artspace, London, 15 April to 6 May 2023
• 2021-22: Pièces à problèmes - Robert Dawson and Richard Slee, Musée Ariana, Geneva
• 2017: En Avant, The Shrine of St Augustine, Ramsgate
• 2015-16: Robert Dawson: Pattern Play, National Glass Centre, Sunderland
• 2012: Surface Games / Jeux de Surface, Barthète, Boussan, France
• 2010: Bypass, in collaboration with Steve Bunn, New Greenham Arts, New Greenham Park, Newbury, Berkshire
• 2008: Ornament & Crime, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
• 2005: Robert Dawson Aesthetic Sabotage, Clay Gallery, Venice, California
• 2003: Robert Dawson, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf
• 1999: Robert Dawson, Eurostar, Waterloo, London
• 1999: Periphera, Royal College of Art, London
• 1997: Appropriating the Willow, Studio Pottery Gallery, Exeter
• 1993: Against Nature, in collaboration with Richard Slee, Sight Specific Gallery, Arundel

Collections include:

• The Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
• The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
• The Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas
• The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
• The Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston
• The British Council Collection, London
• The Museum of Arts and Design,  New York City
• The Röhsska Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
• RIAN Design Museum, Falkenberg, Sweden
• Designmuseum Danmark, Copenhagen
• The Gosport Museum, Hampshire
• The International Ceramic Studio, Kecskemét, Hungary
• Museo De Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Contemporary Art Society purchase for The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery,  Stoke-on-Trent
• Temple Newsam House, Leeds
• Auckland Museum,  New Zealand
• Manchester Art Gallery,  Manchester
• Palais des Evêques de Comminges,  Alan,  France
• Permanenten Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum,  Bergen, Norway
• Maison Patrimoniale de Barthète,  Boussan,  France
• Museum of Fine Arts,  Boston,  Massachusetts 
• Musée Ariana, Geneva

Art commissions include:

• Mayforth Property Ltd, Bowmer and Kirkland Ltd and Axiom Architects [link]
• Liverpool City Council [link]
• European Land, Ginkgo Projects
• Hilton Hotels Corporation, The Manser Practice Architects and Designers [link]
• Selfridges, London, 
• The Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston
• Nottingham City Council
• John Lewis, Victoria Centre, Nottingham
• Waitrose, Marylebone, London
• The World of Interiors magazine, London
• Spayne Lindsay & Co, London, Headline Publishing Group, London
• The Art House, Wakefield
• Churchill Hospital, Oxford
• The House of Words, Dr Johnson's House, London [link]

Design industry commissions:

• Ceramica Bardelli, Milan [link]
• Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd., Stoke-on-Trent
• Volpe and Volpe, London
• tmtmDesigns, Conwy
• Habitat, London

Awards:

• Surface Design Awards 2015, Winner of the Commercial Exterior Surface Category
• Jerwood Contemporary Makers 2010
• Built Environment Award, British Ceramics Biennial,  2009
• The Elle Deco International Design Awards 2006, international winner of the Tableware category
• The BDI (Birmingham Design Initiative), Industry and Genius Awards 2005, Award for Excellence, Ceramics & Glass Winner
• Elle Decoration UK Design Awards 2005, best in Accessories
• The Elle Decoration and Observer Magazine, Readers' Future Classic Award, 2005
• elit-tile 2002 Award, Museo De Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Screenings:

• 10th Fringe Film & Video Festival,  Edinburgh
• 1st Wrexham Maelor Film & Video Festival
• The British Short Film Festival (1995),  London

Art colleges:

• 1997/99: MA,  Ceramics & Glass,  Royal College of Art
• 1990/93: BA,  Art and Design,  Camberwell College of Arts

Past group exhibitions include:

2025: 'Curious Lore', West Norwood Cemetery, London, May/June 2025

2024-25: 'Liberté conditionnelle', Musée Ariana, Genève, 28 juin 2024 - 2 mars 2025

2024: 'Traits d'union', Maison Patrimoniale de Barthète, Boussan, 3 août - 27 octobre 2024

2023: 'Perspectives', Petronilla Silver at 8 Holland Street, Kensington,19 October - 23 November 2023

2022: 'Wells Art Contemporary 2022', Wells Cathedral, Wells, Somerset

2020-21: Between Sea and Sky: Blue and White Ceramics from Persia and Beyond, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

2019: ‘Mixed Display’, Marsden Woo Gallery, London

2018: ’Porcelain Plus', Køppe Contemporary Objects, Gallery R2, Søndergade 2. Svaneke, Bornholm, Denmark

2018: 'Put it at Stake - Six Voices in Contemporary Ceramics', RIAN Design Museum, Falkenberg, Sweden, [link] 

2017: 'Form + Motion', Cheongju Craft Biennale, UK Pavilion [link]

2017: 'Roseberys Introducing Curious SE27', Roseberys, West Norwood

2017: 'Surface Explorers', St Luke's Church, West Norwood

2017: Putting it at Stake – Six voices in Contemporary Ceramics, Porslinsfestivalen Lidköping, Sweden

2017: Køppe Contemporary Objects, Collect, Saatchi Gallery, London

2016-17: Cross Currents: China Exports and the World Responds, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Albuquerque, New Mexico

2016: Køppe Contemporary Objects, Copenhagen

2015-16: Drawing, National Glass Centre, Sunderland

2015: Re- reanimate, repair, meld & mend, Bluecoat Display Centre, LiverpoolMany

2015: Many a Slip, invited artists juggle with the domestic symbol of ‘the cup’ - Curated by Alison Britton

2013-14: Horizon – Landscapes, Ceramics and Prints, National Museum, Oslo, Norway

2013: New Blue and White, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

2012: Blue & White, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA 

2012: Manchester Contemporary, Manchester

2012: Curious:  A site-specific art trail at West Norwood Cemetery, London

2011: Ting Tang Trash - Upcycling in Contemporary Ceramics, Art Museums in Bergen, Permanenten, The West Norway Museum of Decorative Art, Bergen [link]

2011: Le décor est planté..., Manufacture Bernardaud, Limoges

2011: Award, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent

2011: Thinking Horizontally, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

2011: Prints and Transfers - Drucktechniken auf Keramik, Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany

2010: (WCC-BF): Second European Triennial of Ceramic and Glass, Anciens Abattoirs, Mons, Belgium

2010: Korero and Hui Hua – Ceramics in Conversation,Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan

2010: Hands On: Design Brought to Life, Arts Gallery, University of the Arts London

2010: Jerwood Contemporary Makers 2010, Jerwood Space, London, and UK and Ireland tour, 2010/11

2010: Bypass, New Greenham Arts, New Greenham Park, Newbury, Berkshire

2010: Ospiti Inaspettati - Case di Ieri, Design di Oggi, Museo Bagatti Valsecchi, Milan, Italy

2010: Intersecting Disciplines, Camberwell Space, Camberwell College of Arts, London

2010: Medium Resistance, Ice Box Project Space, Crane Arts Building, Philadelphia, Exhibition in conjunction with Philagrafika 2010: The Graphic Unconscious

2010: l'artelier céramique, Cité-Derrière 3, CH 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland

2009: Art & Utility, West Wales School of the Arts Gallery, Carmarthen

2009: Non Object Ive, Lodz Design 2009, Poland

2009: British Ceramics Biennial awards exhibition, The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent

2009: Pressing Matter, Cheongju International Craft Biennale 2009, South Korea

2009: Three by One: a selection from 3 public craft collections by Alison Britton, Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, Surrey

2009: UK to OK: Exploring Traditions in Contemporary Design, Price Tower Arts Centre, Bartlesville, Oklahoma

2009: The Revivalists, Contemporary Applied Arts, London 

2009: House of Words: Celebrating the tercentenary of the birth of Dr Johnson in 2009, Dr Johnson's House, London

2009: Object Factory: the Art of Industrial Ceramics, The Museum of Arts and Design, New York City 

2009: Fragiles, Al-Sabah Art & Design Collection, Kuwait

2008: Tea’s Up , Contemporary Applied Arts, London

2008: Object Factory: the Art of Industrial Ceramics, The Gardiner Museum, Toronto

2007: Form and Tradition - Contemporary Ceramics , Hastings Museum & Art Gallery

2007: Func Art , drud & køppe gallery, Copenhagen

2007: Fragiles, Design Miami, Florida, and world tour

2007: 63rd Scripps Ceramic Annual, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Claremont, California

2006: a-mart , Ale & Porter Arts, Bradford on Avon

2006: In Production (part of the London Design Festival), T2, Brick Lane, London

2006: Breakers , PM Gallery, Ealing, London

2006: European Ceramic Context 2006 , Hjorth Museum of Ceramics, Bornholm, Denmark

2005: Materialize (part of the London Design Festival), The Arts Gallery, University of the Arts London

2005: A Great Mania: the Influence of Delftware , Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Idaho

2005: Flower Power, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

2005: Something Borrowed, Contemporary Applied Arts, London

2005: 5 First, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

2004: Wedgwood at 100% Design, London

2004: Resident Alien, Crafts Council Gallery Shop, Islington

2004: The Home Ideal Show , (Eshoda Arts), Hotbath Gallery, Bath

2003: Everything but ..., British Council exhibition, touring the Middle East and South East Asia

2003: The Vitrified Image, The Hyde Gallery, El Cajon, California

2002: elit-tile 2002 International Ceramic Tile Triennial, Museo De Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

2002: Blue + White = Radical, Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY

2002: Sleepers, The Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, (part of the Ceramica International Festival)

2001: In-Print, Ferens Gallery, Hull, and UK tour

2000: Buildingcraft , Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston

2000: Pattern Transfer , Spode Museum, Stoke on Trent, and Waygood Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne

2000: New Routes, New Destinations , Rosenthal, Milan Furniture Fair, and European tour

1999: The Plate Show, Collins Gallery, Glasgow, and world tour

1999: Rosenthal, Royal College of Art, London

1998: art.tm, Inverness

1998: Off the wall ..., The London Institute Gallery, London

1998: The British Council, London

1998: Exhibitions of the Hot Off The Press Symposium, Kecskemét and Budapest, Hungary

1997: Fired, Harriett Green Gallery, London

1996: Hot Off The Press, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle, and UK tour

1994: King Street Studios, London

1993: Against Nature (in collaboration with Richard Slee), Sight Specific Gallery, Arundel

1993: Ceramic Contemporaries , Victoria and Albert Museum, London

1993: Maastricht Biennale, Maastricht, Holland